The Energon Pub

Since the merger of Takara and Tomy, I have been eagerly awaiting an official reissue of Transformers G1 Shockwave.

I am aware that Shockwave was originally a ToyCo product (Astro Magnum). I'm almost certain that Tomy acquired ToyCo a while back, so there shouldn't be any trademark issues as there is with Jetfire for example. Also the other ToyCo original 'Transformers' such as Sky Lynx and Omega Supreme have recently be reissued as part of Takara's encore series.

So I'm ever hopeful we will finally get an official reissue, I'm pretty sick of having to suffer these inferior KO's of which Shockwave is one.

However, what to you guys think?

In this case it's copyright. Trademarks are used for names only.

Anyway, Shockwave is the only one out of the borrowed mold to see a Japanese TF release, so chances of a reissue are pretty good. Hopefully there will be enough demand in due time.

Hopefully there will be a release, especially with Shockwave being a part of TF3, even though it will most likely look nothing like the G1 version.

I hope that timing him with TF3 is the plan. It would be great if we saw him in a year or so.

i hope so, i really want a g1 shockwave, i got the wst version but the real thing would be so wonderful

I've said it in a couple of other threads and I'll say it again: 2011 is the best chance of a Shockwave reissue that we've ever had due to his appearance in the upcoming Transformers 3 The Dark Side of the Moon.

Not only that but with Hasbro and Takara Tomy's intention to give every G1 season 1 character that hasn't had a new figure of their G1 version a new figure gives us an increased chance of a Generations/Shield/United Voyager sized figure in his G1 style.

They have released Sky Lynx and Omega Supreme so there shouldn't be anything stopping them from doing Shockwave.
He was one of the nominees for the Transformers Hall of Fame for goodness sakes, he's just too popular to be ignored.

Just hope and pray that Hasbro and Takara Tomy don't do the same with Shockwave as they did with Devastator and miss a big chance by just give us a crappy G1 coloured version of his crappy movie figure despite his popularity.

Jazz-1982 wrote:Just hope and pray that Hasbro and Takara Tomy don't do the same with Shockwave as they did with Devastator and miss a big chance by just give us a crappy G1 coloured version of his crappy movie figure despite his popularity.

They monitor message boards you know, shhhhh, don't give them any ideas...

I'm going to work today and i'm going to see if the boys in the workshop can machine a new elbow joint for me, i've got a broken one on my Shockwave and finding just that particular part is proving difficult, plus a machined version will have much more strength for his transformation.

And I can guarantee, once I get my Shockwave completed, they'll announce his reissue.

Pretender Skywarp wrote:

Jazz-1982 wrote:Just hope and pray that Hasbro and Takara Tomy don't do the same with Shockwave as they did with Devastator and miss a big chance by just give us a crappy G1 coloured version of his crappy movie figure despite his popularity.

They monitor message boards you know, shhhhh, don't give them any ideas...

Actually, I'd want a g1 colored version of the movie toy, ON TOP of, a g1 reissue.
Unless he's, you know, accurately colored to begin with, then there's no issue there.

Pretender Skywarp wrote:

Jazz-1982 wrote:Just hope and pray that Hasbro and Takara Tomy don't do the same with Shockwave as they did with Devastator and miss a big chance by just give us a crappy G1 coloured version of his crappy movie figure despite his popularity.

They monitor message boards you know, shhhhh, don't give them any ideas...

Oops! I shouldn't have said that...
Please reissue G1 Shockwave and give us a new voyager and a movie version figure in G1 colours please Hasbro!!

I would love to see a Shockwave. I refuse to pay the prices he is getting on ebay, especially since most of those are broken in some way.

Have any of you heard about anyone who bought the KO "encore" shockwave? Sould I better expect for a official reissue form Tak-Tom? what do you people think?

It's unlikely Shockwave was made by a different company, and the company has no clue if even they are allowed to reissue the original toy due to ownership of the mold.
There was an interview, I posted when I first became part of the news crew, with the CEO of the company that originally made the Shockwave mold back in 1950 something. He stated that he would love to make a reissue of the toy possible, but couldn't as it was licensed to so many different companies over the years that he isn't sure who owns the actual mold now.
Sadly my article along with many of that time are gone but I'll see if I can find the original interview.

1950? Is that supposed to be 85 or 80 or some other more reasonable date, or what? Because pretty sure pre-Shockwave isn't THAT old.

Lackadaisical wrote:Have any of you heard about anyone who bought the KO "encore" shockwave? Sould I better expect for a official reissue form Tak-Tom? what do you people think?

I bought that KO 'Encore' version, and in my opinion its pure garbage. The leg mechanism doesn't really work properly, its just to unstable and constantly falls over in 'robot' mode. In 'Alt' mode the arms that form part of Shockwave's barrel are so loose that they fall down quicker than a whores knickers! The plastic is also pretty poor quality to, mine came with stress marks right out of the box.

In my opinion you should avoid this crap at all cost and wait for an official Has/Tak re-release.

Lackadaisical wrote:Have any of you heard about anyone who bought the KO "encore" shockwave? Sould I better expect for a official reissue form Tak-Tom? what do you people think?

I think that if you want a G1 Shockwave then you will probably have to put down the cash for a vintage one. Then the question is what you want to spend and in what condition do you want one.

Optimum Supreme wrote:1950? Is that supposed to be 85 or 80 or some other more reasonable date, or what? Because pretty sure pre-Shockwave isn't THAT old.

I found the original interview on tformers:
http://tformers.com/article.php?sid=9709
A Quarter of a century before Transformers. So it's more late 1950s to early 1960s.

I'm not seeing anything in that article that indicates that mold being 50-60 years old. One would assume that the electronics for that wouldn't have been cost effective back then or able to be made cheaply enough for a toy. The late 70s and into the 80s was where cheap wiring and electronics for toys really hit a boom.

Well, the "20 years before" liner came from the interviewer "Tama". Maybe he or she got the facts mixed up or he was referring to the electronic sound effect doohickey gimmick on Shockwave. That was all the rage in Asia back then.

MightyMagnus78 wrote:

Lackadaisical wrote:Have any of you heard about anyone who bought the KO "encore" shockwave? Sould I better expect for a official reissue form Tak-Tom? what do you people think?

I bought that KO 'Encore' version, and in my opinion its pure garbage. The leg mechanism doesn't really work properly, its just to unstable and constantly falls over in 'robot' mode. In 'Alt' mode the arms that form part of Shockwave's barrel are so loose that they fall down quicker than a whores knickers! The plastic is also pretty poor quality to, mine came with stress marks right out of the box.

In my opinion you should avoid this crap at all cost and wait for an official Has/Tak re-release.

THANK YOU, THAT WAS THE KINDA ANSWER I NEEDED. I'll better expect for better times to come and if it's God's will perhaps it'll be reissued... The way you describe it, it feels like the arms are almost like the WST version of SW, where it's impossible to keep the arms straight on gun mode. Thanks really, you just save me some serious bucks.