Fans Toys FT-03 Quakewave

Fans Toys is relatively new to the whole third party/unofficial toy thing. And it seems as though they really want to go big by trying to have their stuff fit into the Masterpiece series. They have to be practically dead on for likeness or else it won't sell. Fans Toys was originally going to release FT-02 first, a Masterpiece scale take on Soundwave...but those plans pretty much fell flat when an official Masterpiece Soundwave was announced. So they went ahead with the next one in line that they were working on, FT-03 Quakewave.

Quakewave is packaged in robot mode, but I'm starting in gun mode. It's a pretty sizable astro magnum/space gun, and the grip is large enough for my hand to hold on to quite comfortably. This thing is a huge chunk of purple plastic with silver and translucent purple. Silver paint is used judiciously on the end of the muzzle and the knobs on the sides of the sight screen. The big black hose is like a household wire - bends about easily and retains its shape without affecting the elbow joint, and shouldn't be prone to the problems that plague G1 Shockwave's hose today. It's also completely and utterly not involved with the electronics.



Also, a front view to see the detailed panel inside.



And yes, Soundwave is both a prop AND the size comparison.

Transformation is fairly straightforward, yet clever in places. In particular, the legs don't form the grip. Instead, they're formed from the back of the gun and the halves of the grip fold onto the sides. And that the thigh swivels are intentionally off-center to grant more space between the lower legs in robot mode. One little hiccup with the design, however. The legs are on a sliding joint to extend or retract the legs between modes, but are a pain in the butt to get started either way due to there being no release buttons for the internal catches like on MP-10. But the result is...logical. The upper legs are completely coated in silver paint, and so too are the 'ears' and internal shoulder joints. Dark purple paint is exposed with the midsection. By default, Quakewave has translucent purple hand parts attached. But opaque, metallic light purple versions come with the second release, and are available for those who bought the first release. Since I switched to the opaque ones first thing when I got it, and don't wish to swap them again, I'm not going to show the translucent ones. But a showing of a size comparison...I can do that.



That seems about right. He's got two light up features. A red LED inside the cannon and a yellow LED for his optic. The cannon requires a CR-1025 battery to power it, and the head can take either a CR-1020 or a CR-1025 battery. I don't have those batteries so I can't demonstrate that feature. That, and I broke the switch on the arm. (the switch for the head is fine, however)

Oh yeah, see that particularly shiny stuff on the sides of the legs/grip and making up the toes? (and heels) Die-cast metal. Makes the gun mode suitably heavy around one's hand, (not to mention that cold sensation when your hand touches the metal on the grip) and keeps him bottom heavy in robot mode so he won't tip easily in awkward poses.

What kind of poses, you ask? Poses like this:



37 points of articulation. Three are ball joints: Neck, right wrist, thumb. The index and middle fingers bend independently  at the base knuckle while the ring and pinky finger are one piece that moves at the base knuckle. All four fingertips can move independently of one another. The ratchet joints of the shoulder are very satisfyingly loud; the ones for the hips and knees to a somewhat lesser degree. Speaking of joints, the right heel on mine is extremely tight, to the extent that it's a huge pain in the butt to get it out. Loosening the screws holding the foot together seems to help, if only to allow you to pull the foot apart slightly so the heel isn't squeezed so tightly. Might just be mine, but I make mention of it just in case.

So, is Quakewave worth it? That depends. This definitely looks and feels like a Masterpiece Shockwave, so if you're a Masterpiece collector this could definitely be worthwhile. But at the same time, it's not actually an official Takara Masterpiece Shockwave, (gun mode means I wouldn't bet on a possible Masterpiece Shockwave seeing a Hasbro release) which may turn some people off. If you really need a modern G1-y Shockwave right now and are eyeballing this figure, then yes he is worth the money. And if you can't secure one right now, there will be a third release coming that will include an alternate left forearm to allow the hose to come in to the underside of the arm rather than on top, albeit it'll lack the light up capability apparently. As for me, I've gotta revive Optimus...

...Again.

simply amazing DB! That last pic is epic!! You are getting repped for a great review and showing a dead Optimus Prime picture on the Lair. Too bad you didn't have a back drop that said ALL AUTOBOTS ARE DEAD! That Shockwave *ahem* QUAKEWAVE pose is perfect for that comic cover.

I clung to every word of that most excellent review as I'm on the fence as to whether I should drop the cash for this figure or not...even though he's a PERFECT representation of the G1 Shockwave I'm looking for, sadly, he's just a bit too large to scale in with the Decepticons I currently have in my collection. The quality behind this Masterpiece is unrivaled though! As evidenced by the many, many MP collectors on other forums raving how Quakewave is of better build and quality than any Takara MP figure with only the MP-04/MP-01 mold being in the same league. One you'll definitely not be worried about breaking over multiple transformations.

I also repped you! Not only was this review excellent (like all of your others), but it was also relevant considering this figures recent release.

  ...I'm seriously considering ordering this guy this week. Chimungmung has this guy for $139 even, which I think is a fair price considering I get the solid hand and gun arm. Never ordered from them before, but I've heard nothing but good things about the guy (Tony) that runs the site.

Snagged this guy today from a USA seller. Chimungmung sold out before I got a chance to order from them....Oh well, paid just $5 more and it'll be coming Priority Mail (stateside) instead of from overseas.
    Can't wait to get this guy and have him sitting alongside Hexatron in my collection!

My Quakewave arrived today!!   Just got around to opening him up and applied a few quick faction symbols (care of Reprolabels). As you can see, he came with the solid hand/gun and I still need to do the swap but for now I'm pretty stoked! Just need to see about getting the reversible forearm for the underslung gun hose now...going to be a bit tricky because I won't have a retailer to go through unless somebody offers it for sale individually.

Finally ordered mine!

Galvatron wrote:Finally ordered mine!

Welcome to the dark side of Transformers collecting! Your wallet will never be the same.  

No hope for you now

Reprolabels doesn't make a set for him, but Eness does:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Eness-Sticker-for-FANSTOY-FT-03-Shockwave/749403517.html
Here they are on Ebay but they're more expensive:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=eness+sticker&_osacat=99&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0&_nkw=eness+sticker&_sacat=0

So there's some aftermarket stickers if you're interested?  

Dear GOD this review is old...  

See? Even the nice lady here is rotting away because of the review's age. Just keep her away from those mean old plants. 

finally got mine today!!! This guy is totally awesome!!
 




Thanks to a spare decal sheet from repolabels, I was able to make Quakewave an official Decepticon SHOCKWAVE.


Those legs were tight during transformation. I cut 2 fingers







This guy is beyond all things that are cool!!
I'm not going to use the addon kit for his arm hose nor am i going to do the solid laser hand addon but I do plan on using the solid right hand.
Inserting the battery into the head to turn the eye light on was a bitch and a half!!
The weak soldering busted the wire that connects the power to the on and off switch. I had to (galvatronize) it to get it to work. I hope I never need to change that battery ever again!!


The balance and poseability on this guy is outstanding!! I also recommend this bad boy to any TF collector!!

  I want to see a group shot now.    Hex, Quake, Wave...

Some size comparisons of non MP figures would be nice!

He's pretty much the same size as G1 Shockwave

That doesn't help me one bit as I never had a G1 Shockwave!

SuperOmegaPrime wrote:Some size comparisons of non MP figures would be nice!

maybe that helps? Up against a deluxe and voyager.
TRIVIA: One of these Shockwaves is the logical choice. Can you guess the one?

Yeah, the logical choice was to get Takara's TFP Shockwave, for me at least!

I guess quakewave.  cause the other two suck

Ravage wrote:I guess quakewave.  cause the other two suck

You would say that, but I think TFP Shockwave is pretty nice, sure his alt mode could of done with a little work but the robot mode is awesome, plus how he portrayed in the show is faithful to the G1 cartoon version, loyal to Megatron, thou officially not the guardian of Cybertron, there he gets where he started and they also pay homage to the comic version of him being a scientist, in other words, the best of both worlds!

There is not really a BAD Shockwave out there. Unless it's created for a Bay movie.
But Quakewave is far more logical than any other.

DOTM Shockwave, was under developed like most of the movie cast of characters, but the toy Shockwave got was great, plus Hasbro did the sensible thing and painted him purple!

I think im gonna set my foc shockwave on fire......hehe that would be awesome

Ravage wrote:I think im gonna set my foc shockwave on fire......hehe that would be awesome

I transformed mine once and it's sat in gun mode in G1 Scorponoks claws ever since.   #notimpressed

Ravage wrote:I think im gonna set my foc shockwave on fire......hehe that would be awesome

you know we are gonna want pics of this!!!