We finally get to have a proper-sized Shockwave after being stuck with a Core Class toy since 2022. Like with so many of the designs in the Bumblebee movie, I always saw them as pretty lousy and made solely for fan service to win over the same Geewunners that hated Paramount and Bay since 2007, especially given how NPC-esque their behavior is. That being said, Shockwave's design could work well for a drone made by DOTM Shockwave if he held numerous human scientists hostage in making an army for him. Anyways, enough of my fan fiction idea, let's give One Eyed Bart a review before we discuss its biggest design flaw ever.
Here we have Shockwave in his H-tank mode, which is an altmode his Core Class toy had and was previously used on the TFP incarnation. I mean, with the cannon smack dab in the middle, the legs being the front of the altmode, the chest plate between them, it was only logical to use that altmode as inspiration. It doesn't have a cartoon stylization that the TFP designs had, which is expected for a more live-action design. I have a hunch Hasbro will use this with a darker shade of purple, a retooled cannon, and a red eye just to call him "Prime Universe Shockwave". The altmode was already a logical choice for the Core Class, and this repeats the same idea very well with little wheels and a hose to boot.
For a size comparison, he makes the Core Class figure feel more like a drone that is not unlike how the idea was done in TFP. It's a much flatter design in the Core Class version, and I mean as in "it got flattened like a pancake somewhat".
Transformation is about the same as the Core Class, but now with the head no linger being visible as it can instead hinge up from within the chest cavity while the hands are now able to be stored away from with the forearms while in tank mode. This robot mode is thankfully filled in overall, not having the usual hollow gaps most toys would have, though it likely comes from the primitive engineering that this design has compared to Optimus, Blitzwing, Starscream, and Soundwave have in terms of BBM characters. He appears to be less thicc than his on-screen model, ans his paint apps are decently plentiful apart from the weird battle damage here and there; the biggest inaccuracy would be the thighs being left unpainted gunmetal gray instead of silver. Otherwise, this guy is accurate to the CG model.
His head sculpt is WIDE. It also features light piping of average quality but at least his eye isn't flat paint like on the DOTM figure (though I saw someone make a mod that adds light piping). His articulation consists of a ball jointed head, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement on ratchets, forearm swivels, ball-jointed wrists, a waist swivel, universal hips, thigh rotation, knee rotation, the usual 90 degree knee bend, and feet that can pivot in addition to point down due to transformation. He can have the arm cannon on either armz though the left arm is accurate to this design. You may notice how some of the joints work as mentioned during the articulation showcase, and indeed he has no bicep rotation. A commonly found joint on a Genarations-quality toy being excluded on a Deluxe like Legacy Pointblank was already bad, but it's even worse here for a Voyager (still not as frustrating as a stock MPM Starscream). Also, why does he lack bicep rotation yet he has TWO swivel joints in the legs. KEEP EITHER THE THIGH OR KNEE ROTATION!
Interestingly, there is an Autobot insignia placed on the right arm due to the apparent rushed development of the Cybertron scenes, which is carried over from Optimus Prime's model that a lot of characters used at times. I hope he has a Longarm Prime mode to justify this error. Next to his Core Class counterpart, yeah I can see the little guy being repurposed as a drone.
For a Decepticon Quartet comparison, here he is with Starscream from 2021, who is still missing a null-ray since that year...
...next, here he is next to Soundwave, and it's going to be a battle between the Superior Fat Fuck and the Logical Thicc Thighs...
...and we conclude the Beewun size comparisons with Megatron, who comes off like an AI generated render that someone put in a prompt. In fact, a lot of BBM designs do.
And here he is next to himself from the future. Thicc thighs vs beefcake. Honestly, when I first got DOTM Shockwave, I liked him a lot but I never felt he was worth the price of a Leader Class. I feel the same way with BBM Shocko, too; the engineering is what I expected, but the swivels used baffle me greatly. It's still a purchase I recommend since he's more readily available, but don't expect him to be super mind-blowing.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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