Shockblast's vehicle mode is a futuristic cannon tank. Although some parts of it border on passable, for the most part, this mode is pretty poor. When I look at it, I don't see a tank; I see Shockblast's robot mode contorted into an odd position. In fact, if it wasn't for the treads on the bottom, I'd swear this was a fan-created mode and not an official one. It's pretty obvious that his legs are just pushed together for the front bottom area of the tank mode, while his right hand is just folded in on itself, with a large plastic dual-gun shell on top of it that, while giving Shockblast some extra firepower, does a poor job disguising the hand right underneath it. Shockblast's robot head is also just rotated a bit so the lone eye isn't visible, even though the rest of the head is. Yeah, like THAT makes a big difference... The tank as a whole also doesn't look very solid; there's visible gaps in between many of the parts, which shouldn't be there for a mode as solid as a tank, for Primus' sake. The two rear treads also don't have any mass in between them, and they're overly flat themselves, so they don't help the image much, either. On the plus side, though, Shockblast's color scheme couldn't be better; the purple and gray not only look great, but are a great homage to G1 Shockwave (which Shockblast is obviously supposed to be an updated version of). The green gives Shockblast a bit more variety, and also ties him in with the whole "green Decepticon Energon" theme the bad guys in this line have. He's also got plenty of paint apps and mold detailing- I especially like the purple "M"-like pattern on the otherwise transparent green parts that become his chest in robot mode- it looks really, really nice. His cannon also is big, tough-lookin', and is a pretty cool gimmick in and of itself. Push the black lever forward, and a "charging up" sound is emitted continuously until you push it forward all the way, in which a final "firing" sound is emitted, the front green claws open up, the green mini-solar panels open up, and the missile fires. It looks really cool, and it definitely looks like Shockblast could do some serious damage with it. The black lever can be a bit touchy at times, but it's not too annoying.
    Shockblast's base mode (it's not a satellite, according to the instructions) doesn't fare any batter than the cannon mode, sadly. It still looks too much like his robot mode in an odd position- the robot legs, head, and arm are still just as obvious as they were in his cannon mode. The perk to this mode, though, are all the hidden solar panels that you fold out- they have chrome gold detailing on them, so they look pretty cool. There's also detailing on some of the parts revealed that shows various buttons and (non-firing) rocket launchers, so Shockblast has quite the artillery in this mode. His lone Powerlinx port- on the back of his hand- is revealed in this mode, although I'm not sure WHAT the big piece of plastic hanging off his hand is supposed to be in this mode- some kind of weird-shaped solar panel? Anyways, I'm not sure why the Powerlinx port is on the back of the hand, instead of on top of the large flat plastic piece attached to it, which would have made the port easily accessible in all modes. Overall, though, the base mode doesn't really look like anything more than an odd configuration of the robot parts- not at all like a satellite, and even less like an actual base.
    The robot mode, though, is where Shockblast really shines. Almost nothing is wrong with this mode, but there are a few minor things, so let's get those out of the way first. His gun arm is a bit too large proportionally, for one thing. In fact, it's actually longer than Shockblast is tall- which makes it impossible to leave that arm in a vertical position in this mode. There's also no real elbow articulation on that arm, given the hugeness of the gun, so Shockblast has limited articulation in that area of his body. The arm is also so heavy when compared to the rest of Shockblast's body that he tends to lean a bit to that side in many positions. Shockblast does have feet that I think are a little too big, but this helps to keep him more stable in lieu of that big gun-arm, so I suppose they're needed. Shockblast has excellent articulation excluding the gun-arm, though- he can move at the head, antennae, shoulders (at two points), elbow (at two points, on the right arm), the finger of his claw-hand, his waist, his hips (at two points), his knees (at two points), and his ankles. So you can get him into a fair number of poses, even with his heavy left arm. Shockblast's robot head is very well-detailed, and I can't think of a better look for an updated version of G1 Shockwave. He still has that cold, emotionless eye for a face, only now it has some pretty good light piping, so you can have that lone eye glow eerily in places with even a modest amount of lighting. The elongated head and long antennae help Shockblast fit in with the rest of the Energon Decepticons, who for the most part have a rather sleek look. As should be the case, given his alternate modes, Shockblast has practically no vehicle extras in this mode (assuming the large gun is supposed to be a major part of this mode anyways); the only real thing that could be considered an extra is his tread "backpack" but this blends in so well with the rest of his body and doesn't get in the way, so it really doesn't subtract from anything at all. Shockblast also has a "hyper mode", but all you really do is fold out solar panels from his back, so it's really not even a mode at all. It looks cool, though. Shockblast's Decepticon spark crystal is between his head and left shoulder.
    Y'know, I REALLY wanted to give Shockblast a "must buy" rating, but then I realized that I'd just be giving him the high rating because he's a new version of Shockwave (my favorite G1 character), and not on the toy's merits itself. So, going just from a toy perspective, the robot mode rocks, but the alternate modes are pretty poor. I would've easily gone for a slightly-less-impressive robot mode if it meant more believable vehicle modes. HIGHLY recommended for Shockwave fans, though, as he's a pretty good update.

Review by Beastbot

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