New Gallery: Transformers Masterpiece MP-29 Destron Laserwave (Shockwave)

Nice photos! What an outstanding figure.

Man, that figure looks so nice.

I wish the purple was darker and his optic more yellow instead of green otherwise he looks great!

Nice shots!!

I think I need some of those clear stands..

Sabrblade wrote:Man, that figure looks so nice.

It is very much underrated. The toy itself is perfect in my opinion. The only thing I didnt like was the price tag. I found it a bit pricey for the parts count, size and simplicity of engineering.

Deadput wrote:I wish the purple was darker and his optic more yellow instead of green otherwise he looks great!

Do you have the figure? I ask because in hand I found his eye to be as yellow as can be.

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Man, that figure looks so nice.

It is very much underrated. The toy itself is perfect in my opinion. The only thing I didnt like was the price tag. I found it a bit pricey for the parts count, size and simplicity of engineering.

AND the lack of "licensing"! Why is it the non-licensed characters are more expensive from Japan?!

william-james88 wrote:

Deadput wrote:I wish the purple was darker and his optic more yellow instead of green otherwise he looks great!

Do you have the figure? I ask because in hand I found his eye to be as yellow as can be.

I agree WJ, all kinds of yellow.

itscramtastic wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Man, that figure looks so nice.

It is very much underrated. The toy itself is perfect in my opinion. The only thing I didnt like was the price tag. I found it a bit pricey for the parts count, size and simplicity of engineering.

AND the lack of "licensing"! Why is it the non-licensed characters are more expensive from Japan?!

I dont know, that was weird, and good point. The whole licensing thing is odd though, I dont think money is an issue. Because if it was then they wouldnt be able to sell hotwheel cars for so cheap.
The only reason I bought this toy now rather than waiting for Hasbro's is because I feared that Hasbro wouldnt release him due to him being a gun, nomatter how unlike a real gun he is. And I had to pay an extra 40$ on top of it since Canadian customs "caught" him. He turned out to be far more expensive than anticipated (then again, pretty much the same price as an American buying straight from BBTS). But I still cant take points off the toy itself which I find is amazing and has everything I would want in an MP Shockwave.

william-james88 wrote:

itscramtastic wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Man, that figure looks so nice.

It is very much underrated. The toy itself is perfect in my opinion. The only thing I didnt like was the price tag. I found it a bit pricey for the parts count, size and simplicity of engineering.

AND the lack of "licensing"! Why is it the non-licensed characters are more expensive from Japan?!

I dont know, that was weird, and good point. The whole licensing thing is odd though, I dont think money is an issue. Because if it was then they wouldnt be able to sell hotwheel cars for so cheap.
The only reason I bought this toy now rather than waiting for Hasbro's is because I feared that Hasbro wouldnt release him due to him being a gun, nomatter how unlike a real gun he is. And I had to pay an extra 40$ on top of it since Canadian customs "caught" him. He turned out to be far more expensive than anticipated (then again, pretty much the same price as an American buying straight from BBTS). But I still cant take points off the toy itself which I find is amazing and has everything I would want in an MP Shockwave.

Maybe Hot Wheels/Matchbox signed the license fees decades ago and they stuck?

Maybe it comes down to the electronic gimmick? Then again, if it was that, why are the jets so expensive from Japan but not when Hasbro releases them (no gimmicks)? I just find the cost side of things really confusing, especially when they've made so many variants of the MP03/MP11 mold that is about the same size as Shockwave.

Back on topic, galleries are cool.

I'm going with, the price is higher due to the electronics.

The gallery does look nice. Seib said the color was hard to photograph, but I think the shots came out nice and crisp.

Cobotron wrote:I'm going with, the price is higher due to the electronics.

Its a good theory, but then you look at these which also have electronics and were priced at less than half that:


Transformers (2007) Optimus Prime (Convoy) Gallery


Transformers Prime: Robots In Disguise Optimus Prime Gallery


Transformers Dark of the Moon Ironhide Gallery


Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Optimus Prime Gallery





My point is I dont think electronics cost all that much due to its prevalence in kids toy. Sam with die cast.

william-james88 wrote:

Cobotron wrote:I'm going with, the price is higher due to the electronics.

Its a good theory, but then you look at these which also have electronics and were priced at less than half that:
ALL OF THE THINGS!!
My point is I dont think electronics cost all that much due to its prevalence in kids toy. Sam with die cast.

Word up WJ, we agree again. And the stuff I said about $200 seekers goes with that.

Nice gallery and a great-looking figure. I received mine last week. For $150 they should've made him fully die cast metal but at least he looks tv show accurate.

You know, the talk about licensing has me wondering. Takara doesn't have the license to the original mold that was used for G1 Shockwave. So how can they make new figures based so closely to that design? Isn't that the same kind of infringement that 3rd party toys commit when they make figures?

RiddlerJ wrote:You know, the talk about licensing has me wondering. Takara doesn't have the license to the original mold that was used for G1 Shockwave. So how can they make new figures based so closely to that design? Isn't that the same kind of infringement that 3rd party toys commit when they make figures?

Great question Riddler. Its been debated before and while the rights are complex the latest theory is that Hasbro and Takara do have the majority of the rights. Its not that they didnt have them but that they were shared, which made it complicated. But the other companies that may have had the rights are no longer around to sue (example, Radioshack).

Also itscram, the seekers are 200$ because we can only get them as the asian exclusive version. If they werent exclusive, BBTS would sell them around the same price as Shockwave (and they could be obtainable for about 110$ in Japan). But of course all these numbers I am throwing out are all a far cry from the 60$ we now know they can be sold at. And you know whats crazy, TRU didnt even boost the price up when they got a restock.

I'm so glad that a TransFormers Authority like you Seibertron, agrees with me about how much I dislike Takara's blatant overuse of LILAC and LAVENDAR for some of it's most ICONIC Decepticon villains. There are instances where slavish cartoon-acuraccy simply doesn't work in a real-world 3-D representation. Our beloved G1 cartoon-series is infamously inconsistent in it's animation as far as character colors, body-proportions, and scale are concerned. The limited color-palette of 1980's cell-shaded animation should not always be the final deciding factor when designing Masterpiece TransFormers figures. I, for one, have always wanted more homages to the G1 toys and to the real-world vehicles & objects that originally inspired the vintage figures and characters. That is why I would have preferred having more (high-quality) chrome on car-bots and their weapons, more mold details in general, and a deeper, truer PURPLE for MP Shockwave, Re-issue Galvatron, and Henkei Cyclonus.

AutobotAlvaron wrote:I'm so glad that a TransFormers Authority like you Seibertron, agrees with me about how much I dislike Takara's blatant overuse of LILAC and LAVENDAR for some of it's most ICONIC Decepticon villains. There are instances where slavish cartoon-acuraccy simply doesn't work in a real-world 3-D representation. Our beloved G1 cartoon-series is infamously inconsistent in it's animation as far as character colors, body-proportions, and scale are concerned. The limited color-palette of 1980's cell-shaded animation should not always be the final deciding factor when designing Masterpiece TransFormers figures. I, for one, have always wanted more homages to the G1 toys and to the real-world vehicles & objects that originally inspired the vintage figures and characters. That is why I would have preferred having more (high-quality) chrome on car-bots and their weapons, more mold details in general, and a deeper, truer PURPLE for MP Shockwave, Re-issue Galvatron, and Henkei Cyclonus.

Thanks AutobotAlvaron. Just doing my part to help get the word out there. I couldn't have said it better about the purple (though I am anti-chrome as well ... the chrome on Masterpiece Hot Rod is already coming off 6 weeks after owning him and transforming him a few times).



Apparently, I'm with the minorities on this figure. I was extremely excited about Shockwave when he was first announced last year, after wanting a Masterpiece Shockwave ever since Masterpiece debuted back in late 2003.

Unfortunately, my liking of this figure has done nothing but decrease the more it was revealed all the way up to actually owning it. Here's my rundown of dislikes for "Masterpiece" Shockwave. Normally I try to refrain from posting my opinions when I strongly dislike something, but in this case I've got to level with all of you because I find all of the "wow this toy is amazing" comments from so many of you kind of odd when I find the toy frustrating overall.

• This is the WRONG color purple. It doesn't match the cartoon and to be honest I'm not sure I'd want any Shockwave toy to "match" the color of his cartoon counterpart. Dark purplish blue, bluish purple. Not lavender or light purple or whatever! This toy's color was the hardest color to photograph that I've ever dealt with in 12.5 years of photographing Transformers toys (well aside from some of the crazy neon orange and pink colors like G2 Starscream). I couldn't match it no matter what camera settings I used, no matter how much I tinkered with the RAW files (adjusting hue, saturation, color temperature, contrast, etc). The toy doesn't match the cartoon, and like AutobotAlvaron said above, cartoon accuracy should be used as a guide but common sense should take over at some point.
• What the heck is up with his backup? I'm in disbelief that this was the best solution they could come up with. All we did was trade one partsforming piece for another, hardly an improvement on a toy designed by a lesser known company called Toyco back in the 1980s. If you transform the front of the cannon properly, it screws with his silhouette and overall color scheme since he know has a giant light gray piece on his back. It doesn't get any better when you add the backpack cover, because then he just ends up with a massive purple block on his back (which looks better, but not as good as it does on the original).
• The light grayish purple hands, left arm cannon, and ears ... Takara you're killing me. Not interested in colors like this on my Transformers that should be silver and dark purple!!!!!!
• The lower legs are a mess. I can't tell you how many few dozens of times his leg panels collapsed or didn't stay together when I would move him into a new position or different angle for the camera. I swear every time I kept grabbing his lower legs (because that's where I usually handle a Transformer so that it doesn't tip over when I rotate them for the photoshoot, which I kept grabbing by mistake because of force of habit). The lower legs are a poor design no matter how you want to argue it ...
• ... which brings me to his feet. Ok in robot mode, but the fact that you can't even do what the G1 toy does so that he can "stand" in gun mode is absurd and unfortunate. But hey, we ended up with a silly looking purple stand instead. Nice.
• As for the light piping for his singular eye ... it's a nice feature, but the light piping is too dark or something. While light piping is one of my favorite features on Transformers toys since late G1.5/G2, and while it's something I wish had been on Masterpiece figures from the start, at this point I'd rather they had just painted it properly instead of doing light piping poorly, plus it just kind of looks out of place amongst the other Masterpiece figures.
• The light up feature was kind of a slap-in-the-face. It was a nice touch, but also a reminder that the sound effects were absent, which is what helped make G1 Shockwave so iconic. I liked how they implemented the light up feature, especially with the brief "stay-on" feature, but the lack of sound was disappointing.
• The "hose" is also another disappointment. That metal coil will not last. It will become dented or bent, or whatever. We'll just end up with a hose with a different problem from the original. I just can't believe that was the best they could come up with.
• His size ... Shockwave should have been bigger. And please for the love of god, if someone pulls out that silly G1 size chart, I'll go crazy. Shockwave should be big. Optimus Prime or bigger. Just like his G1 toy was bigger. He should be bigger than Soundwave and Starscream and I wouldn't mind if he was bigger than Megatron (though not the MP-5 Megatron). Ultimately, he just feels like another take on the original G1 toy with the only improvement being posability. So many details are the same, which is probably good, but at the same time it just feels like a rip-off of sorts or a 3rd party G1 Shockwave's original toy is so iconic that to not do it right just seems like an injustice.

A proper G1 colored Shockwave is on the top of my want list. It doesn't resolve the other issues, but fixing his colors would go a long ways toward not making him look like a character that belongs in the My Little Pony universe.

So those are my thoughts. I've unloaded my opinions. Bummed about Shockwave and a few others recently released. Here's hoping we can get back to figures along the "masterpiece" levels of Masterpiece Wheeljack and Prowl soon.

Nice!


Transformers Masterpiece Shockwave (Laserwave) Gallery

Seibertron wrote:

AutobotAlvaron wrote:I'm so glad that a TransFormers Authority like you Seibertron, agrees with me about how much I dislike Takara's blatant overuse of LILAC and LAVENDAR for some of it's most ICONIC Decepticon villains. There are instances where slavish cartoon-acuraccy simply doesn't work in a real-world 3-D representation. Our beloved G1 cartoon-series is infamously inconsistent in it's animation as far as character colors, body-proportions, and scale are concerned. The limited color-palette of 1980's cell-shaded animation should not always be the final deciding factor when designing Masterpiece TransFormers figures. I, for one, have always wanted more homages to the G1 toys and to the real-world vehicles & objects that originally inspired the vintage figures and characters. That is why I would have preferred having more (high-quality) chrome on car-bots and their weapons, more mold details in general, and a deeper, truer PURPLE for MP Shockwave, Re-issue Galvatron, and Henkei Cyclonus.

Thanks AutobotAlvaron. Just doing my part to help get the word out there. I couldn't have said it better about the purple (though I am anti-chrome as well ... the chrome on Masterpiece Hot Rod is already coming off 6 weeks after owning him and transforming him a few times).



Apparently, I'm with the minorities on this figure. I was extremely excited about Shockwave when he was first announced last year, after wanting a Masterpiece Shockwave ever since Masterpiece debuted back in late 2003.

Unfortunately, my liking of this figure has done nothing but decrease the more it was revealed all the way up to actually owning it. Here's my rundown of dislikes for "Masterpiece" Shockwave. Normally I try to refrain from posting my opinions when I strongly dislike something, but in this case I've got to level with all of you because I find all of the "wow this toy is amazing" comments from so many of you kind of odd when I find the toy frustrating overall.

• This is the WRONG color purple. It doesn't match the cartoon and to be honest I'm not sure I'd want any Shockwave toy to "match" the color of his cartoon counterpart. Dark purplish blue, bluish purple. Not lavender or light purple or whatever! This toy's color was the hardest color to photograph that I've ever dealt with in 12.5 years of photographing Transformers toys (well aside from some of the crazy neon orange and pink colors like G2 Starscream). I couldn't match it no matter what camera settings I used, no matter how much I tinkered with the RAW files (adjusting hue, saturation, color temperature, contrast, etc). The toy doesn't match the cartoon, and like AutobotAlvaron said above, cartoon accuracy should be used as a guide but common sense should take over at some point.
• What the heck is up with his backup? I'm in disbelief that this was the best solution they could come up with. All we did was trade one partsforming piece for another, hardly an improvement on a toy designed by a lesser known company called Toyco back in the 1980s. If you transform the front of the cannon properly, it screws with his silhouette and overall color scheme since he know has a giant light gray piece on his back. It doesn't get any better when you add the backpack cover, because then he just ends up with a massive purple block on his back (which looks better, but not as good as it does on the original).
• The light grayish purple hands, left arm cannon, and ears ... Takara you're killing me. Not interested in colors like this on my Transformers that should be silver and dark purple!!!!!!
• The lower legs are a mess. I can't tell you how many few dozens of times his leg panels collapsed or didn't stay together when I would move him into a new position or different angle for the camera. I swear every time I kept grabbing his lower legs (because that's where I usually handle a Transformer so that it doesn't tip over when I rotate them for the photoshoot, which I kept grabbing by mistake because of force of habit). The lower legs are a poor design no matter how you want to argue it ...
• ... which brings me to his feet. Ok in robot mode, but the fact that you can't even do what the G1 toy does so that he can "stand" in gun mode is absurd and unfortunate. But hey, we ended up with a silly looking purple stand instead. Nice.
• As for the light piping for his singular eye ... it's a nice feature, but the light piping is too dark or something. While light piping is one of my favorite features on Transformers toys since late G1.5/G2, and while it's something I wish had been on Masterpiece figures from the start, at this point I'd rather they had just painted it properly instead of doing light piping poorly, plus it just kind of looks out of place amongst the other Masterpiece figures.
• The light up feature was kind of a slap-in-the-face. It was a nice touch, but also a reminder that the sound effects were absent, which is what helped make G1 Shockwave so iconic. I liked how they implemented the light up feature, especially with the brief "stay-on" feature, but the lack of sound was disappointing.
• The "hose" is also another disappointment. That metal coil will not last. It will become dented or bent, or whatever. We'll just end up with a hose with a different problem from the original. I just can't believe that was the best they could come up with.
• His size ... Shockwave should have been bigger. And please for the love of god, if someone pulls out that silly G1 size chart, I'll go crazy. Shockwave should be big. Optimus Prime or bigger. Just like his G1 toy was bigger. He should be bigger than Soundwave and Starscream and I wouldn't mind if he was bigger than Megatron (though not the MP-5 Megatron). Ultimately, he just feels like another take on the original G1 toy with the only improvement being posability. So many details are the same, which is probably good, but at the same time it just feels like a rip-off of sorts or a 3rd party G1 Shockwave's original toy is so iconic that to not do it right just seems like an injustice.

A proper G1 colored Shockwave is on the top of my want list. It doesn't resolve the other issues, but fixing his colors would go a long ways toward not making him look like a character that belongs in the My Little Pony universe.

So those are my thoughts. I've unloaded my opinions. Bummed about Shockwave and a few others recently released. Here's hoping we can get back to figures along the "masterpiece" levels of Masterpiece Wheeljack and Prowl soon.

I thought I was alone on the leg issues! I have to be honest, I don't really feel like he was worth the BBTS price tag. He's nice and all, but the legs are my biggest problem - they really don't hold together well. I got the Takara Quillfire in my Pile of Loot on the same day and thought he was a way better value for his price. I don't know, maybe I'm just comparing him to my high standard of MP Soundwave, G2 Bee and Prime, but a darker purple and some better support in the legs would have made a huge difference. He still would have felt a bit too expensive, but it would have helped.

I agree that this figure is truly awesome but equally frustrating in many regards. I feel like it's nowhere close to deserving a masterpiece tag unlike Ultra Magnus, wheeljack et al. Looks great in the line up and yeah could be bigger buti think the size was due to then proportions. The price was ridiculous too. I haven't tried the light up features but come on, you add lights to this and don't add a light for his eye? missed opportunity in my book.

Other huge probs are the hollow part in the back of the gun mode. This i find glaring considering the original toy didn't have that apparently. Also - screws and screw holes all over the place. I'd be more accepting from say generations figure but blargh.

Also, yeah hot rod's chrome was fading off the same day i got him though I find him a vastly more fun figure...

They're all great toys at the end and worth having but i think shockwave's price left a bit of a sting...

Seibertron wrote:This is the WRONG color purple. It doesn't match the cartoon and to be honest I'm not sure I'd want any Shockwave toy to "match" the color of his cartoon counterpart.

It matches one his purples. He was painted various shades throughout the show. I wouldn't have minded a deeper colour either. Ironically, the screen caps in the instruction sheets are a different purple than the MP.

Seibertron wrote:The lower legs are a mess. I can't tell you how many few dozens of times his leg panels collapsed or didn't stay together when I would move him into a new position or different angle for the camera.

Strange, mine doesn't do that, at all. I hope it won't be an issue with the replacement figure. Are you sure you tabbed everything?

I agree that it would have been cool if he could stand in gun mode! I should find a better looking stand for him.

Seibertron wrote:As for the light piping for his singular eye ... it's a nice feature, but the light piping is too dark or something. While light piping is one of my favorite features on Transformers toys since late G1.5/G2, and while it's something I wish had been on Masterpiece figures from the start, at this point I'd rather they had just painted it properly instead of doing light piping poorly, plus it just kind of looks out of place amongst the other Masterpiece figures.

This surprises me, because I think he's got the best light-piping I've ever seen. It doesn't take much, just standing on my desk.

For the MP line I think he should be the only one to have this feature because he didn't have a face, just a flickering light-bulb. So that's a nice homage.

I'm actually glad that he doesn't have sound-effects.

His height feels right to me, in the series he was the same height as Starscream and a bit shorter than Soundwave. But to each their own!

I didn't/don't have the G1 toy. What sounds did he make?
The same stock laser gun sounds that all 80's laser gun toys made, (especially the ones from Radio Shack)?
If they are the ones I'm thinking of, they were awesome, and drove Mom and Dad crazy. Would have been hilarious if this Shockwave made those ridiculous 8 bit sounds.

Pew pew.

Cobotron wrote:I didn't/don't have the G1 toy. What sounds did he make?
The same stock laser gun sounds that all 80's laser gun toys made, (especially the ones from Radio Shack)?

Go to the 2:50 mark



I am glad my MP doesnt make this noise.

And funny you mention radioshack, guess who was sold there:

Those are EXACTLY the sounds I was thinking of!
Well at least two 2 of the 4 the Radio Shack blaster I had circa the '80's.

Cyberpath wrote:His height feels right to me, in the series he was the same height as Starscream and a bit shorter than Soundwave. But to each their own!

I agree. Even before that size chart showed its face to the world, Shockwave always struck me as being about a head shorter than Megatron and Optimus in the cartoon.

Sabrblade wrote:

Cyberpath wrote:His height feels right to me, in the series he was the same height as Starscream and a bit shorter than Soundwave. But to each their own!

I agree. Even before that size chart showed its face to the world, Shockwave always struck me as being about a head shorter than Megatron and Optimus in the cartoon.

The biggest issue I have with his size is that in both robot mode and space gun mode, he's basically the same size as the toy that I've had since I was a kid. Add to it the other problems with this toy, and it's just kind of a blah experience. Hardly a "Masterpiece". I really wish they'd stay far away from "cartoon" accuracy especially when it comes to colors or simplicity of the panels (such as Ultra Magnus and Hot Rod).

In regards to the figure's color, it's pretty obvious isn't it? Look at Red Alert, we're about to get a "more animation accurate" version. I have little doubt that in a year or so they will announce a "more toy accurate" version of Shockwave. It's a well-known sales technique that some of the third party companies have been using for years; sell the less desirable color first, then get customers to double dip when the more desirable color is released. Double sales for the same mold.

The Masterpiece line just isn't what it used to be back when Hasui was at the helm. I don't think he would have ever let that Ironhide/Ratchet mold get by with those horrible hip panels. In the past, I had confidence that the official version would be the best, that is no longer the case. There are a number of third party companies that are putting out figures on par with or exceed the official ones. The rumored MP Inferno is a prime example. I've already got an outstanding MP Inferno from MakeToys, and it appears that Ocular Max/MMC will be even better. I really don't see how Takara can pass them. I welcome them to, but I just don't see how.

The bottom line for me, Takara needs to get their act together. They aren't the only game in town.

El Duque wrote:In regards to the figure's color, it's pretty obvious isn't it? Look at Red Alert, we're about to get a "more animation accurate" version. I have little doubt that in a year or so they will announce a "more toy accurate" version of Shockwave. It's a well-known sales technique that some of the third party companies have been using for years; sell the less desirable color first, then get customers to double dip when the more desirable color is released. Double sales for the same mold.

I've been preaching this for years, ever since there was a clear divide between Hasbro and Takara products at retail with the products being different from each other instead of the same. They figured out that they could sell the same products twice, thanks to a global market and collectors. It has nothing to do with if Takara or Hasbro has the better paint scheme ... it has everything to do with just coming out with something different to appeal to a different type of buyer.

I still don't get the choice for Shockwave. The product photography on the packaging is darker than the toy as are the screen caps they used. It's not the same color as what's in the cartoon, but I really don't want that color purple either. Let's hope Takara has a 2nd version coming out later ... and I'll take a gray version as well for Shackwave, Shockwave's clone! Now we just need a new Megatron, and a repaint for Megaplex, and then Shackwave and Megaplex can hang out together.

Seibertron wrote:

El Duque wrote:In regards to the figure's color, it's pretty obvious isn't it? Look at Red Alert, we're about to get a "more animation accurate" version. I have little doubt that in a year or so they will announce a "more toy accurate" version of Shockwave. It's a well-known sales technique that some of the third party companies have been using for years; sell the less desirable color first, then get customers to double dip when the more desirable color is released. Double sales for the same mold.

I've been preaching this for years, ever since there was a clear divide between Hasbro and Takara products at retail with the products being different from each other instead of the same. They figured out that they could sell the same products twice, thanks to a global market and collectors. It has nothing to do with if Takara or Hasbro has the better paint scheme ... it has everything to do with just coming out with something different to appeal to a different type of buyer.

I still don't get the choice for Shockwave. The product photography on the packaging is darker than the toy as are the screen caps they used. It's not the same color as what's in the cartoon, but I really don't want that color purple either. Let's hope Takara has a 2nd version coming out later ... and I'll take a gray version as well for Shackwave, Shockwave's clone! Now we just need a new Megatron, and a repaint for Megaplex, and then Shackwave and Megaplex can hang out together.

I'd put money on both a gray "Shackwave" and a darker purple "Toy" Shockwave. I can't say that I blame them really, if I could figure out a way to sell the same product to the same consumer three times I probably would too. I'm okay with this "animation" version, so I'm not sure if I would double dip. Guess we'll just have to wait and see how it looks, but I have no doubt it will happen.

MP Shocwave is a great example of over engineering at its worst. The original figure was well ahead of its time with a simple yet super effective transformation that you'd think would be hard to screw up, and yet they somehow managed to. First off, they clearly started with the bot mode because the gun mode is full of compromises. I do have the figure in hand, but I'll use Seibertron's photos to illustrate some points.

1. The barrel doesn't look right with all of the obvious cut out parts and hinges.

2. The underside of the bared had a huge gap in it so the swing arm can fold up into it.



3.The swing arm itself ruins the guns silhouette by adding that ridge underneath and the HUGE hings on the top that's hard to ignore. Making the swing arm out of diecast is a terrible use of diecast that would have been ideally in the legs.




4. The grip of the gun isn't cleanly connected to the rest of the gun leaving an obvious gap between the two parts (even the original got this right!).



5. The trigger is tiny and the space between the trigger and the bot chest is so small that I imagine very few average men can fit their finger in there. it's also very loose and floppy, as is the door that hides it in his abdomen, it just slides up and down with gravity.

6. The feet aren't well designed at all so you end up with lots of caps in the handle that the original figure would have fill with the feet folded up.

7. The back of the gun in hollow and there's a huge gap in the back that isn't covered at all. That is unbelievably poor design.



8. They made a bigger attempt to hide the big gap in the stand in gun mode than they did the big gap in the gun itself. There's actually a piece that folds down to hide the gap!



9. Moving onto the bot mode where I don't have nearly as many complaints: the barrel on the back in dumb and having to cover it with the base (which itself increases the cost of the figure) to make it look like any G1 Shockwave representation ever is stupid.

10. If you bend him forward the door in his ab hiding the trigger gets pushed up and you have to pull it back down every time.

11. The legs are some of the worst conceived in this line. On mine the left legs holds together nice and firm, but the right leg splits constantly and there's nothing I can do to make it tab in properly. Every time I move the right leg it splits right open.

So with that all said, what do I like? Well, aesthetically the bot mode, with the backpack on, is pretty much perfect. I like that we have options for the hands (I'm using the opaque hand and gun myself). I like the articulation, though I think the wrists are a bit week just spinning. I feel like, aside from the legs, the rest of the figure pegs together pretty solidly. And the colors don't really bother me all that much.

Last point is the light piping. If you know me then you know I hate, HATE light piping and most uses of clear plastic when I don't feel its necessary. However, I have to say that this might me a prime example of light piping at its best. It's golden yellow and crystal clear. I'm guessing they used acrylic for this part because it's far beyond the simple clear plastic we usually find in light piped eyes. You can literally see the inside of his head from the back in great clarity. It really does a great job of capturing light and if more figures had this level of light piping I probably wouldn't be so hard on it.

So in the end my feelings on this figure are very mixed. On one hand the gun mode is garbage, but the bot mode, which I'll be keeping him in most of the time, is rather nice. I don't regret buying him, but I'm not completely satisfied either. I think if they make another one in darker colors I'd probably buy it at retail, but wouldn't go out of my way to get one that's an exclusive.

Emerje

Seibertron wrote: Normally I try to refrain from posting my opinions when I strongly dislike something, but in this case I've got to level with all of you because I find all of the "wow this toy is amazing" comments from so many of you kind of odd when I find the toy frustrating overall.

I welcome that immensely, and I hope you wont mind if I, in return say why I think this toy is amazing.

This is the WRONG color purple. It doesn't match the cartoon and to be honest I'm not sure I'd want any Shockwave toy to "match" the color of his cartoon counterpart. Dark purplish blue, bluish purple. Not lavender or light purple or whatever! This toy's color was the hardest color to photograph that I've ever dealt with in 12.5 years of photographing Transformers toys (well aside from some of the crazy neon orange and pink colors like G2 Starscream). I couldn't match it no matter what camera settings I used, no matter how much I tinkered with the RAW files (adjusting hue, saturation, color temperature, contrast, etc). The toy doesn't match the cartoon, and like AutobotAlvaron said above, cartoon accuracy should be used as a guide but common sense should take over at some point.

I was fine with the hue of purple chosen. I dont want anything bluish, so this was good. And the colour matches the show model. But they did make a mistake with the finish though. Its not a full colour. By that I mean it looks like they went with a pastel tint even though the purple itself is a nice purple (which reminds me of the colour used on packages of kids medecine when somthing is grape flavoured). And then when you combine bathing him in light for a photograph along with the brightness of screen monitors, he looks a shade lighter with a whitish finish enveloping him (he looks closer to the colour I see in hand when I look at your pics on my phone rather than my laptop). It was an odd choice on their part and it could have been corrected if the colour they chose was fuller/deeper and maybe matte instead of glossy. I wouldnt want it darker though, since then it wouldnt match the show at all. I have no complaints about the colour in hand though and he is a big step up from that cyclonus and galvatron. Sadly, it looks like they are going back to that even lighter lilac with their next shockwave release

What the heck is up with his backpack? I'm in disbelief that this was the best solution they could come up with. All we did was trade one partsforming piece for another, hardly an improvement on a toy designed by a lesser known company called Toyco back in the 1980s. If you transform the front of the cannon properly, it screws with his silhouette and overall color scheme since he know has a giant light gray piece on his back. It doesn't get any better when you add the backpack cover, because then he just ends up with a massive purple block on his back (which looks better, but not as good as it does on the original).

As someone mentionned before, the partsforming is improved since you arent forced to clip on that backpack cover unless you want to achieve a look. With the G1 toy, the parsforming was a must and the parts went nowhere in robot mode. Here in robot mode, you can attach it all, get the nice G1 look and have no peices left over which was not the case in the G1 toy. So thats a pretty massive improvement. And the cover works dual purpose as a stand to make up for the fact that he cant stand on his own as a gun.

The light grayish purple hands, left arm cannon, and ears ... Takara you're killing me. Not interested in colors like this on my Transformers that should be silver and dark purple!!!!!!

If you are basing your want for dark purple on the G1 toy (which I agree looks awesome), then Takara actually gives you the translucent hands that achieve the G1 toy look. And I see you have used those for many of the pics and thats awesome. As for the other coloured hands, I have never seen any portrayal of G1 shockwave where his "hands" are coloured the way you are describing it. The only thing I can think of is the action master which has a grey hand but then his canon was orange and I doubt you would want that instead.

The lower legs are a mess. I can't tell you how many few dozens of times his leg panels collapsed or didn't stay together when I would move him into a new position or different angle for the camera.

Your toy might be defective. This doesnt appear to be the case that was with roadrage where her shoulders unpeg for everyone, instead this seems to be isolated. The legs on mine peg realy well together and they stay together (its similar to the stellar pegging we see at points in the Hot Rodimus transformation). There are no gaps when I have everything pegged in to the point where you wouldnt be able to tell that the legs transform that way if you didnt know. The bell bottoms can have a gap but taking just a moment to make sure everything is alligned makes it work. This reminds me of the issue with Hot Rodimus' ground clearance which was fixed once everything was tabbed in properly. The Legs are my favourite part of his transformation and I find it really innovative how this creates a nice sleek handle, as well as the back of the gun, which comes together to make legs that are beefier than the G1 but not as huge and odd as Quakewave. This to me is what really sells this toy.

... which brings me to his feet. Ok in robot mode, but the fact that you can't even do what the G1 toy does so that he can "stand" in gun mode is absurd and unfortunate. But hey, we ended up with a silly looking purple stand instead. Nice.

As I said above, the stand makes up for that. So when posing him in either Robot or Alt mode, all pieces of the toy are used, which beats the G1 version where the barrel went nowhere in robot mode.

As for the light piping for his singular eye ... it's a nice feature, but the light piping is too dark or something.

This surprises me because this is probably the best lightpipng I have ever seen. Not in terms of implementation or the effect (this is just a dot), but simply in the way that you dont need much of a lightsource to have his eye glow. And the yellow looks great. Once again, it might be deffective. While that would be too high a conicidence I am holding out hope that if you do return this one for his legs which arent holding as well as they should, the next one you get will have that stellar light piping I experience with mine.

The light up feature was kind of a slap-in-the-face. It was a nice touch, but also a reminder that the sound effects were absent, which is what helped make G1 Shockwave so iconic. I liked how they implemented the light up feature, especially with the brief "stay-on" feature, but the lack of sound was disappointing.

I never had the G1 toy and I didnt grow up in that era, so I didnt have any of these expectations. I looked up his sounds and I preffer that we only got the light. Those radioshack sounds would have been a bit jarring with this toy that is honouring more the cartoon than the original toy.

The "hose" is also another disappointment. That metal coil will not last. It will become dented or bent, or whatever. We'll just end up with a hose with a different problem from the original. I just can't believe that was the best they could come up with.

Its better than you might think. While I dont encourage it, if you try bending or stretching the metal spring, you will realize that it cant be done. There is actually a wire within it, keeping it in shape and making it so that it cant be worn out. This is a far better than rubber and I dont see how they could do better. I also dont find it fair to score marks off for something that might happen. The only annoying thing that can happen, after I looked into it online, is that the paint might chip a bit from the spring. I would have preferred they didnt paint it.

His size ... Shockwave should have been bigger. And please for the love of god, if someone pulls out that silly G1 size chart, I'll go crazy. Shockwave should be big. Optimus Prime or bigger. Just like his G1 toy was bigger. He should be bigger than Soundwave and Starscream and I wouldn't mind if he was bigger than Megatron (though not the MP-5 Megatron). Ultimately, he just feels like another take on the original G1 toy with the only improvement being posability. So many details are the same, which is probably good, but at the same time it just feels like a rip-off of sorts or a 3rd party G1 Shockwave's original toy is so iconic that to not do it right just seems like an injustice.

I always thought he was a head shorter than Megatron, so he should be ahead shorter than optimus in this line and thats pretty much what he is. I have no issues with his size especially since I want to pose him with others, like the seekers. I do get that someone of that stature, icon wise, would be fun to have bigger, but then all he would scale with would be MP 05.

So those are my thoughts. I've unloaded my opinions. Bummed about Shockwave and a few others recently released. Here's hoping we can get back to figures along the "masterpiece" levels of Masterpiece Wheeljack and Prowl soon.

I agree that he isnt as good as Wheeljack who is the best so far. But I dont really see what they could have done. The cartoon model was already very close to the toy (aside from the colours) so what they did is recreate the G1 toy but make him more accurate in proportion to the cartoon. This is great news to me since I always wanted a G1 shockwave toy but due to his high after market price (since a rerelease of the toy has some rights issues) I didnt think I would get him. And now this toy comes along which is basically the G1 toy with better proportions and modernized articulation without the jarring retro sound effects. So I can still marvel at what was the G1 toy while also having a modernized Shockwave toy. Its like the best of both worlds.

And I totally get that we have differring points of view. I for isntance do not like Prowl for the reasons you dont like this Shockwave. His backpack extends too far and I am surprised its the best they could do. And just like you do not like how cartoon accurate Shockwave is in colour, I dislike Prowl's cartoon accurate feet. Unlike wheeljack, they dont look like feet at all and while I get what its going for, I also find it a bit lazy and clunky in a line that I thought was about giving the perfect figures. But its not, its about working off the show models. I begrudgingly accepted it for Prowl when he came along and I now revel in it with Shockwave.

I do have 3 issues with Shockwave though that you did not bring up, just to show you that I am not looking at this toy through rose coloured glasses:

1. I hate how that robot head locks. It isnt obvious at all and the amount of strentgh needed is very unnatural and it has happened that his head would come off in the process. This is no fun.
2. Its really too bad that the small garage door on his stomach cannot peg into his waist. It ends up being a bit loose and keeps coming up. We can see that in the gallery too. That whole waist area is a little odd. I dont like that sensation of it popping in and out as I play with him.
3. While I love this toy and think he is very good, I have no clue where that price came from. Its not the parts count and we both know that electronics and die cast have little to know impact on the cost. I feel they just look at their development cost as a pool and then even out the prices based on size. For instance, I am pretty sure MP Bumblebee had as much (if not more) development time and costs put in but due to his small stature, they couldnt price him that high. And thus toys that are bigger but have less development costs (like the seekers) make up for that.

As much as I'd be respecting various opinions but from what I read y'all just love the old G1 fig and want the MP to be a carbon copy of it. Kind of like you all "bonded" with it thru nostalgia....it's a modern version. Some compromises had to be made. The color isn't 100% accurate by a few hues. No pew pew effects. I can live with it.

william-james88 wrote:As someone mentionned before, the partsforming is improved since you arent forced to clip on that backpack cover unless you want to achieve a look. With the G1 toy, the parsforming was a must and the parts went nowhere in robot mode. Here in robot mode, you can attach it all, get the nice G1 look and have no peices left over which was not the case in the G1 toy. So thats a pretty massive improvement. And the cover works dual purpose as a stand to make up for the fact that he cant stand on his own as a gun.

But why would anyone want him to not have the stand on his back? For me having the barrel hanging off his back is one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) eyesore in the entire MP line. It's just there with little attempt to make it look like anything else on its own. It would have been much better to have made the barrel fold inside-out and appear like the backpack on the inside. Or better yet, if it's OK for the backpack to become a stand in gun mode they whey couldn't the barrel have become a stand in bot mode? Have it split into a V and use the swing arm as the support arm. The only way to make him look accurate to any G1 representation is partsforming either way, I don't think they chose the best solution.

... which brings me to his feet. Ok in robot mode, but the fact that you can't even do what the G1 toy does so that he can "stand" in gun mode is absurd and unfortunate. But hey, we ended up with a silly looking purple stand instead. Nice.

As I said above, the stand makes up for that.

Not really, it's too short. The stand is like a display stand made to balance Shockwave parallel with the surface he's sitting on. But that's not how Shockwave stands in gun mode, he's supposed to be tilted up at an angle on the flat part of the handle like you would expect from a canon.



He did this in the cartoon as well. You can't do that with the MP without holding it.

Its not the parts count and we both know that electronics and die cast have little to know impact on the cost.

No matter how many times you say this it wont make this true. All toy companies have been decreasing or eliminating the use of diecast to lower costs. Even Hot Wheels have gone to using more plastic in their cars, those $1 cars no longer have diecast undersides while the full diecast cars of the same size run $4-5 now. And the only reason why they can even keep the price down that much is because they get so much use through color variations of each mold they make. It isn't comparable to a swing arm and feet on Shockwave they might get a few thousand uses out of, they need to justify the more expensive and more specialized diecast molding by raising prices. These days Hasbro and Takara Tomy don't even like to use wheel rivets and weapon springs when they can avoid it just to get away from using metal.

As for electronics, there's a reason why we don't see those anymore in figures, they're getting to expensive to make. I hear all the time how the materials used to make these electronics are becoming scarce and more difficult to source properly which is driving the prices up across the board. When was the last time we saw electronics in a normal (Deluxe, Voyager, Leader) size class figure? 2012? Does UW Fortress Maximus even have electronics at his price like Metroplex did?Electronics have become too expensive to use on a regular basis.

fenrir72 wrote:As much as I'd be respecting various opinions but from what I read y'all just love the old G1 fig and want the MP to be a carbon copy of it. Kind of like you all "bonded" with it thru nostalgia....it's a modern version. Some compromises had to be made. The color isn't 100% accurate by a fe hues. No pew pew effects. I can live with it.

There were far, far more compromises being made in this figure than just that, compromises that shouldn't have been made in a figure of this price in 2016.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:
He did this in the cartoon as well. You can't do that with the MP without holding it.

Fair point

Its not the parts count and we both know that electronics and die cast have little to know impact on the cost.

No matter how many times you say this it wont make this true. All toy companies have been decreasing or eliminating the use of diecast to lower costs. Even Hot Wheels have gone to using more plastic in their cars, those $1 cars no longer have diecast undersides while the full diecast cars of the same size run $4-5 now. And the only reason why they can even keep the price down that much is because they get so much use through color variations of each mold they make.

But that must be recent though, right? Because Platinum Predaking had a ton of diecast and only cost about 100$. Plus there was that whole titanium line which didnt sell for a lot either. But both of those examples are before 2013 so this may be a more recent phenomina.

As for electronics, there's a reason why we don't see those anymore in figures, they're getting to expensive to make. I hear all the time how the materials used to make these electronics are becoming scarce and more difficult to source properly which is driving the prices up across the board. When was the last time we saw electronics in a normal (Deluxe, Voyager, Leader) size class figure? 2012? Does UW Fortress Maximus even have electronics at his price like Metroplex did?Electronics have become too expensive to use on a regular basis.

But how expensive can it really be if all the baby toys that keep coming out still use electronics? The only reason I mention that is because I have a baby now and everybody gives me presents and all of them have electronics. Dollar store toys from vietnam have electronics too. Its just a light with this Shockwave, nothing overly complex, I am surprised that would raise the cost that much. And as for TFs with electronics, here is a recent one:


Transformers Adventures Optimus Prime Gallery

Look, I am sure you are right, you are very well versed in this hobby. I just dont understand how it can all be so costly. Nice point with the hotwheels cars though

Cerebros, the head of Titans Return Fortress Maximus, has electronics in him.

Seibertron wrote:Cerebros, the head of Titans Return Fortress Maximus, has electronics in him.

Noooooooooooooooo!

Adds unnecessary cost and hampers transformation. I loathe such gimmicks. Megaloconvoy's spark drinker whatchamacalit gave uout on me after two days. Armada Hb superpants has limited articulation because of this (I traded it for the Takara version). Not to mention possible leaks if left and forgotten.

Funny you should say that. My Nightwatch Optimus from 2007 still has his batteries in and they have not leaked and still work perfectly. And I never changed the batteries

william-james88 wrote:

Emerje wrote:No matter how many times you say this it wont make this true. All toy companies have been decreasing or eliminating the use of diecast to lower costs. Even Hot Wheels have gone to using more plastic in their cars, those $1 cars no longer have diecast undersides while the full diecast cars of the same size run $4-5 now. And the only reason why they can even keep the price down that much is because they get so much use through color variations of each mold they make.

But that must be recent though, right? Because Platinum Predaking had a ton of diecast and only cost about 100$. Plus there was that whole titanium line which didnt sell for a lot either. But both of those examples are before 2013 so this may be a more recent phenomina.

$100 was asking a lot back then (hard to believe he's still available for that price). Remember that only two years earlier in 2011 25th Anniversary Unicron, which was basically a Platinum itself by another name, was only $60 and he had electronics. $100 was a pretty big step up in just two years.

Titanium figures were the same size as a deluxe, but cost something like $5 more at the time to make up for the cost of diecast. (Certainly not for the better engineering...)

As for electronics, there's a reason why we don't see those anymore in figures, they're getting to expensive to make. I hear all the time how the materials used to make these electronics are becoming scarce and more difficult to source properly which is driving the prices up across the board. When was the last time we saw electronics in a normal (Deluxe, Voyager, Leader) size class figure? 2012? Does UW Fortress Maximus even have electronics at his price like Metroplex did?Electronics have become too expensive to use on a regular basis.

But how expensive can it really be if all the baby toys that keep coming out still use electronics? The only reason I mention that is because I have a baby now and everybody gives me presents and all of them have electronics. Dollar store toys from vietnam have electronics too. Its just a light with this Shockwave, nothing overly complex, I am surprised that would raise the cost that much. And as for TFs with electronics, here is a recent one:

Transformers Adventures Optimus Prime Gallery

Your examples of non-Transformers are nothing more than a shell with electronics in it, they don't do much beyond lights and sounds making them much cheaper to produce than your standard Transformer. Most of those dollar store toys have the exact same chip or LED in all of them, haven't you ever noticed that all laser guns sound basically the same? You mentioned Furby in a previous post, but that's still just an electronic stuffed animal and those sell for $60, Chewbacca Furby (Furbacca) is $80!

As for Shockwave, he has two LEDs, one in his gun hand and one in his barrel. The one in his hand is pretty small and only uses two button batteries, it's a pretty simple design. However the one for gun mode is quite a bit more complex. It uses a larger LED that's surprisingly bright, has what I'm guessing is a non-standard wire allowing it to be bent inside the swing arm without damaging it, and has a chip with a switch that tells it to either flash the light when the trigger is pulled or to pulse the light for a set amount of time over a set number of intervals, all requiring two AAA batteries to power. That's quite a bit more complex and power hungry than, say, a pocket flashlight.

And with TAV-21 they had to create a size and price class just for him so he's non-standard and was most certainly priced with electronics in mind.

Look, I am sure you are right, you are very well versed in this hobby. I just dont understand how it can all be so costly.

There's a number of reasons. For the diecast side it's more expensive to make if you aren't making it in the quantities that toy cars are made in. It requires specialized steel molds, it costs a lot more in energy and resources to melt metal than plastic, requires an entirely different facility that works with metal, it needs to be cleaned after casting to keep the surface smooth, it requires special paint that will adhere better to metal which is almost always thicker which means more is used, a glossy clearcoat is need to prevent chipping, and it weighs more and therefore costs more to transport and ship.

On the electronics side you need an extra person to design them properly and safely, work out how to actually fit them inside, and source the pieces which will almost always be custom made for the figure.

It's all added resources and labor that you don't need working with plastic alone.

Emerje

Since the begining of the year, it has been a non stop schedule of Transformers Masterpiece releases with at least one coming out every month, with prominant characters like Shockwave and Ironhide finally getting Masterpiece figures. Adding to these all star G1 characters is the release of Masterpiece Ratchet, which Seibertron now has a gallery of. Ratchet is the Autobots' Chief Medical Officer and one of the original Autobots aboard the ark. He has been part of the franchise since the very first Transformers episode and comic issue and has been an integral member ever since through various icarnations. From the begining, he has always been a redeco of Ironhide (both G1 toys come from differently coloured Diaclone Nissan van toys) and this Masterpiece figure is no exception. While they share the same mold here once more, there are a few differences between Transformers Masterpiece Ratchet and Ironhide such as a redesigned pelvic area, which many found to be an issue with Ironhide. He also comes with stickers for his shoulders and different accessories, which can all be found in the gallery. Enjoy!


Transformers Masterpiece Ratchet

That is marvelous!

I love it when the galleries homage comic pages. This one especially

I'm still waiting for a solution to those hips panels, but I must say I mind them less on Ratchet... I might not have to give him the same treatment as Ironhide

megatronus wrote:I'm still waiting for a solution to those hips panels, but I must say I mind them less on Ratchet... I might not have to give him the same treatment as Ironhide

That would be pretty cool since it would make them even more different from another

Another fantastic gallery Seibertron! Your photos alone would be reason enough for me to visit your site regularly.

It's probably too late for it, but I was really hoping you'd do a pic with MP Ratchet Karate-kicking MP Thundercracker in the guts like that scene from the G1 "Changing Gears" episode. If you can do it, it'll most likely require a figure-stand, but it's a cool pose I'd really appreciate seeing.

(Also, I'm curious about that exclusive CW Ratchet. I wish it was a widely-released figure. I'm still hoping Deluxe Groove becomes available this May too.)

Yup! I'd like to see that photo too.

And Alvaron, Big Groove is a sure thing. He was shown and confirmed at BotCon.

megatronus wrote:I'm still waiting for a solution to those hips panels, but I must say I mind them less on Ratchet... I might not have to give him the same treatment as Ironhide

There is a 3rd party solution coming for Ironhide so Ratchet can't be far behind.

LOST Cybertronian wrote:

megatronus wrote:I'm still waiting for a solution to those hips panels, but I must say I mind them less on Ratchet... I might not have to give him the same treatment as Ironhide

There is a 3rd party solution coming for Ironhide so Ratchet can't be far behind.

Cowabunga!!!

Cobotron wrote:Yup! I'd like to see that photo too.

And Alvaron, Big Groove is a sure thing. He was shown and confirmed at BotCon.

Ol' Ratchet is already transformed and stored in a ziploc back in the Autobot Masterpiece tub.

Normally I would bust him out again but I forgot to do the vehicle mode comparisons with the 5 different Ratchets in the gallery until the end so even though the vehicle mode pics all show up in order, the comparisons weren't taken until the very end so Ratchet is in vehicle mode for the time being until he's needed again.

I do have Takara's Masterpiece Thundercracker on the way finally so maybe when I do his gallery, I'll do a Ratchet ass-kicking photo to make all of you happy!

Anyone here plan on modifying the cross decals to just a cross? Was thinking of a G1 homage and cutting the small red squares off...

Seibertron wrote:I do have Takara's Masterpiece Thundercracker on the way finally so maybe when I do his gallery, I'll do a Ratchet ass-kicking photo to make all of you happy!

It's all good. I'm sure you have plenty of other photos to take. Catching up on Beast Wars and Machines will make me plenty happy. When you get to it, of course.

Starscream5150 wrote:Anyone here plan on modifying the cross decals to just a cross? Was thinking of a G1 homage and cutting the small red squares off...

I am thinking of cutting off those squares too, but I might do with cross on one shoulder, and the trimmed cross on the other.