Transformers Studio Series Scorponok review

Scorponok, the sole Predacon of the movie, led to many wondering if we'd ever get any possible additions into the line to have a hypothetical Beast Wars cast in ROTB. I know not everyone doesn't want to have an army of scorpions under Scourge's command, and we know Rampage was meant to be in the film on top of Optimus Primal saying that there were Predacons who were slain. Until then, we have a proper Scorponok toy to either go with your already existing mainline version or outright replace it. Is it worth the wait after seeing its reveal in MCM London? Or is it shaping up to be as mid as Concept Art Megs and Gamer Edition Screamer? Let's find out!

Here we have Scorponok in his beast mode, in a color scheme that vaguely resembles the Beast Wars cartoon design. It's very subtle and desaturated by comparison, especially given the real-world setting. The design of this mode is much more fitting as a Terrorcon ally instead of a normal Predacon, especially given how it's more demonic and alien compared to the organic aesthetics of the Maximals. (orgasthetics? No that sounds bad). The purple applied serves as dry brushing. which is used sparingly here and there. The articulation consists of a ball-jointed head and shoulders, with two hinges going behind the pincers, slight leg movement at the hinges, and ball joint for the front scorpion legs (which are pretty limited), and two points at the tail, with the last hinge detaching too easily.

For a beast mode comparison, you can see how much closer the new figure looks to the CG model compared to the original. The proportions, deco, and part layout are already giveaways, but the head and claws properly match how they appeared in the movie, something that the original Beast Weaponizer didn't have because of its simpler engineering.

Optimus Primal also looks great with them when he's posed dismantling them as a gorilla, so poor Studio Series Scorpy better watch out!

Transformation may seem a bit been-there-done-that at first glance with a lot of other toys in this style, but I can at least say that the arms don't just move down as the forearms actually unfold from the scorpion pincers, which are now the shoulders. The robot legs are reused from the beast mode legs instead of being from the scorpion's back, and the robot head is...the same one as the beast mode, so that's a little similar to the way it worked on G1 Scorpy. The tail can be removed if you want, but I like keeping it on him since it goes with his feral appearance. Scorponok's robot mode also contrasts that of the Maximals in the movie, at least the ones we saw transform in the movie (basically, not Airazor). You compare the more rounded and traditional shoulders of the Maximal Males to this guy, and the contrast is crystal clear with the claws now serving as spikes, and the aforementioned beast legs add a somewhat spider-like (or Doc Ock-like vibe?) with the way they protrude from the back, almost giving them an unpredictable aura. The cinched waist makes his more alien posture fitting as he is hunched over instead of standing upright, which is helped by how far his head sticks out. The hands and the feet, however, look comical by comparison,  with the lavender popping out even more on them as well as the feet compared to the biceps and hips; they also look proportionately cartoony and not quite as sharp as they normally are. Oh, and the little Predacon insignia on his back is the same one we'd come to expect in the past. 

Since we already looked at the head, the articulation for the shoulders now has the ball joints on steps that attach to the sockets within the torso, meaning they move somewhat like on SS86 Hot Rod or ROTB Optimus Prime. The biceps swivel, the elbows are double-jointed, the hands are on ball joints, the waist swivels a little too tightly, the hips are on uncomfortably tight ball joints, the thighs are also on tight swivels, and the knees bend despite making the shins und=tab, and the ankles are a bit loose. The tail can be removed and pegged within the inner side of the forearm, which results in a whip that almost looks like it was transformed from his arm.

And here we have him in bot mode next to his mainline counterpart, who is surprisingly a bit taller than the new toy, though it can be explained that this is possible thanks to the smaller part count of the Beast Weaponizer versus the Studio Series version. So yeah, the design is generally good for both modes, though I do have to cut some points off for how tight the leg joints are while the ankles, on top of being a bit goofy like the hands, are too loose. The shoulder joints kind of suck in some poses, and the tail coming off too easily is a pain in the ass. But we'll see Wheeljack make the part-popping issue even worse in the next review!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐