#32: Transformers Prime - Beast Hunters Shockwave

Now that Transformers Prime is in its third season, Shockwave has finally shown up, and naturally gets a new toy for the toy line. I've been waiting for Shockwave to show up in stores, but so far haven't seen one. Fortunately, I managed to luck out and order one online from Hasbrotoyshop.com during a brief window of availability. There was a 20% off code active at the time, which was almost enough to balance out the shipping.

After the Fall of Cybertron's deluxe sized figure, Shockwave is back up to voyager size. It's a pretty cool robot mode, mostly purple with some grey bits. His left arm ends in a gun, rather than being a separate piece. It has an action feature where you press the button and the barrel splits and rotates. There is even a "hose" attaching his arm to his back, like the classic version. The big red eye is lightpiped, but the piping is at the base of the back of his head, so it's not the most effective use of the effect. Overall though, it's a cool robot mode and appropriately massive.

Because Transformers Prime is doing the Beast Hunters thing now, Shockwave includes some armored bits that are removable. I'm not sure what purpose they serve, as so far that look is not reflected in the cartoon. In the case of Soundwave, it was an excuse to sell a new toy, but since this is the only Shockwave in the line, it seems pointless. Maybe it will come into play somewhere down the line in the next few episodes.

Like Megatron, Shockwave has the problem that his original incarnation turned into a gun. So the new thing is for him to turn into a tank. While Megatron's tank modes have usually been decent enough, Shockwave's have usually been a bit less so. It works better on the cartoon, but the design is not too exciting. The big "arms" sticking out of the front are not a design choice I'm a big fan of on a tank.

Here's what the tank mode looks like with the armor pieces attached.

Group shot! As I've mentioned before, the official word is that the Cybertron games and Prime are in the same continuity, so those are the same character. The smaller one is the Cyberverse commander version from my roommate's collection.