I just got him today... THE INSTRUCTIONS SUCK!

There are at least six official configurations of this guy. The instructions only show you how to do four.

A fifth is shown on the packaging and other promotional material but there's no instructions on how do get to it.

The sixth was shown in promotional material only but again no instructions on how to do that.

You could technically say there's only five because one configuration is just the base robot without the extra armor bits. But the armor bits can combine on their own into a vehicle for the base robot to ride and that's one of the things there's no instructions for. (Center) The other is another alternate configuration for the robot mode and armor only seen here in this picture. (Bottom corner)



Anyway... starting in armored vehicle mode... because I felt like starting there.


I like how he looks in this mode. I think there are a few different ways you can attach the armor that still looks good. I had the extra feet gun bits more flat against the extra arms with the wings angled in the opposite direction like an X wing... you also have to swap them so that they face the right direction. I personally think it looks a little bit better this way than having the wings sticking straight out like in the picture.

The front bits don't seem to clip together very well. I think I might have the arms positioned wrong cause it seems like they should be able to sit closer together and let those small guns that cover the arms clip together but they don't want to stay together. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or if it's a problem with the figure itself.

Now for the base vehicle mode...

It looked better the other way... However you can fold the tower wings away, fold in the landing strut, move the hose to peg into the landing strut, hold it upside down, and get his original gun mode. I don't really like this though... I worry about the hose because it kind has to stretch to peg into where it needs to be to look like the G1 gun mode. I also prefer the armored vehicle mode because if covered the robot mode arms and make it look more like a solid vehicle. Without the armor the arms become super obvious.

Next for the Armor Ride/DotM Driller. That's honestly what that reminds me of with Shockwave just riding in top of it. I had to judge off the picture cause again no instructions for that mode.

It looks OK bit is totally hollow. You can see it from the bottom and rear of the vehicle. Plus it does not hold together well. While trying to attach, remove, or even just pose Shockwave while he's standing on it it keeps coming untabed. I'm wandering if I'm missing something to make it more secure because there seems to be only two small tabs holding the two halves of this thing together in the middle and they do not stay together.

The base robot mode... while I already got him here before I start putting the armor back on.

The head I think is on a ball joint. It's a very odd cut I don't think I've ever seen before. Normally on figures like this the ball joint wouldn't work too well but the plate the head sits on isn't flush with the neck, it's sunken down which gives that joint a range of motion it wouldn't normally have. The shoulders have TWO outward hinges. One is more meant for transformation but the combination of both hinges gives him an awesome range of movement. Swivels at the shoulders and biceps. Elbows. Wrist swivels... though I don't know what the point of the left one is when he doesn't have a hand on that side. Oddly the left arm doesn't feel hindered at all by the hose. I don't know what they did different here, Shockwaves I've owned in the past with a hose connection generally feel more restricted on that side because of that hose but this one doesn't feel like it's in the way at all. Waist swivel which has nothing to do with transformation, it's kinda rare to see that joint when it's not necessary to transform the figure. Hips that ratchet front to back but not outward. Thigh swivel. Knees. Side to side ankle tilt but no front to back ankles. In a way I'm kinda happy about the feet because it means his back pack won't make him fall over but it also makes him harder to pose riding that thing.

The alternate armored form from the picture above with no instructions... kinda lame. The guns on the legs look terrible and are hindered by the back back. The arms are now hindered by the shoulder armor. The second set of arms have a swivel at the connection peg, another swivel at the secondary shoulder? A hinge which kinda makes using the connection peg as a hinge kinda redundant but it's there if you want it. Those hinges are so close together I'm honestly not sure if I should consider the top one a secondary shoulder or if I should considering the two hinges a double jointed elbow. Only one can bend backwards so I'm going to call it a shoulder. And again with the wrist swivels that aren't really needed because there's no hands.

Putting the armor back on the way he's packaged... Hey the shoulders are no longer hindered, the legs are no longer hindered, and this way looks a lot better anyway.

I will point that when fully armored up the addition of the second arm on the left side does get in the way of that hose. The instructions does not say to do this, the hose is suppose to stay plugged into his original left arm but it's severely hindered in the armored mode. Moving the hose to the secondary left arm however restore full range of movement on that side. You still get that hose connected to his left arm look but without the hindered articulation and all you have to do is move it from the base figure's left arm to the added arm on the shoulder armor.

Anyway... Part of the reason I got this guy was for a custom I was planning and he will work perfectly for what I had in mind. Going to be very minor changes to the base figure and mostly the armor pieces are going to be worked on. The base figure will still be Shockwave but with the armor on the idea is to make Longarm Prime loosely based on the Transformers Animated counterpart.

 

I like that idea, of the Longarm disguise armor. Keep us posted if possible!

 

Started a new thread discussing that in more detail here.

G1 Longarm Prime/Shockwave

 

So I did a weird thing with Shockwave's backpack/armor. Not sure why, but I kinda like it.

 

Having some fun with this guy. Just came up with a large back weapon configuration.



It's great that this guy has so many pegs/ports for different configurations.

 

I agree though I haven't personally tried to fan mode mine yet. I been too focused on my custom to come up with alternate configurations for the armor to attach into Shockwave.

I did come up with a robot mode for "Driller" though. Which is what I'm calling the armor when it's not actually attached to Shockwave. No pictures though cause I left Shockwave at home and I'm trying to work in some leg parts cause right now Driller's robot mode is just a floating torso.

 

Robot mode for the extra parts sounds interesting. I hope you post pics of your results, I'm interested to see how it turns out.

Not sure if we've had a "till all are dead" pose from this guy yet but here's my shot at one.

 

So I finally found one in the wild. I'm really liking him, but I seem to be having issues with his extra "arms." In the, whatever it is called, "space sleigh of doom" mode, and the fully armored space ship/submarine/not upside down gun mode, those arm things don't stay pegged in all that securely. Is there a trick to it?

 

There are rectangular peg holes at the front of the arms and pegs just below the docking ports for the super robo mode’s shoulder.

 

It helps if you have the arms straight. If they're not pegging in it likely means the elbows are ever so slightly bent and they will only hold securely if they're in the exact right position.

 

The Super Robo mode, everything pegs in fine. I'm talking about when you peg the arms into either the ship mode, or make the sleigh mode... in either case the arms won't stay in place... it's like the peg is too long, too narrow, or both... as an example, if I turn the ship, or sleigh mode sideways, the arm pieces will fall right out. Just wondering if anyone else has that problem, because I checked a bunch of youtube videos and none of the reviewers seem to have that issue. Just wondering if I have bad QC, most likely, or this was a known issue and there's some sort of trick I'm just not seeing.

To not confuse anyone... I mean the arms that peg in the back of the ship, the extra arm pieces... not Shockwave's actual arms... the basic transformation is fine, as is the super robo mode.

 

Sorry, I meant BELOW the shoulder pieces’ connecting pegs.

There should be a “click” sound when you connect the arms to the the underside of the shoulder pieces. The large peg holes on the arms face down.

 

I wish I had a camera and artistic skills to explain what I'm talking about, but borrowing SaberPrime's photo upload... The middle photo with Shockwave on his drone. See how the extra arms peg in on the side? Mine won't do that. They just droop down, or outright fall off. I can put them on upside down, kinda, but they still would droop down, but they stay in the peg holes, well, not great, but better.

Same with the ship in the upper left corner. I know there is a square peg above the normal peg, to keep the arms, now ship wings, from spinning like a record, but no matter how I try, they won't peg in, and just fall off.

Is this a common issue with Siege Shockwaves, or did my bad QC luck return?

I can do the lower left, upper right, and lower right configurations just fine. Everything pegs in as intended.

 

This is the first I have heard of this issue.

To be clear, they do fit in the 5mm peghole snugly, right? Or at least comfortably with very little wiggle?

 

So having this figure the last couple of days and trying all manners of configurations, I have come to the conclusion that I got the "Goldilocks Edition" of Siege Shockwave. Some 5mm ports are a hair too big, some 5mm ports are a hair too small, and some 5mm ports are just right. That sucks, but oh well.

At least the base Shockwave figure is still awesome, even if it is an oversized deluxe, or a very small voyager... and I'm really loving the Dr. Shocktopus robot mode... it didn't look that great in pictures, or packaged in the box, but out of the box and posed on my desk, it is so much better.

 

I have the same issue with mine as what he's describing. The shoulder armor/weapon pieces, which also attach to the sides of his drone, are loose in the 5mm holes. It feels like the peg is too small or the peg holes too large. So if you try to stand Shocky on his drone, those two pieces either fall off easily, or they angle down because the long lower wing piece towards the rear of that armor piece is making them rotate.

 

that is definitely not normal.
on mine those pegs are scarily tight, and go in quite deep.

 

It's definitely the peg holes. I tested the extra arms by plugging them into the 5mm ports of my other Siege figures, and they peg in just fine. Sounds like Hasbro tried to make a running change to "correct" a problem, and fubar'd it more...

...I'm guessing it had to do with the scattered reports I read about the hose getting stuck in some of the 5mm ports... the ports NOT specifically pointed out by the instruction sheet, presumably because Hasbro REALLY didn't want you to figure out that Shockwave had a gun mode... if that makes sense...

I don't bother pegging the shoulder armor/weapon pieces into the sides of the drone, and those pieces only hold on by a hair in the Space Cruiser mode, by friction alone. Good enough for display purposes, not so much for whooshing purposes.

 

yea i just got mine and they are loose as well. Just gonna tighten them with some future though.

 

My local Walmart finally clearanced the 4 Shockwaves that have been on the shelves for months for $35, so I got one. It’s nice voyager, be it a little skinny, and I love how they still managed to get a gun mode in there, and that other stuff fills up a ziplock rather nicely. If you were on the fence about him, and can find it for $35 or less, go for it.