Lemon Tree Toys LT-03 Purple Potato (Transformers The Movie 1986 Decepticon Battleship) Gray Prototype

My copy (via Show.Z Store) arrived today.

The colour:

I would have proffered a really dark purple (e.g. Siege Astrotrain) but, it's a really nice shade. It just plays really well with light and shadow. A really dark colour would have obliterated the detail in the shadow (don't get me wrong, Purple Potato will wash out detail in shadow) and it just doesn't reflect/refract the way this shade does. It sort of reminds me of cell shaded CGI (with proper lighting sources) where an entire face would be properly lit (without all the weird I'm shinier than chrome squiggles/shapes). I know that the curves/shapes in vehicle mode play a huge role in that but, it just looks really nice.

The pegs that go into the chest:

These tabs were not pegged in when I took the toy out of the box.

The pegs that go into the underside of the chest (to peg the chest in place for robot mode and that peg into another set of holes further back for vehicle mode) are of course too large (or the holes are too small). I should have sanded them instead of letting them expand the vehicle mode holes (but it's too late to do so and there was no drama/fallout). Those pegs are small, there isn't a lot of room to work with, etc. but you should really just slowly sand them down then test fit until they just pop in to avoid any future issues.

This is the only time I have used these pegs so, I don't know what their current condition is.

The main reason I'm posting (the posts & die-cast rails in the chest):

There might have been a running change with the posts and or the die-cast rails that slide up and down them in the chest. My copy required zero pressure to slide the metal up and down. It honestly reminded me of a lovingly worn toy with that type of sliding mechanism. That having been said, I initially felt a lot of tension and, that was the direct result of having turned the head around and tucking away prior to completely transforming the arms for vehicle mode. Don't rotate the head and don't tuck it away until after you have completely transformed the arms. My copy wound up being absurdly easy to slide the die-cast up and down the posts and this was the area I feared the most.

Tabbing/clipping the legs together:

This was vastly easier than I had anticipated. I did have to massage the ankle hinges/rotation a couple of times but, I didn't have to completely uncollapse the legs and start over. I was able to tell where the tension was coming from and then rotate/twist the purple plastic for the ankle into the correct angles (it was really obvious for me based on how the toes looked) and then both halves just popped together.

That brings us to a small engineering flaw on the bottom half. It only has one tab and there honestly should be two tabs. I thought there were two tabs on the bottom half until I realized the passenger's side didn't have a slot for a tab which made me realize the driver's side didn't have a mangled tab (it was sprue material from a cut that was too high which I cleaned up with my TAMIYA 74035 clippers).

Tabbing the backpack together:

It wasn't tabbed together when I took it out of the box. I tabbed it together and heard it go "CLICK" and all my brain could do was go "FML that's never coming apart" because all I could think of were tabs and clips like 01 Studio Cell/Unicron has for the knees to chest. It did take a little bit of effort to get both halves apart but, it just took a steady gentle pull (and occasional pulling apart from the top then from the bottom. There are no marks/damage that I can see and it has tabbed and untabbed trouble free since then. The connection is still tight but, it's more of a that might just be a bit too tight scenario.

The lighting effects:

I haven't tested the lighting effects as I don't have the batteries required. I fully expect to have them kind of sort work but not really (when it comes to turning them on and off) like pretty much every copy I've heard about does.

The blast effects:

Rejoice for they are rigid plastic with pointy tips. I do wish that the rest of the details had been sculpted/molded/cast sharper than they are. The ends are really crisp and sharp while the rest is sort of blurry. TBF, that makes sense from a realistic PoV but they would just look better if nothing was blurry.

The needles:

These are also rigid. The rocket/booster/engine needles are slightly blunt/rounded at the tip but, you don't really notice. The forearm/nosecones) needles have a fairly blunt/rounded tip (similar to the one that is permanently attached to the spire/fin). I don't think it's a big deal that they can't create a puncture would (like 01 Studio Cell/Unicron probably can) but, someone else might. They both have some flex to them (don''t press your luck) but they are rigid so, they aren't going to droop/hang due to being rubbery. The forearm/nosecones) needles might sit at an off angle but, that's because of how they freely slide in and out of the nosecones and, that design is meant to avoid binding/breaking. It can be a minor annoyance to line them up but, it's far less of an annoyance than binding/breaking would be.

The stand:

I get why it's difficult to slide/tab in but I really wish it had a different connection point/method. You're going to want to get it slid/tabbed into one side, then remove it, then get it slid/tabbed into the other side, then remove it so that you can pre-stress (that sounds far worse than it should) the plastic so that it's easier to get it into both halves when they are tabbed together. Doing that gets rid of a lot of the guesswork and alignment concerns. It's an excessively tight fit the first time, like do I need to sand/grind/cut something down tight due to the tolerances and needing to be perfectly aligned. It's still tight after that but not tight to the level of thinking there's no way this stand is going to ever slide in.

The stand has a lot of wobble. It's sturdy and it would take a really solid bump/collision at the right angle with the vehicle mode to knock it over. I just think the plastic has too much flex. It probably needs to from an engineering aspect but this kind of stuff always bugs me. The best way I know how to articulate a description is to picture the wobble that a TV has when you use the factory TV stand. Now amplify that due to the increased height from the bottom of the object to the surface the stand is sitting on and having most of the weight in the center. That probably sounds far worse than it is and, I will take wobble over something potentially snapping/breaking.

Plastic quality/feel:

It just feels different. I think it's because it's pretty matte (unless light hits it at the right angle; even then the light is matte) and there is a slight texture to it. It's no bad or anything, it just wasn't what I was expecting.

Flaws in my copy:

I have a small "dimple" on the back of the right shoulder near the top left corner. e.g. The kind of dimple that test shots are used for on injection molded plastic to make sure there aren't any dimples nor low/high surfaces. It will always "irk" me but, it's not a deal breaker for me. It is however something I think everyone that is debating a purchase should be aware of, you may or may not have a dimple some where on the toy.

The arms don't peg together very securely (e.g. like they do in PrimveVPrime's video). I was able to make the gap smaller and the connection a bit sturdier by slightly rotating each bicep swivel until they were in a suitable position. All that really did though is transfer the gap to the underside. Another set of magnets in the forearms (closer to the biceps) and or a tab or magnets in the shoulders would mostly resolve that issue. There simply isn't room for anything in the shoulders though due to the joints.

The knees feel very different from each other. The both ratchet and I can hear them but, one feels really crisp and mechanical and the other just feels different. I'll probably take the leg that feels off apart if I ever transform Shockwave back to robot mode (I can't wait to make it fight the Ark).

Closing thoughts (aesthetics):

The potato half is a lot smaller in person than it is in pictures. It obviously has a larger diameter/circumference than the rest of the vehicle mode does but, it doesn't stick out considerably farther like a lot of pictures can make it look. It's very balanced looking in person.

I don't know why Shockwaves legs look so long. It has to have something to do with their width/shape compared to the arms because they are proportional from a length aspect if you measure/guestimate (e.g. the top of the shoulder to the top of the hip vs where the finger/digittips end and the legs continue). They are proportionate to each other (the legs are longer like they should be but not more than they should be) so, it's an optical illusion (possibly due to the height and FoV). The vehicle mode though makes this issue a non-issue for me but people need to be preapared for the fact that the legs might look a lot longer in person than they were expecting.

I wish this was in the leader scale. I know why it's not (it's MP scale and meant to look good with Haslab Unicron as well as 01 Studio Cell/Unicron) but, it's weird having Shockwave tower over Leader sized toys. It's just going to take time to adjust to the fact that Shockwave clearly turned itself into a warship (resembling Galvatron's to troll) after being left for dead on Cybertron (#ThanksUnicron) in order to fight Bumblebee's massive personal battleship that he convinced Wheeljack to build based on the Ark and that transforms into a giant golden robot of death.

I know that lot of people disagree with Shockwave being the robot but, it was honestly the best choice based on existing purple characters and their toys and, Shockwave was never seen again after TFTM (outside of an animation flub for a BG model). Shockwave is 100% the type of character that would find a way to offload its consciousness/programming to Galvatron's ship and then secretly seize control of it as a new body while scheming and plotting on how to get rid of Galvatron for being unfit to lead. Unfortunately, those plans were ruined after Bumblebee's convinced Wheeljack to build a massive personal battleship based on the Ark and that transforms into a giant golden robot of death. Shockwave had no choice and had to break cover but Strascream's ghost tampered with the mass shifting and now Shockwave is stuck scale wise and Galvatron is really pissed, like so pissed, like unbelievably pissed . . .

There's literally so much you can do with this toy even though it's not in the "proper scale" if you just make stuff up to fill in G1 cannon gaps

Closing thoughts (purchase):

There have been more than a few times over the past couple of weeks where I've had buyer's remorse well before it arrived. I told myself it's too tall in robot mode (I haven't bought an MP since the first Convoy and Starscream and I don't intend to). I told myself it was an excessive splurge (even though it was only $104.something. Most of all though, I told myself is was going to be a great big pile of trash like DeathheadII's copy unfortunately turned out to be (and it might very well do so in the future).

In the end though, I don't regret this purchase. I probably got really lucky with QC though (given that my copy is easy AF to transform other than the chest pegs). However, every single tab/peg/etc' could shear off this toy in the future and I still don't think I would regret the purchase because, this is very much a mold/design that I would regret never having in the future (unless a better version comes along lol). It's just without a doubt one of the coolest Transformers that I have ever seen (and likely ever will see) and, it was something that has never bee done before.

Shockwave finally getting an uncompromised and unique AF alt mode (which can genuinely interact with pretty much any Transformers line instead of being a life-sized role play laser gun) is really just the icing on the cake for me.

Motor_Master

Two questions:
1) Who did you order it from (US or overseas)?
2) Whose the shipping company?

"Arrive at Delivery company" just means the shipping company has received the package, nothing more.

Sorry I forgot to clarify, I ordered it through showzstore. The shipping company is cne express.

I ordered purple potato last month and the shipping tracking says "arrive at delivery company" as of September 2nd, when is it going to arrive?? I thought that meant out for delivery but it's almost been a week.

World of Depth

Has anyone else had problems with the arms not tabbing together AT ALL for alt mode? I've watched multiple reviews, including Emgo's, and the rest of transformation was fine. Those sliding bars are very loose, as someone else noted, so maybe this is part of a tweaked run. But the arms in alt mode just want to angle in slightly different directions despite being aligned, and the small tabs don't hold even one bit… Thank for any help!

There are two little magnets in the wrists, mine were in the wrong way around so were repelling each other rather than attracting. Popped them out, switched them around and it works fine now.

If you look at the wrists there is a really small hole you can poke the magnets out with, although mine fell out with a little tap.

I really wish lemon tree would continue this line instead of bumble bee movie.
That shockwave was sooooo refreshing and looks so good.
-ark:cosmo
-nemesis:seeker
-lost light:ratchet

I've had my unit displayed for a couple months. I took him out today to change is modes, and I cycled on and off the LEDs. I noticed they all looked quite dim, even though I barely used the feature, but I chalked that up to battery drain.

I am having the darnedest time trying to shut off the LED in the eye, though– anyone notice that issue where the magnet switch stops working on the eye?

Moos Crew

I love the way he looks, but I think I’ll have to break down and get a Hasbro version.

He definitely has the best hose material (giggity) out of any Shockwave ever. Though my KO MP Lavendarwave's spring has yet to chip, I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

Bots and Bits

Enjoy peeps

Brilliant intro

Madgame

True indeed, but I'd like both options, honestly. Don't want to color over the electronic light option.

If you're bored and crafty, you could always take the head apart and get a resin kit, duplicate the part, and then paint it.