Beast Hunters Voyager Shockwave

Ho boy. Beast Hunters Shockwave. Logic dictates that this...is gonna be painful. This was one of the few non-Predacons from the line I was really looking forward to. He looked so good and cool and logical and whatnot. As for how it turned out...well...

I'm delaying the inevitable. Onto the review. You'll see my opinion of this guy soon enough.

Shockwave in vehicle mode is a Cybertronian tank. It's...wait, what the?!



Oh right. Those are the snap-on beast armor bits. A pair of spiky claws and a spiky chest plate mask with purple and pale green on it. Whatever makes him blend in better with the other Beast Hunters toys... Let's take that stuff off.



Much better. Now where was I? Oh yeah. Shockwave's tank mode is the type of Cybertronian tank most think of and cringe at - basically, robot mode lying on its back with the limbs adjusted a bit and the head turned if they're feeling generous. This is relatively show accurate as far as I can tell, but it doesn't change the fact that it's very lazy and halfhearted. The colors don't help much either. Purple, light grey, dark grey, and translucent red. Two shades of purple, silver, grey, and metallic purple peek out here and there for paint. With a pair of big wheels in the front under what are clearly the robot feet and a little wheel poking through each tread in the back, Shockwave should roll, yet somehow doesn't do that so well. In fact, about the only thing that works well in tank mode is the 'Spinning Hyperflux Cannon' gimmick. Push the plunger on the top down and the cannon spins and opens up to reveal a translucent red blast glued to the end. The cover pieces are attached to a pair of springs each so it'll snap shut when it winds down after a second or so. This is addictively fun.

Transformation is bare bones simple. One little fact about it though: His right hand is basically grabbing his own butt. Logic strongly suggests that Shockwave is in dire need of what humans refer to as a washroom, and Knock Out is hogging the only one aboard the Nemesis. (undoubtedly grooming himself and buffing his paint job...again) I'd describe the colors, but...what the?!



Shockwave, Rampage called. He wants you to stop wearing his parts like bad armor. Logic suggests you heed the big chromed crab and remove the beast armor immediately.



Better. Anyway, there's no new colors revealed here as his robot parts weren't exactly hiding. I'll be generous and say he has 23 points of articulation. However, his hand turns awkwardly so there's little point, and then there's THOSE HIPS. THOSE HIPS are TEH SUCK! The forward/back movement is fine. It's the ratcheted outward hips that only move in 30 degree intervals. It severely limits the poses he can pull off, and can't assume a natural stance. Might still be able to do the oh so popular 'Are All Dead' pose...kinda. The left tread disconnects and forms the cable to his cannon, although it...limits his arm's...poseability... Wait. What the...



...FFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...!!! Why is the right track half torn off?! It doesn't move in any mode! And there's some unsightly little cracks in the back of the treads! What in the name of -!

*a few minutes later after having played with the gimmick some more* ...I'm okay...I'm okay. I've since replaced that Shockwave for another one, and although there's still some cracks in the back, at least it's not half torn off...yet. But this does not give me confidence that these will last very long. Please, Shockwave. Prove me wrong. Logic compels you to. At the least, the spinning gimmick still works in robot mode.

IS Shockwave worth it? For retail, no more. And try to check it thoroughly in the package before buying. If you're absolutely a die hard Prime Shockwave fan, the Transformers GO! version is much prettier...but much more expensive, and THOSE HIPS are still present. However, I've found him to be the weakest of the Beast Hunters Voyagers so far. Yes, Predaking has a larger toy available soon. Yes, Optimus has the First Edition toy that's still superior to his Beast Hunters toy. But they've got better alternate modes and much better articulated robot modes. If you just want Shockwave to fill your Prime ranks, wait until he goes on clearance. Since he's packed with Predaking and Optimus, who were available in the previous wave, it might not be all that long for when they clear out for Ultra Magnus and Grimwing.

Nice review, DB!


I was on the fence towards getting this figure to temporarily fill in as a Classics Shockwave, but I'm pretty confident Fans Toys will stay true to their word and give us a downsized Quakewave mold eventually. I hope so...because I just can't get over those oversized calves, feet and gun arm on this BH version. Not to mention the head wouldn't fit in with a Classics aesthetic.

EDIT: That sucks about the hip. Seems like we could expect better from Hasbro, but 'guess not.

He's light enough that he probably wouldn't need them to ratchet, and the chest plate's tabs slide into the thighs to stay in place, which means they would stay in place fine on their own anyway. So I don't really know what they were thinking by doing that.

I got the TFGO Shockwave today in the mail, I decided whenever he tons the armour, it be either Nightmare mode or Rage mode to reflect the change in personalty!  Overall, he is nice and has a better job than Takara's Optimus does!

SuperOmegaPrime wrote:I got the TFGO Shockwave today in the mail, I decided whenever he tons the armour, it be either Nightmare mode or Rage mode to reflect the change in personalty!  Overall, he is nice and has a better job than Takara's Optimus does!

Or 'It's all you can eat crab night at Red Lobster' mode.

No, its not eat crab night, red lobster mode, its bad dream mode for Shockwave! For placement in my room, he and Optimus have knocked Armada Starscream out of his place, but then, I've grown kind of tried of that Starscream figure, so for now, he in jet mode with minicon attached and gone under my bed for storage!