There is very little paint on the figure. Some grey areas are painted in a shiny silver, but most everything is molded, either in that bright purple, a dull gray, or the clear pieces for various effects. On that note, the clear hand & gun hand are also available in a pearlized pink. I picked up my Quake Wave at Captured Prey and those pieces were included, along with an alternate left forearm piece that lets the “hose” swivel around if you’d rather have it plug in on the underside of the arm instead of the top. Not all stores include those extra pieces, but those are in stock for super cheap at that link to Captured Prey and Quake Wave san the extra parts are in in stock at BBTS.
And, before I forget, Quake Wave does have light-up features, his eye and his gun arm. I haven’t run out to buy the batteries (CR1020 & CR1025 I believe), but I did include a picture of them lighting up on the packaging. Definitely a neat feature and I should get those batteries in there sooner rather than later.
Quake Wave transforms similarly to the vintage figure, but with an ingenious twist! On the old figure, the stock/butt of the pistol folded up on the figure’s back – kinda of like & backpack and the barrel just had to go… somewhere. On Quakewave, the barrel folds inside out and takes the place of the backpack. It works very well and the figure looks good from the back as a result. But where does the stock of Quakewave’s alt mode go? That’s even better.
One of the problems on the original, similar to vintage Megatron, was the weak, thin legs. Fans Toys did a great job to have the rear part of the gun merge with the handle to give the toy the legs it needed. It looks great both ways and it’s extremely functional. I love it.
In gun mode, Quake Wave is still pretty cool. He’s pretty faithful to the original. The light-up feature would carry over if I had batteries in him. The metal grip gives him a nice feel. Lots of good things here, but, he is a bit hard to display that way, so I’ve kept him in bot mode almost the entire time I’ve had him. If you’re looking for a sharp laser/gun/pistol mode though, this guy is for you. He just happens to fold out into a great robot figure.
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Overall, this is fantastic toy. If you’re collecting MPs, you can wait for Takara to get here, but I don’t even know what they could do differently. Maybe they’ll knock it out of the park and I’ll happily switch up, but Quake Wave fills that role so perfectly, I don’t know what they could do. He’s a high quality, fantastic figure. And at $160, he’s priced in line with the MP’s I’ve been importing from Takara anyhow. If Takara goes here and if Hasbro brings it over, $160 might finally seem like too much, but for now, it’s a great price. I just need to hit up Reprolabels for some stickers and call this one done.
Transforming Expectations Toy Reference Book
So, if you love Third Party Transformers, Books about Toys, or Books about Third Party Transformers Toys, then I’ve got the Kickstarter for you. Heck, even if you don’t like any of those things, you should back the Transforming Expectations Kickstarter. I backed Transforming Collections earlier this year and its superb (and there are still spots left to back and get both books!). Phil did an amazing job – he’s one of the hardest working toy bloggers I know and he clearly loves what he does. That shows in his blog at Battlegrip, in Collections and I have no doubt he’ll repeat in Expectations. It’s got five days left and I’m pretty certain it will get funded, but if you’re a little bit interested you should still check it out and then think about what toy book you want Phil to do next, because that’s what you’re going to want after you read it. I’ve already got a long list for him that he doesn’t even know about…Anyway, Transforming Expectations has five days left and only needs a smidgen to reach full funding. Wouldn’t it be just great if it went over today?
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Shocky was in scale with Optimus and Megatron/Soundwave, so the bot mode is good in that regard.
The alt-mode? That’s a bit trickier. Early on, he was a free-standing laser cannon, so size-change wasn’t an issue, like it was with Megs or Soundwave. Later on, it gets a bit fuzzy as to whether he changed size like Megs or not, esp as he was rarely shown in cannon mode.
Heck, in the Marvel comics, Optimus and Megatron are pretty much taken out early on (end of #4 of the mini-series? then Shocky and Dinobots debut in #5 ongoing?) and rarely used for several years in favor of Ratchet/Bumblebee and Shockwave/Starscream, I seem to recall? Well, OP’s head was still around and the comic Matrix was more a “create new personality programs” program than what we saw in the cartoons and esp the movie, which was used to create the Constructicons and a handful of other TFs. but I digress.
I didn’t have the original Shockwave (TF, I did get the Joe!), but I had the Action Master, which…yeah. the AM Megatron was also the only version I had of him for years, as well. I don’t think I had another version of him until last year’s TFA leader class(?), then the WFC deluxe version this year. (both buried in storage at moment. ugh.)
This guy does look good, and the LED feature is something that more recent iterations lack, unfortunately. The die-cast parts are another throwback to G1 TFs that I miss, as well. I was not aware that he was an original creation, but then again, I wasn’t aware most of the TF line were “borrowed” from other Japanese lines, either! LOL
On the “renaming” front, I saw the “black” leader class tank Soundwave, Sound Blast, today at Sullivan. I’ve been debating about the Blaster version again, then saw this guy and had to do a doubletake on the name. Still not a fan of those “disc” troops replacing the cassettes of the classic line. and what did I say about digressing? :/
So scale is good too! Spot on.
I liked the discs, but they were more novelty than full toys.
Excellent review, pics, and comics once again.
This guy is supposedly on his way from BBTS, with a few other items. Man I hope they arrive soon!
Thanks, Beedo! Me too!
And, he arrived today. Man, is this an excellent toy! Mine came with the extra “hose swivel” parts (which will go unused, as it eliminates the light-up laser barrel) and the batteries installed. I passed on the pearly pink add-ons because translucent things rule.
The only possible way I could think to improve this thing is to loosen up a couple of the joints. Because unfolding the heels is a pain (literally: my thumbs now hurt), and trying to get the legs to telescope or collapse is . . . fraught, to say the least.
Thanks for the very kind words AND for mentioning my book project(s).
I picked up this exact same toy at NYCC and was stunned at how very incredible it turned out to be. I am not a fan of the Masterpiece scale — the toys feel just a little too big for me to enjoy transforming them — and had been skipping Quake Wave, but once I held the toy at NYCC I just had to have it. This is far more impressive a work than I had been expecting.
And what’s even cooler to me is how much it looks like a labor of love. The transformation looks slick without being too frustrating — though I have yet to figure out how the legs collapse; I need to watch a video once I get time — and I keep going back to how great it feels and the poseability. One of the best third party toys I’ve ever bought!
The legs… just go in, they don’t send to have a catch or button. I don’t know. He’s an awesome toy, definitely deserving of a spot in the book.
And my list isn’t too long, some on probably on your list too! 😉
One of the best parts about him is where they chose to use the die-cast parts: the feet and lower legs. It gives him such a good center of gravity and he is so easy to pose. Plus it gives some nice extra heft.
He’s a hell of a great figure, and priced no higher than any MP of his size.
I still need to track down this batteries too ><
Sometimes he’s sold with batteries. We shoulda got in on that!! lol
Shockwave has always been a favorite so Quake Wave here is going on my “someday” list. He looks fantastic. Fans Toys really poured their heart into this guy. 🙂
They really did!
Just going to add my voice to the chorus, Quakewave truly lives up to the name ‘Masterpiece’. Amazing sculpt, articulation, transformation and extra LED touches make it totally worth the $. I say more 3rd party transformer reviews from Noisy!
Thank you! I’m tryin’. They’re just sometimes labor intensive… lol. I’ve got some stuff from Mech Ideas & Toyworld, but it’s the Combiners that scare me away!!
This is one of the few 3rd party toys that I regretted missing upon the first release. After reading all of the reviews, I really felt like I missed the boat. I’m really glad he’s had additional runs since his initial release. I might actaully be able to get him now.
Oh, and as far as display in gun mode is concerned, there is a custom stand made by heirofthedog that is available (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Transformers-CUSTOM-Cold-Cast-Resin-STAND-BASE-V1-1-for-FansToys-QUAKEWAVE-/321222424634?pt=UK_ToysGames_ActionFigures_ActionFigures_JN&var=510165253003&hash=item4aca59383a#ht_916wt_987). It’s been reviewed by a few other reviewers on youtube, and it has been very well received.
Cool stand! And, yeah, this is a third run Quake Wave? He’s been popular, so I’m glad they went back into production.
Wait…is what Thundercracker says in the picture true? Is Shockwave on a list of future official MPs?
It’s just to setup the joke. Shockwave & Galvatron get bandied around on the rumor list quite a bit though.
Great review as always, but what do you have against purple?
It’s very… purple. And not orange.
Having just purchased MP Soundwave at TRU with a coupon, I have a newfound interest in G1 Transformers and was looking to replace my old Shockwave. I might have to pony up and get this instead!
He would make a great G1 replacement!
Also, what is this MP Optimus that is in scale with these guys? The one I have is the U.S. Release from several years back with the short smoke stacks and he’s a giant!
The new Optimus is MP-10 as opposed to the old MP-01. I have the old one too, he rocks, but he’s huge! MP-10 was made to set the new scale a couple years ago and everything since has been roughly scaled to him. He also has his trailer included. He was a seemingly rare TRU exclusive last year for the states and there’s a new overseas version of him coming soon.
Thanks! That make sense now. I passed on Starscream all those years ago because I thought he was too small. Also, there’s no way I can give up my MP Prime, as it was a gift. Maybe I can leave him in truck mode if I everick up the smaller one,,,
Really good review on this guy.
I have not been able to purchase him as his price point is a little out of my reach, however he is one hell of a figure.
This is one Con homage that is standing above others done by third parties and hopefully i will get my hands on him at some point.
Thank you for selling me on this toy with this informative review.
I have 7 Mp figures and the rest are deluxe /voyager generations /TfUniverse series.
Quakewave is a little steep–only paid $135 for my Mp-10–thus I wasn’t going to acquire him @ 1st sight.
You showed me the light, lol,LED type ones(I’m a sucker for lights&sounds toys)
“Shockwave” is one of my favorite DECEPTICONS : it’s his altmode as a raygun.. the current version I have in deluxe and voyager, but they’re gunShips/Cannons! Save my pennies and grab that Quakewave laser ASAP. Yes I will. Please review more of these. Especially the combiners! Lol I have been buying the Fansproject version of the “stunticons” one-by-one! Would Really appreciate help in more of these reviews.
What do we know about the regulations on these guys? Are they paint safe? I have kids and they love to get their hands on my Transformers. I avoid knock-offs and IO ripoffs and the like, but this seems a little fairer game.