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Bearing in mind that FoC Shocky recived a lot of criticism regarding his stature, I thought I should make the following observation.



As you can see he is well in line with other deluxe figures, figures that are generally considered to be amongst the best molds of the CHUG line, so why is it that Shocky received so much criticism?

Just my personal opinion, but I think it's because the figures you compared FOC Shockwave to were from lines where the majority of the figs were larger, so the odd shorty or midget is easily overlooked.

In any case, G1 Hound is supposed to be one of the shorter characters in the cartoon, and the other taller characters' figs from the same Classics line are also appropriately taller. As for Wheeljack, he was retooled to be shorter to make him different from RTS Tracks with whom he shares the mold.

Just my two cents' worth.

You realize you're comparing him to some of the shorter deluxes from previous lines. Even if he did stand alright as a deluxe, Shockwave is a big name con deserving of a larger size class in my opinion.

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:Just my personal opinion, but I think it's because the figures you compared FOC Shockwave to were from lines where the majority of the figs were larger, so the odd shorty or midget is easily overlooked.

In any case, G1 Hound is supposed to be one of the shorter characters in the cartoon, and the other taller characters' figs from the same Classics line are also appropriately taller. As for Wheeljack, he was retooled to be shorter to make him different from RTS Tracks with whom he shares the mold.

Just my two cents' worth.

If were talking about matching there size from the cartoon then surely Starscream should be much bigger.

leakin' lubricant wrote:

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:Just my personal opinion, but I think it's because the figures you compared FOC Shockwave to were from lines where the majority of the figs were larger, so the odd shorty or midget is easily overlooked.

In any case, G1 Hound is supposed to be one of the shorter characters in the cartoon, and the other taller characters' figs from the same Classics line are also appropriately taller. As for Wheeljack, he was retooled to be shorter to make him different from RTS Tracks with whom he shares the mold.

Just my two cents' worth.

If were talking about matching there size from the cartoon then surely Starscream should be much bigger.

Which is why I didn't mention him in the G1 comparison. He (and his seeker repaints) happens to be an "anomaly" height-wise, like ROTF Lockdown, who's almost as tall as a voyager class fig.

If anything, Starscream should have a voyager mold, since he's more in line with Megatron's size than any of the Classics deluxes like Sideswipe and Sunstreaker.

"Too small" depends on context.

Shockwave's size is an alright size for my purposes. I think he scales well with WfC Soundwave and repurposed Movie-Starcream-as-some-FoC-guy, despite noticeably having less mass.


Now compared to, say, RotF Dead End/Sideways, then Shockwave looks way small. But I don't really plan on having the two together, so the size doesn't matter that much to me. Tailwhip, Armorhide, Air Raid (the green one) size up decently, but again Shockwave isn't going to hang out with them.
*note I'm just grabbing random Deluxes that are in robot mode for this*

I think the original G1 toy is what throws people off because it was so big.

People think he was huge on the cartoon too, but I think there was an episode in the 2nd season where he is the exact same size as Starscream, maybe half a head smaller, but just chunkier. So if you go by that he isn't even as tall as Megatron or Soundwave on the Show....

I gave FOC Shockwave Cyclonus' legs and his height is pretty good, but he is just missing the chunky beefiness G1 Shockwave had....

It's been said already, but it hasn't quite sunk in I think. Scale-wise, Shockwave does just fine, he looks great, as a matter of fact.

But the problem is the VERY noticable decrease in mass and quality of the figure. Yes, it looks good; in fact it looks great, but he's very thin and hollow and light.

And TC, you picked other anomalously short deluxes from previous lines, not deluxes who are about average height from their respective lines. Which is particularly bad, because Shockwave is probably arguably the tallest FoC Deluxe from wave one. Many of the combaticons are notably taller, buuut they're very very hollow and lacking in mass.

Yeah, that comparison is really no good. You can't take out a whole bunch of small deluxes and say he's fine at his height.

Still, according to the scale guide in the Ark he aught to be slightly taller than Starscream and slightly smaller than Megatron, at least for the G1 show scale. I .... guess that makes him fine? Assuming you're using the tank Megatron mold.



Of course that means Bumblebee and Sideswipe can kick any of their asses at their sizes. And if hes in a WFC display, BB is especially larger.

Shadowstream wrote:You realize you're comparing him to some of the shorter deluxes from previous lines. Even if he did stand alright as a deluxe, Shockwave is a big name con deserving of a larger size class in my opinion.

Couldn't the same be said about Starscream or Wheeljack, the point I am trying to make is that there are number of molds that are deserving of taller stature yet have received favorable reviews whereas Shockwave got a heap of criticism.

"Too small" isn't just a comment on Shockwave's height.

Though he IS too small and too short, it should be noted that every aspect of him is diminutive where Shockwave should be a robust character.

Counterpunch wrote:"Too small" isn't just a comment on Shockwave's height.

Though he IS too small and too short, it should be noted that every aspect of him is diminutive where Shockwave should be a robust character.

G1 Shockwave had skinny legs. I wouldn't call it "robust". His torso was bulky, but that was merely the by-product of it being a toy with electronics from an era when electronic components were bigger, not a product of some intentional design on Has/Tak's part.

I think we all WANT Shockwave to be big because we remember holding that big gun in our little hands when we were kids, but I don't think it's fair to expect every iteration of SW to be big just because that one was.

leakin' lubricant wrote:

Shadowstream wrote:You realize you're comparing him to some of the shorter deluxes from previous lines. Even if he did stand alright as a deluxe, Shockwave is a big name con deserving of a larger size class in my opinion.

Couldn't the same be said about Starscream or Wheeljack, the point I am trying to make is that there are number of molds that are deserving of taller stature yet have received favorable reviews whereas Shockwave got a heap of criticism.

Agreed, however I think Starscream gets away with it(barely) for the sake of the mass of repaint value you can get out of him. Smaller figure means it's cheaper to put out. Wheeljack... well I can only blame the shorter legs for any height issues he has, otherwise he's a deluxe car mold and really doesn't need to be that tall. Shockwave is a top tier con meant to be right below Megatron in height, and has no(obvious) repaint value. Top all that with the fact that he's amid the figure generation who's plastic content is barely substantial enough for the price point it's being sold at, and I think the disappointment is justifiable. Granted he's not the worst of the lot, I think either Jazz or Optimus have that entitlement, but he is still low tier in my book.

Besides all the other good points already mentioned, what really killed it for me not just FOC Shockwave, is simply the knowledge that Hasbro started making deluxes smaller in order to cheap out on costs. This horrible state of affairs started out with the DOTM, continued with TP, and now FOC and Generations are going to be casualties as well. There's knowing that a figure was made deliberately small (e.g. the excellent Hailstorm)in a line up of 'normal' sized deluxes. Then there's knowing that they're all going to be small to save costs. Thin, hollowed out, flimsy looking.

To add insult to injury - I don't know about the States - but not only are the figures smaller, they have increased prices in my country too. That is a double whammy for me, and indeed I'd lost interest in TF for the longest time because of this, saving me lots of money which isn't really a consolation because I'd gotten spoilt over the years looking out for new lines and choosing great deluxes to add to my collection. When they came out with Terradive I really believe I was at the highest of my happiness and satisfaction, looking ahead to what else would come. Who knew it was the beginning of the end.