TF Views

Got Legends Shockwave and Buzzsaw from HTS in the mail yesterday. Buy Shockwave, don't buy Buzzsaw.

Shockwave delivers exactly what is needed of him, he's a mix of G1 and Fall of Cybertron sensibilities. He is a beefy robot, a flying gunship thing, and a big ol' lasergun. There's a lot of sculpted detail, and the deco mixes purple plastic and paint well with some nice translucent purple elements as well, and gray-silver plastic mixed in. I think he looks better than the planned Japanese version with all that orange and silver paint added; in fact, the only part that is the wrong color is the knee joints shot in silver-gray plastic as they show in vehicle/gun mode that color instead of purple, and that's really minor.

Robot mode is good, recognizable, and fairly solid. Articulation is fine for the scale. The plate holding his neck can be pulled flush, it ships pushed in slightly. The head is very Shockwave, silver "ear" antennae, black "face", yellow eye. The head is on a limited-nod ball joint. The chest window is big but doesn't stick out as far as the G1 version. Both forearms have kibble on the outside but it's no big deal, both the fist and the gun hand are clear purple plastic. Instead of skinny legs, he has beefy boots that are very hollow from behind. And he's sporting a reasonable gray-silver backpack that locks down well. "Silver abs?" You bet. The right fist is a shallow 5mm hole.

Vehicle mode transforms fairly obviously except for the hips, the instructions leave out the fact that they rotate on a central pivot down to collapse in, without this it makes no sense. The vehicle is your standard "it's a flying sci-fi space ship because we say so" just like FOC, there are tiny wings on either side, it kind of looks like it's massive, like a capital ship. On top is an opaque silver-gray aiming screen, at the back are the fist and gun hands but they're no real problem.

Gun mode is that with a handle folded down towards the back. The gun is a bit beefy, but when half of it is that monstrous barrel with clear translucent plastic ringing the opening, it's gonna have a kick! The handle is a bit challenging, there's a standard 5mm peg but ahead of that only maybe half a centimeter is a square trigger guard which limits the types of hands using it, kibbly or large fists won't be able to grip Shockwave unless you cut that trigger guard off. I suspect the guard is there really to stabilize it in a combiner's hand. There's a second issue though, the back of the gun is a shelf that hangs back an inch, so thick forearms get in the way - Skydive as Superion's forearm was a problem here - but you can fold the forearms straight up to get out of the way.

All in all, Shockwave is a solid, satisfying entry in the line. He's got a great deco, a nice sculpt, and adequate articulation. Plus he's a sci-fi space gun, it's gonna be fun to have Masterpiece Shockwave hold Legends Shockwave next year.




Buzzsaw is pretty mediocre, like the lower echelon of the Real Gear figures. Cheap and hollow, not a lot of effort, I hope this isn't what to expect from the rest of the Titan Return line.

His vehicle mode is pretty sad and there's a peg for a Titan Masters little figure to sit in there which blocks part of the robot mode transformation a tiny bit. The front has forks and a pair of 5mm pegs in between them. Nothing really locks down that well, it's all just kinda there. The wheels do turn. There's very little sculpted or even painted detail.

Tablet mode is what you'd get with a Real Gear that was half thought-out (*cough* Laserbeak *cough*), it's got a home button that doesn't move, speaker grills flanking that, a 3.5mm headphone jack on the underside, immobile volume rockers on both sides, and a sticker screen with signal strength, battery strength, wifi strength on top; a big Decepticon logo over a tech circuit design as the screen background; and touch icons for a camera, files/documents, messaging, and email at the bottom. Basically it's a very thick, very shrunken Android 2.0 cellphone, and in no way a tablet. The back side features a robo-condor's head laid into a flat position.

Robot mode is a bland robo-condor with little sculpting or quality detail, almost no useful articulation, just a lot of stuff rearranged haphazardly to make a rough bird shape. The tail is slightly blocked from finishing transformation due to a Titan Master peg underneath, but it doesn't really matter, it wouldn't help in the slightest.

Oh, and the stickers aren't perfectly aligned so they're coming up in small places already, big surprise.

Grade: D+

Onslaught Six wrote:Are we putting Combiner Wars reviews here or was there another thread? I legitimately cannot remember.

Here is where I remember. It's all good.

Based on your reviews, my instinct is to stay away from all 4 molds, or at least wait for a second run on Brawl.

I honestly disagree. Swindle is boss, and my complaints about his altmode doesn't bother me much. Brawl's waist is fine, even if his gun sucks, and that's mostly my complaints about it being the turret. The aerial guys are what they are, and it largely depends on how much you care about them. These guys are a HUGE upgrade from the FOC versions though.

Onslaught Six wrote:I honestly disagree. Swindle is boss, and my complaints about his altmode doesn't bother me much. Brawl's waist is fine, even if his gun sucks, and that's mostly my complaints about it being the turret. The aerial guys are what they are, and it largely depends on how much you care about them. These guys are a HUGE upgrade from the FOC versions though.

Obviously you disagree, you already bought them. But my comment was about what your review says of them concerning my interests, not yours. Swindle's altmode is a big deal to me, they should have put windows on that to cover it up, or at least more bars. Brawl's waist is dubious at best but his turret sounds like a crappy situation. The FOC versions are at least new molds - I own 2 sets of 'em, SDCC and G2 colors (plus retail on Blast-Off) - so I don't think I want to chase what sound like figures that won't suit my needs.

I'm actually pretty happy with these four as well. I dunno, maybe it's different seeing them in hand and actually fiddling with them, but I didn't have any problems with Brawl's waist or his turret. Swindle's windows don't bother me either. And I will say this. When in limb mode, they look "Bruticusy". Like I can't wait for Onslaught to arrive because I just know I'm going to like the finished combiner.

Brawl's turret is disappointing, it's sad that they couldn't find a way (within the budget, presumably) to make it turn properly; it's on a hinge to allow it to transform to the leg mode and help the aesthetics there, so I guess that's the inevitable trade off.

Swindle's altmode honestly doesn't look that bad though. Looking at the promo pics, I may have exaggerated--there's clearly an open part in the front that makes up a big part of the canopy, so.

You do still own the FOC versions--I sold my retail Bruticus some many months ago (I think when Combiner Wars was first announced, even, or maybe once Bruty was confirmed) and just Tuesday sent out my sold G2 FOC Bruty. (Made about $70 after shipping on him, so not too bad!) So right now these guys are the only modern Bruty I got, and they're a damn sight better than the FOC guys. I may talk about certain characters not resembling their older counterparts as much (Blastoff is the worst for this; Vortex is in the middle, Brawl and Swindle are great) but the FOC toys may as well have been different characters entirely.

Actually I never had the FoC versions and still don't. I had found the G2 version pretty cheap but never had time to go back for it. And now that Onslaught is on it's way from BBTS, my motivation to do so is even less.

Bruticus. Onslaught came in from BBTS yesterday and so I was able to merge the Combaticons. When I saw pics of this I thought the Black head was going to bug me and it kind of does a little bit, but it's a minor detail in what is an otherwise awesome rendition of Bruticus. In combined form this thing just radiates raw power. The limbs are solid, sturdy, can be posed into numerous poses and He looks especially menacing holding weapon mode Shockwave, who also attaches to the back. Onslaught's guns can also attach back there for a more classic look. I think the only complaint I would have is that I think Hasbro missed an opportunity by not designing the various individual weapons to also combine, but they even sort of managed that with Swindle's weapon. Honestly, I really have no complaints with Bruticus. If you want a decent version of the combaticons you really can't do better. Onslaught himself is fairly decent but I haven't really fiddled with him individually yet, so I guess more on that later, but first impressions, robot mod is good and appropriately remolded from Hot Spot so that they don't feel like the same toy with a different paint job (even though they are).

Also, Legends Shockwave. If you have or want Bruticus, I highly recommend getting this to go with it. Or just get it period. This thing is everything I want from a Shockwave toy and it's in Legends scale to boot. The detail, articulation, paint, everything is great right down the line. I think my only complain would be the underside of the back of gun mode for not having something to cover the hand/gun arm, but I don't know how they would do that without hindering an otherwise perfect figure. I only hope that MP Shockwave turns out this well.

I think the only complaint I would have is that I think Hasbro missed an opportunity by not designing the various individual weapons to also combine

This is a missed opportunity across the board for the line. The worst part is that some of the weapons do have extra holes or extra pegs...and then some of them don't. It's so hit and miss. I also think Onslaught only having the two Hot Spot cannons instead of a rifle of his own doesn't help in that regard--I'll definitely be giving him my spare vintage G1slaught rifle.

Really wishing I hadn't missed out on the preorder and stuff, and doubly hoping I can find Onslaught for retail price sooner rather than later.

Shockwave wrote:Bruticus. Onslaught came in from BBTS yesterday and so I was able to merge the Combaticons. When I saw pics of this I thought the Black head was going to bug me and it kind of does a little bit, but it's a minor detail in what is an otherwise awesome rendition of Bruticus. In combined form this thing just radiates raw power. The limbs are solid, sturdy, can be posed into numerous poses and He looks especially menacing holding weapon mode Shockwave, who also attaches to the back. Onslaught's guns can also attach back there for a more classic look. I think the only complaint I would have is that I think Hasbro missed an opportunity by not designing the various individual weapons to also combine, but they even sort of managed that with Swindle's weapon. Honestly, I really have no complaints with Bruticus. If you want a decent version of the combaticons you really can't do better. Onslaught himself is fairly decent but I haven't really fiddled with him individually yet, so I guess more on that later, but first impressions, robot mod is good and appropriately remolded from Hot Spot so that they don't feel like the same toy with a different paint job (even though they are).

That's cool. Maybe you can swap later when the second half of the run with the alternate decos comes in, have we seen what they'll look like yet?

The individual weapons not combining is weird, all you really need is a central weapon with a bunch of 5mm holes including at the barrel, Optimus and Hot Spot do that, but if the weapons could be built out better it'd be more fun.

Also, Legends Shockwave. If you have or want Bruticus, I highly recommend getting this to go with it. Or just get it period. This thing is everything I want from a Shockwave toy and it's in Legends scale to boot. The detail, articulation, paint, everything is great right down the line. I think my only complain would be the underside of the back of gun mode for not having something to cover the hand/gun arm, but I don't know how they would do that without hindering an otherwise perfect figure. I only hope that MP Shockwave turns out this well.

Because the hand and gun arm are clear and facing down, they don't visually bother me at all, but I did think about it while transforming. My change to this figure would be to narrow the waist and lengthen the pistol grip, but those are minor.

This is a missed opportunity across the board for the line. The worst part is that some of the weapons do have extra holes or extra pegs...and then some of them don't. It's so hit and miss. I also think Onslaught only having the two Hot Spot cannons instead of a rifle of his own doesn't help in that regard--I'll definitely be giving him my spare vintage G1slaught rifle.

Really wishing I hadn't missed out on the preorder and stuff, and doubly hoping I can find Onslaught for retail price sooner rather than later.

Yeah, the weapons sometimes have holes where they're not useful too, it's random and it's the one area where they just weren't thinking about this stuff enough. Having weapons that combined more elegantly would be fun. And Onslaught really needed better weapons all around rather than recycling Hot Spot's, his back cannons (aka "missile launchers", suuuuure) and rifle are defining features.

Amazon will have Onslaught soon, don't panic.