It's not often that I have to contemplate adding a spoiler warning to a
toy post, but I'd like to think that, by now, TransFormers Animated has been
seen in its entirety by everyone who actually wants to watch it, and so the story spoiler
inherent in this toy is thereby no longer likely to affect anyone's enjoyment
of that show.
Essentially, Shockwave had a small but pivotal role in the show, with
far-reaching consequences for several other characters, thanks to the very
interesting spin the show's writers put on the G1 stalwart. Not content with
having him follow tradition and be the de facto Decepticon commander on
Cybertron, in Megatron's absence, they made him a spy, infiltrating Autobot
Boot Camp and, from there, Cybertron Intelligence, thanks to abilities which allowed him to adopt an Autobot disguise, known as Longarm, with its own unique
robot and vehicle modes.
Naturally, this was more successful in the cartoon than it could ever be in three-dimensional plastic, but the TF Animated toyline performed some minor miracles with its engineering in some cases, so it's really just a question of whether or not Shockwave is one of the better attempts.
