Also at Westfield, I managed to pick up TransFormers: Animated Shockwave... possibly the least Animated-looking TF:A toy of them all. Supposedly I'd declined to purchase him the last time I saw him, but I honestly don't remember seeing him before.
I can imagine why I turned him down, now I come to think about it: The predominantly blueish-grey and black colour scheme really doesn't say "Shockwave" to me. Even though my 'Generation 1 Shockwave' was actually the grey version sold by Tandy/Radio Shack - known to many as 'Shackwave' - rather than the purple, true Hasbro version, Shockwave will always be the purple of the Decepticon insignia. There is, supposedly, a purple version of TF:A Shockwave, and I'd kind of prefer to own that one... but he's not show accurate.
Not that I worry about that kind of thing.
So, in many ways, the choice of buying the original TF:A Shockwave or waiting and hoping the purple version gets a UK release could be made by tossing a coin... and, assuming I have seen him before and decided not to buy him then, only to pick him up today, tends to suggest it didn't really bother me that much.
He's actually pretty cool... but not exactly exciting. I'll eventually go into more detail in a more appropriate setting but, for now, suffice it to say that the toy has little in common with the Animated aesthetic. His dual vehicle modes are far too angular and his robot modes (Autobot Longarm and Decepticon Shockwave) are rather too blocky. Not to say it's a total failure, just not in keeping with the rest of the toy line. Also, how many H-Tanks are there in the many generations of TransFormers? At least the movie line didn't stoop to that.
Assuming I can find Wreck Gar... and possibly Waspinator... that'll be the end of my TF:A collection... And not a moment too soon, as the shelf is basically full.
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