Review: #802
Name: Shockwave
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Generations - Studio Series
Year of Release: 2024
Size Class: Voyager (Wave 24)
Mold Status: new
TANK MODE:
Shockwave, based upon his (short) appearance in the beginning of the Bumblebee movie, transforms into a Cybertronian tank.
This is a "H" tank, which is usually quite lazy for a Transformer. This is also not a great tank mode because you can clearly tell most, if not all, of the focus went into robot mode as it's quite gappy and sloppy here.
However, Shockwave is big for a Voyager, although in tank mode due to how it is the robot mode spread out, he's not as heavy as he looks.
There are small plastic wheels at the bottom to allow him to roll on flat surfaces.
The turret / cannon can rotate, although it only had a range of around 180 degrees due to the plastic hose attached between it and the back of the bank.
The hose is a soft rubbery plastic, so it probably will eventually disintegrate.
The front of the tank is the robot legs and no effort has been made to make it look more like a tank...
This is only a barely passable tank mode, which is too flat and too elongated.
TRANSFORMATION:
The transformation scheme is heavily inspired by the Core figure, but with a few new extra steps allowed by the much bigger size. The front are the legs and contains his torso. The back are his arms, and the turret itself is the gun that pegs onto the arm.
ROBOT MODE:
Okay, this is where the figure really shines. The robot mode is amazing in almost every aspect.
His left arm is a cannon, as per usual for the character, with the plastic tube attaching to his back.
The head sculpt is nice and in a rarity these days, he even contains some lightpiping.
Another impressive aspect is how big he is for a Voyager. He towers over most Voyager figures, and is approximately the height of contemporary Leaders now. Of course, he isn't as mass heavy as a Leader figure but he's no slouch either.
The cannon is removable, he actually has both hands.
A quick comparison with his Core class version and of course, this Voyager version is nicer with the additional budget his larger size allows.
Articulation is good, he has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and ankles.
He comes with a cardboard stand depicting a scene from the beginning of the Bumblebee movie.
He doesn't have any other accessories, so his (huge) cannon is the only weapon that he has.
The only flaw the figure has is that the design has his thighs / legs being proportionally slightly too long, so that it can look a little bit off.
Otherwise, this is a fantastic robot mode that's more than worth the price of admission.
OVERALL:
No one really asked for a Core version of this character, so it is welcome that a Voyager sized version was released. While having a subpar alternate mode, the robot mode more than makes up for it and it is fantastic. He looks awesome and he feels very much worth his price point given his size.
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