TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Box Art:

Sir Auros' Review of: Tidal Wave

Generation: Armada
First cartoon appearance: Awakening

Tidal Wave is a figure that I was really conflicted over purchasing. On the one hand, it looked like a really good mold, but with a less-than-pleasing paintjob. On the other hand, there has been some speculation that there would be a western release of the significantly snazzier Japanese color scheme. I opted to buy mine now for several reasons.
1-There may not be a western release of the Japanese color scheme, because last I read, there were no such plans in the works.
2-The paintjob on the version we have really isn't as bad as the pictures would have you believe and it looks quite good in person.
3-KB Toystore had Transformers 25% off and then an additional 30% off if you spent $30 or more... So, I bought the bullet and bought a Tidal Wave and I must say that I'm quite pleased with my purchase.

Vehicle Mode: Which one? Yep, we have another (quasi) triple-changer in Tidal Wave. His two "real" alternate modes are that of the "Dark Fleet," which consists of three ships, and a larger, combined single vessel mode. The aircraft carrier and funky, green pontoon boat modes look pretty cool, but the gray and purple boat doesn't look like it would have any real function as a naval vessel. The combination vessel looks sweet if you can get the green pontoon parts configured correctly. The aircraft carrier wedged between the green and gray parts makes it look kind of like this alien technology has taken over a conventional naval vessel and assimilated it. There are wheels on the bottom of the ship modes so that you could roll the figure around on the ground if for some reason you want to do that. The other alternate mode Tidal Wave has isn't so much an alternate mode so much as an alternate function. You can combine the pieces to make some really funky looking battle armor for Megatron. If you thought the battle armor additions for Prime looked weird in Armada, be ready to be floored by Tidal Wave and Megatron's coupling. Yech.

Robot Mode: One word. Sweet. Tidal Wave looks like this malicious, imperious character and indeed has some of the best facial sculpting I've seen in recent years on a Transformer. The robot mode is pretty big too, standing almost as tall as Unicron from the same line. The articulation isn't as good as it could be unfortunately, but it's reasonable. It would be nice if the figure could bend at the knees or had individual fingers on the hands. Of course, the fact that the figure even has hands puzzles me since he doesn't have any weapons to hold in them. Sure, there are missile launchers on the green pontoon boat section, but they can't be launched in robot mode. It's a pet peeve of mine when a figure doesn't have a weapon to hold in his hand or something, but Tidal Wave doesn't even have any built-in weapons in robot mode. Still, the robot mode is quite impressive for display and a fair bit of fun to play with too.
Minicon
Ramjet is a sad, pathetic little minicon. I'd even go so far as to say he's the worst minicon I've ever played with. He's smaller than your average minicon and he has absolutely nothing in the way of articulation. His legs are molded together as one and of course don't bend and his arms only come out at the elbow. I suppose he was designed to be so small so that he could fit inside the aircraft carrier's hull for storage, but I'd think they could have at least made the figure a little more interesting even at that small size.
Transformation:7 - Not hard and I didn't need the instructions, but I did need to take a peek at the pictures of the various modes on the box to get the transformations right the first time.
Durability: 8 - Not a whole lot on this figure that you could break, but I could see Ramjet breaking in all his tiny, frailness.
Fun:7 - Lack of a weapon makes him less fun:(
Price: At $25 USD, he's way more than he's worth. This figure belongs in the $20 price-range, especially with such a weak minicon.
Overall: 7 - The figure's pretty nice and worth having if you can get a break in the price like I did or can wait till he's marked down. I also wouldn't hold my breath on getting the Japanese paintjob unless you're willing to import.