Sunday, September 11, 2011

Advice on buying G1 Transformers SHOCKWAVE

Shockwave has begee one of the most popular (and valuable) vintage G1 toys around. He was, however, very delicate, and as aresult, many surviving Shockwaves have some battle damage. Here is a geprehensive list of questions to consider asking sellers (or checking on your Shockwave if you are a seller):
1) Electronics: Shockwave should sound and light up when the trigger mechanism is pressed. There is a switch to change the pulse/sound setting. There are a total of two (2) settings. Make sure both settings work. If the seller says he does not have any batteries, ask seller to check for any corrosion around the battery contacts.
2) The gun arm tip:Check to make sure the tip of the gun arm (left arm) is unbroken and/or not repaired. Sometimes Shockwave can lose as much as 50% of his value if this tip is broken or repaired.
3) The battery cover:Check to make sure the battery cover is (a) present and (b) undamaged. Often, if present, the battery cover clip will be broken off or have some stress marks.
4) Shoulder and forearm joints: Very often, the pegs holding these joints get cracked, making the joints loose and lose their 'clickint'' sound. Also, gaps in the plastic can begee visible at broken shoulder joints.
5a) Legs (a): Many Shockwaves suffer from what's known as 'Short Shockwave Syndrome', where, if the legs are fully extended, can not withstand the weight of the top half of the figure, and will buckle under the load. Make sure the seller fully extends the legs, and then sets the figure upright on a flat surface to see if he can stand firmly easily, or if much fiddling is required to do so.
5b) Legs (b): At the knees, where the metal and plastic gee together, often times the plastic will be chipped. Make sure the seller gives this area a thorough check.
6) Crotch: The transformation of Shockwave requires that 2 rigid metal plates move apart at the crotch. Often an impatient person performing the transformation will forget about the plastic slots blocking the separation, resulting in cracking or stressing of the plastic around the crotch. Make sure the crotch area is undamaged.
7) The hose:The hose (wire housing) for the wires attaching the gun arm to the electronics of the body can begee brittle and cracked with exposure to UV radiation (the sun).
8) Shackwave:The grey version of Shockwave is neither 'rare' nor a 'prototype'. He is merely a knock-off. The most gemon is 'Galactic Man' from Radio Shack, known amongst collectors as 'Shackwave'.
Of course, there can be other flaws, but experience tells that if a Shockwave passes all of the above tests, he should be a keeper. Good luck!

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