Toy Review: Beast Hunters VOY Shockwave

[griffin]

(Please post photos, comments or even a fully comprehensive review - these are just brief details to get you started)

Series - Transformers Prime
Sub-line - Beast Hunters
Size/class - Voyager
New/remould/redeco - new
Wave - 2
Released here - not yet (released globally March 2013)
Approximate Retail Price - $40-50
Approximate Size - 16cm
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-mode - Cybertronian Tank
Main Features/Gimmicks - Spinning Cannon, Beast Armour
Main Colours - Purple, grey, bronze, dark pink
Main Accessories - 3x armour, cannon?

[griffin]

Considering how much this character has been hyped up in the last year (since BotCon in April 2012), this toy is worse than a let-down... it should never have been released with such lazy engineering.
Actually, of the four Beast Hunters toys I got on the weekend (Shockwave, DLX Skystalker, Dreadwing, Ratchet), I am getting the impression that Beast Hunters toys were rushed to prepare for the Movie line for next year. None of the new moulds are all that creative, and the modified moulds ruin the various toys we would at least be able to fall back on (for familiarity and the mostly-earthen modes they originally had).

Shockwave pretty much lies on its back and has one arm folded back and one arm (the gun arm) folded up. The head isn't even hidden.
It's like a cross between the Energon Shockwave/blast and TF2 Tank Megatron.
It doesn't even have the "power cable" from the gun to his back like in the cartoon.

As another element of their laziness with this year's line, the Cmdr class version looks to transform exactly the same, which means they aren't creating new transformations, they are just copying existing ones wherever possible. (DLX Dreadwing is almost identical in transformation to the Cmdr Dreadwing/Skyquake toys)
With less details and no gun cable, the Voyager one would be the better looking one... but I wouldn't pay more than $20 for it.

The only redeeming feature of this toy is that the beast armour comes off. If it didn't, this would definitely be a toy to avoid. As it is, and being in the cartoon, it barely scrapes in as a "buy only if really cheap".
Actually, I liked the spinning arm gun gimmick, but that isn't a reason to buy a toy.

[griffin]

It doesn't even have the "power cable" from the gun to his back like in the cartoon.

Just a correction to this. Looking at the TakaraTomy version, I see that one of the tank treads folds out to plug into the gun-arm... which isn't shown in the Hasbro official image above.

[5FDP]

That's really disappointing. I was actually looking forward to this toy From the pictures I have seen, it makes more sense to pick up the Commander Class version as such shortcomings in transformation can be forgiven at that scale, not Voyager.

[Tallestblue]

the arms do bother me, i'm sure with a bit more effort they could have thought of a way around the one arm underneath. But aside from the dodgy transformation I think the robot mode is fantastic. The design reminds me of something from Mospeada,as if Shockwave was somehow infiltrating the Invid.

[ILikeSoundwave]

Overall he is pretty good but he does have some lousy engineering, especially here: