Animated Shockwave

He goes by many names, but rarely needs introduction. The Decepticon double agent, Longarm Prime, Greywave...
Ladies and gentlemen, here he is: Animated Shockwave.

This guy is pretty much universally loved. Considered a grail by beginning collectors, and seasoned TF fans can't go without him.
And why not, because he is, for all intents and purposes, a quadruple-changer. That means he has 4 modes, genius.
4 modes, spanning two loyalties.
First, there is his Autobot alias Longarm Prime. In the show it's an identity he has taken from the Autobot history files. In this mode he is a short, stocky bot, with tanktreads for shoulders and what appears to be a scubatank's nozzle for a chin.
Longarm's alt-mode is a Cybertronian crane... the constructionverhicle, that is. Apparently many Cybertronian vehicles are of the "turtle-vehicle" variety, that means their treads are positioned at a 45 degree angle, giving off the impression of limbs. I said many, because Cybertron-mode Ratchet ánd Cliffjumper also possess this "limbed" configuration...

From this mode it's an easy step to what is considered Shockwave's alt-mode: an H-tank. Pulling back a tab on the crane itself causes a gunbarrel to snap into place, and doing so pretty much buries the crane's hook into the barrel, reducing it to a decoration. Then aligning the treads with the ground makes the tank-mode battle ready.
His final, and actual, mode is the embodiment of awesome. Shockwave himself is tall and sleek, as opposed to Longarm's wide and more "muscular" build.
This makes that the figure has to be riddled with joints, and everything can move. His left leg alone has 7 joints. Hell, even his face is jointed. I mean, come on!
He is drowning in poseability, but actually posing him can be tricky. See, he has no separate feet, as they're integrated into the leg. This undermines some of the more elaborate poses, but in my opinion he needs no excessive pose-striking. Less is more.

On a less fanboyish note, one gripe. Although the face-shifting gimmick is neat, this gets in the way of any head-movement. Longarm simply has none. He can just stare at whatever's directly in front of him. As Shockwave his head can move nicely, but making him look to a side slightly tilts his head. This makes that he always has this look about him as if he's wondering what the hell is going on.
But he knows what's going on.
In advance.
He's just that cool.

Oh, and I would've liked it if his eye could've moved down just little, eliminating the effect of the "chin" looking like a grimace.


Anyway, final verdict: just awesome. The way he's designed to resemble two, in all honesty pretty distinct, characters is a work of engineering art. Although I'm trying to curb my enthousiasm, I think he is an epitome of the overall quality of the Animated-line.