Fall of Cybertron Shockwave

Robot Mode: There are certain design elements that every new incarnation of the classics G1 Shockwave character needs. First and foremost, a head with a single cyclopean eye and antenna, check. Big chest window, check. Huge gun on one arm, check. Coloring mostly purple, check. So you get the message, Generations Shockwave has lots and lots of resemblance to his G1 predecessor.

Next, my one big beef with this figure, which is more of subjective thing, really. To me, Shockwave has to be a big, menacing guy. Not brutish, but huge and muscular-looking. Think Wrestlings' Undertaker. That's Shockwave to me. Generations Shockwave, though, is on the small side for a Deluxe-class figure and looks very skinny from the chest down. Again, this is mostly a subjective thing, but I would have preferred more mass no him.

Apart from that, though, I can find very little wrong with this figure. His detailing is very nice, the articulation is standard for a modern-day figure (meaning: quite good) and Shockwave's big cannon can be put on either arm and even offers two different modes. You can pull off the big grey barrel, reveal three smaller black barrels beneath. Except for the wings on his back Shockwave has no alternate mode kibble getting in the way, either, so thumbs up for that as well.

So bottom line: apart from the skinniness, I can find no fault with Shockwave's robot mode. Very nice.

Alternate Mode: It's hard to find a decent alternate mode for Shockwave. Much like Megatron, his classics alternate mode as a huge handgun is as iconic as is it nonsensical, so no matter what he transforms into, you can bet some fans won't like it. Apart from a gun Shockwave has been a car, a flying weapons platform / satellite thing, and a tank. Now in Generations he becomes a ... winged something. According to the back of his package it's a "Mobile Artillery Mode", so basically it's a big, flying gun. Which might actually be the closest to Shockwave's original alternate mode as you're gonna get these days.

I can't really say much about this mode that you can't see much better in the pictures. The mode fits together well, there are no visible robot parts, and it has a nice alien / science fiction feeling to it. So bottom line, while not a particularly spectacular alternate mode, it is fully sufficient for Shockwave's needs.

Remarks: Shockwave is one of the most popular and enduring bad guys of Transformers history, so it's not surprising to see him appear both in the world of the War for Cybertron / Fall of Cybertron video game, as well as the current Prime TV series. While Hasbro has no current plans to release Shockwave in the Prime toy line-up, Takara has already announced that they'll be releasing a repaint of this figure here in their Prime line. Besides, WfC / FoC is supposed to be set in the same universe as Prime, so they are basically the same guy anyway. Maybe.

It's nice to see a Shockwave figure again and apart from the fact that I think him too small and too skinny, there is nothing really wrong with it. I would have preferred him as a Voyager, but that might just be me. Anyway, if you're a Shockwave fan, you won't regret buying this one.

Rating: B