REVIEW: TRANSFORMERS: ANIMATED SHOCKWAVE

 

 

This review is going to cover the original grey version, which I’m certain is a homage to “Shackwave.”

 

Transformers: Animated hit a ton of home-runs during its all-too-brief run. I’m talking HOME RUNS…monster blasts like the ones that used to emanate from the dry air up in Coors Field (it was about time for both a baseball and Colorado Rockies reference), and the Animated vision of Shockwave was one of them. Animated Shockwave was awesome. Full of menace, cold-blooded and lethally effective, Animated Shockwave was portrayed so well that their version deserves to be held as canon. Unfortunately…

 

Well, Transformer cartoons are intended to sell toys, and of course an Animated Shockwave was produced—as a matter of fact, two were produced. In addition to the other, Target was an exclusive retailer of the purple G1-decoed “Grapewave” variant. Either which figure you chose, if you bought him, you chose WIN. This is one of the most fun and innovative and stunning figures in the rich TFA universe.

 

TFA Shockwave is, of course, a deep-cover double agent and—as thus—he has a cover identity. This identity is “Longarm Prime”, and—utilizing this cover identity--Shockwave acted as head of Autobot Intelligence. “Longarm” possesses the alternate mode of a Cybertronian crane, with four sets of treads touching the ground at diagonal angles. The crane hook does not offer much extension at all (regrettably) and there is a Decepticon sigil inconveniently located underneath the boom, but at least the boom can execute a full 360º rotation and about a 75 º upward tilt. There are no molded wheels adapted for this configuration, so “Longarm” is effectively a static piece—although his characterization in the cartoon explicitly stated otherwise. That makes this an oversight, and even though it is a minor one (my Shockwave doesn’t spend a lot of time in “Longarm” mode, and even less in the crane configuration), it is there and effects the toy’s overall playability. I will forgive the designers, though: they had the challenge of fitting 4 fairly distinct modes into this toy. However: while overall, the design aesthetic does seem fairly functional, there are details in the execution that must be critically examined. For one, the ‘bot mode face is just sitting there underneath. You can make it out from the sides..! The Decepticon sigil is, again, immediately visible every time you lift the boom. Finally, the back end is a mess of ‘bot mode legs, open panels and is just a gappy, unfinished affair. Suffice to say, this is Shockwaves’ least effective mode. It’s not a bad mode, but it is a mediocre one. There is a reason for the mediocrity, though: to concentrate on the other 3 much more relevant modes.

 

Speaking of which, “Longarm”--being a trans-specific metamorph (?omnimorph, in the case of Shockwave?) of Cybertronian lineage—by definition must transform, and to accomplish this, one should first remove the crane and boom assembly from its peghole. Next, unclip the two pieces of molded tread at the rear of the crane that act as connectors. Rotate the two grey rear treads up one click and then extend them all the way out to the sides and close the grey panel. Swing the legs down, and then pivot the legs slightly out at the hips. At the bottom of the rear treads, you will note a grey flap at the bottom and a grey part on the back end of the tread. Swing the latter out until it stops; fold the former up one click to form the feet. Now, with the figure in a standing position, fold the articulated section of the front treads up until it stops. You will now note the section below the treaded portion has two off-white pieces of rubberized plastic attached to a recessed ball-joint. These are “Longarm’s” hands. Swing them out. There is an articulated section at the rear of the forearm section with two pieces of rubberized plastic. They are attached to tow elongated black tabs. Release them from the tabs, and swing this section out, down and up into the forearm. Fold the two elongated black tabs forward into the recessed area dedicated to them in the upper torso. Swing the forearms down and extend the arms VERY SLIGHTLY at the elbow. The shoulders are attached to a hinge joint that is connected to another hinged section intended to complete the shoulder area. Swing the hinge joint in the body cavity down while keeping the hinge joint in the upper arm level. You can now espy the ‘bot mode face, as well as a piece of recessed plastic behind it. This piece is attached to a pin hinge and will act as “Longarm’s” cowl. For now, swing it out. Shockwave has a face-swapping gimmick, and to employ “Longarms” visage, pull up on the black lever behind the head and just beneath the lightpipe. The cowl is on a double hinge, so fold the back down and fold the cowl onto the back of the head—it should be fairly level. To complete the process, in addition to the face-swapping gimmick, Shockwave also has a sigil-swapping gimmick. Pushing a side of the chest-mounted sigil into the chest will reveal either an Autobot or Decepticon sigil. “Longarm” happens to be an Autobot, so employ that sigil and you are done.

 

The fascinating thing about “Longarm” is that he and Shockwave share many of the basic parts, but the differences between the two are profound, and this is where the mold shines. “Longarm” is noticeably shorter than he is in his true form, and stockier in the waist, chest, upper legs, shoulders and “neck (“Longarm” doesn’t really have an exposed neck apparatus).” His head is capable of up-and-down movement. As far as articulation goes, this mode is amazingly less restricted then I initially thought it would be (given that this is a quadformer). The head has its limitations (which I can live with, as they exist to facilitate the transformation into Shockwave). The shoulders offer full rotation and some up-and-down movement. The biceps have a swivel joint that allows full rotation, and the forearm bends at the (recessed) elbow. The hands are attached to recessed ball joints and offer full rotation and some considerable inward bend. The trunk is completely inarticulate. The articulation is deceptively good in the legs. You’re taking advantage of joints that are there to enable the transformations. The legs pivot up and down at the hip as part of the transformation, and the upper thighs can swing up at the hip. The leg rotates fully on the swivel joint located at the knee joint. The lower legs can be articulated out to the sides by lifting up the grey panels (part of the transformation, but hey…you can actually simulate “Longarm” getting the old hotfoot!!! The feet sit on tight joints, and the heelspurs are large, giving “Longarm” a very stable base upon which to stand. Also, “Longarm” is not as “lizard-hipped” as some pics of him have shown—the hips should only slightly be elevated.

 

I love this mode. His face makes him look grumpy and no-nonsense, while packing the personality-filled punch that Animated toys tend to have. The proportions are nice, and give a completely different feel from the Shockwave base persona. His crane can be attached to either forearm or upon his back, and the forearms can be extended (as part of the transformation into Shockwave) to simulate “Longarms” ability to morphometrically extend his limbs. While “Longarm’s” alternate mode draws a solid 5, the ‘bot mode garners a strong 9. For essentially what could very easily have been a throw-away mode, this form is very well-executed and conceived. Excelsior!!!

 

Now. The transformation from “Longarm” into his true form is filled with subtlety and cleverness—befitting a deep-cover spy. You will note that the ‘bot mode hips are connected at the hip to two separate sections of grey plastic with circular details in the upper corner. Pry these sections from the waist and groin at the bottom and slide both sections completely down until they stop. Take the two articulated pieces of molded tread sitting just above the knee joints and pivot them up and over the upper thigh until they click into place. Rotate the lower legs fully at the knee until the black treads are replaced with grey plastic and the previous heelspurs now become—dare I say it..?—CLOVEN HOOVES!!!

 

Next up, we have the dual task of getting the shoulders into the proper orientation and making Shockwave as lanky and lean as possible. Fold the shoulders up on the hinge joint in the upper torso while keeping the hinge joint connecting the upper arms to the shoulder proper level. You will notice an articulated section in the uppermost portion of the arms. Depress the top and swing the entire section out to reveal a teal and red arm crest. The lower arms retract from the base of the upper arms. Rotate the forearms forward so that the peg for the weapon is facing you. Take “Longarm’s” hands and rotate them so that the palm faces outwards (to the side of the forearm bearing the two separate pieces of off-white, rubberized plastic). Take those aforementioned pieces of rubberized plastic and extend them out and fold them down to form Shockwave’s hands and fingers. The cowl sitting behind “Longarm’s” head should now be folded back and down to rest on the back of the ‘bot.

 

Now, for the head. Pull FORWARD and UP to employ the neck and swing up the two white pieces of rubberized plastic on either side of “Longarm’s” head to form Shockwave’s cranial crests. Pulling the “Longarm” head forward and up out of the body will cause the “Longarm” face to retract in what amounts to an automoprh feature and give us Shockwave’s cyclopean visage. Utilizing the sigil-swapping gimmick from earlier, deploy Shockwave’s true faction symbol and voila!!!

 

Now, this is what I’m talking about. As good as “Longarm’s” configuration was, this one is nothing short of stellar. The Animated vision of Shockwave was quite aberrant and did not really rely upon much of the design from G1 Shockwave outside of the single eye, faceless face and the white crest on his chest vaguely recalls the windowed portion that adorned G1 Shockwave’s chest. However: This mold is fantastic. Shockwave essentially received a reboot and upgrade in Animated, playing a major role while interacting with several of the core characters, both Decepticon and Autobot. This mode is—again, considering the fact that this is a quadformer—quite well articulated. Whatever limits “Longarm” possessed are rendered moot here. Shockwave now has a neck, and while the lateral movement of the head is restricted to essentially cocking his head from side to side, it is there. His head is also capable of up and down movement. The shoulders and arms articulate in the same way that “Longarm’s” did, except that now, Shockwave has 3 fingers, two of which are functionally articulated. Shockwave’s legs now articulate directly at the hip, and the posing potential improves a bit. Don’t get me wrong, TFA Shockwave isn’t TFA Prowl in the posing department, but noting that this toy is a quadformer, I am amazed that this toy can assume and maintain any pose at all, let alone maintain the high degree of articulation (both functional and otherwise) that it does possess. Right off the bat, I (giddily) give this mode a 10. It’s the star of the show…a show that isn’t done just yet. Because Shockwave transforms, too.

 

Shockwave assumes the form of a Cybertronian tank. This involves basically transforming Shockwave into crane mode without elevating the 4 treads. Leave them flat. The major transformation involves the crane and boom. Using the grey lever at the top of the boom, pull the hook into the boom, while flipping the articulated section located ventrally up. There is a recessed area in this section for the hook to sit in. You will note that either side of the rear of the (now) turret has an inclined section with a sort of stabilizing fin located dorsally and aft. There is an articulated piece next to this section. Flip these two pieces up and forward. You have now formed Shockwave’s electromagnetic cannon (the barrel of which vaguely resembles his G1 alt-mode), and it pegs into the top of the tank mode via a peg system just as the crane did.

 

As in the translation from his cover-identity’s alternate form to base form before him, so is there something lost a little in the translation here. Overall, while this mode is categorically WORSE than the crane mode—although it is now mobile. As the treads now lie flat, the molded wheels on the underside of them now come into play. Unfortunately, the peg system that holds the rear end together does only that—hold the rear portion together. It does nothing more. The rear of the tank is as floppy as Shockwave’s knee joints (since that is what they are) and that’s quite floppy. The front of the tank is better executed and much more solid and stable. Besides, the ‘bot mode face is better hidden here (by virtue of the fact that the tank has minimal ground clearance). The turret again has full rotational and some functional tilt for the main cannon. Looking at either the crane or the tank mode, we see that dorsally, it is a gappy affair, held together with pegs and random strutwork. In other words, the strength and solidity one would expect of a tank is not very well conveyed here. Overall, this mode just seems incomplete. I give this mode a 5 as well…it makes the same errors that the crane mode makes as well as some new ones, but the treads and turret actually look nice and it does roll. I think it’s a wash overall.

 

(Now, that’s the way it should be done. If any mode must be compromised, LET IT BE THE ALTERNATE MODE!!! Thank you for getting it right, Animated!!!)

 

All things considered, this toy is a real treat. Even with mediocre alt-modes, the ‘bot modes—especially Shockwaves—are just plain stellar, with more poseability than a quadformer should be expected to have. Highly recommended—either the original grey “Shackwave” homage or the Target-Exclusive G1-decoed “Grapewave” variant—although the original version feels more natural when the figure is in its “Longarm” configuration.

I've had the purple one for a while, but I haven't had the guts to take him out of the box, being the collector's item that he is...

 

Fortunately I acquired a Grey one at a good price from Breaker, so now the pressure to open him is off... or is it intensified?? Because you are RIGHT! This toy is amazing, and It makes me want to break out the purple one so I can enjoy his... purpley goodness such as it is.

 

Unfortunately I have not put him in either of his vehicle modes, so I guess I DON'T have much to look forward to, but then the vehicle modes have been more of a perk for me with the Animated line, rather than the main event as the robot designs are so amazingly radical and creative.

 

:thumb

Thanks again, 4RL! And I'd crack Grapewave open...he's got a menacing vibe all his own.