WFC Siege Shockwave
With the new Marvel Comic Shockwave toy coming out, I thought it'd be time to go back a few years (2019) and look at "War for Cybertron: Siege" Shockwave. This was an impressive figure with nearly unlimited potential.
The core figure is a basic G1-style figure, that closely resembles the 1985 figure. Transforming from a robot to a spaceship (or if you were to turn said spaceship upside down...maybe a G1-inspired laser weapon? Look we all know what it is, but legal has to be happy as well). The spaceship draws a lot of inspiration from the 1970s animes and looks great. Pay close attention to the bridge of the spaceship as it has Shockwave's single eye at the center.
The core robot is pretty much perfect in execution and transforms easily enough. The bot has an infinite range of motion, making him perfect for battle scenes or play. The best feature is the light piping for his single eye. This is so well done, that under normal lighting conditions, you'd think it's powered by an electronic light.
Beyond this core figure, is a set of extra piece for the COMBAT System, meaning all of these pieces were meant to be applied to the robot in a multitude of ways and can even work with other Transformers. This is the same system that gave birth to the Weaponizers. Really hard to believe it's been five years already with these bots!
The armor pieces can be cobbled together to make a hovercraft for Shockwave (or other bots) to ride and continues that cool anime/manga vibe for the toy. These pieces can attach to the spaceship mode to turn it into a formidable weapon of war and would make a cool concept for a Titan figure down the way (your move Has/Tak).
The best use for these, however, is adding them onto the core robot to make a dystopian version of Shockwave that invokes a nightmarish appearance. In this mode, he's both awe-inspiring and terrifying. It's just such a good-looking and fun toy.
A later release of this toy saw him in mute gray hues, invoking the color scheme of the infamous G1-era Galactic Man robot toy (a retooled Shockwave sold in Radio Shack).
Complete versions of this figure range from $30-$50 while boxed examples average around $65. These prices are about the same for the Galactic Man repaint.
Do yourself a favor, if you don't have this figure, grab it. It's pretty much a perfect figure for adult collectors or for kids to play with. Just taking it down for pictures was a blast and I couldn't help but admire all the little details that went into it. Also, you'll find yourself constantly amazed by that light-piped eye.
