General Information:
Release Date: June 2023
Price Point: $15.99
Retailer: Target Exclusive
Accessories: Tail/Weapon, Sandspear figure/weapon
Official images and text below in italics are from Target.com
Scorponok, the fierce Predacon warrior, teams up with his beast partner, Sandspear, as they charge into battle! Classic Transformers robots and beast robots join forces in an epic alliance! Combine the Beast Alliance Beast Weaponizer 2-Pack Predacon Scorponok and Sandspear toys to gear up for battle! (Each sold separately, subject to availability.)
The battle on Earth is no longer between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts introduces mysterious factions, the Maximals, the Predacons, and the Terrorcons, in an epic 90s globetrotting adventure. Build the Beast Alliance and gear up for battle with Transformers Beast Alliance kids toys inspired by the new Transformers movie, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts!
TRANSFORMERS and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro and are used with permission. © 2022 Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Licensed by Hasbro.
Background:
The name Scorponok has been part of Transformers since the 80's. Back then it referred to a large Transformer who could transform into a mechanical scorpion and a base. Years later in Beast Wars the name would be taken on by one of Megatron's Predacon warriors. During the Unicron Trilogy the Scorponok name (kind of) returned to its roots as the name of a robot who could turn into a mechanical scorpion. In 2007 a version of the character made its appearance in the first live action Transformers film as Blackout's minion.
When Rise of the Beasts needed an army of creatures serving Unicron they turned to the design of Scorponok from the 2007 film as their foundation. The result was an army of scorpion drones that the special effects artists working on the film could replicate over and over on the battlefield. This pair of figures is based on the drones seen in the film. You can see them in action at about 2:02 in the trailer below.
Packaging:
Scorponok and Sandspear are packaged together in an open box. They are attached to a cardboard backing with the lower part of the figures wrapped in cardboard. Technically this is a Rise of the Beasts "mainline" figure falling under the "Beast Alliance" banner, but it has the yellow colors and fonts associated with the "Buzzworthy Bumblebee" line. Other figures in the "Beast Alliance" sub-line include Optimus Primal with Arrowstripe and Battle Master Rhinox. Scorponok is packaged in robot mode and his alt mode is shown in a photo on the front of the packaging. The "Buzzworthy Bumblebee" and "Rise of the Beasts" logo both grace this box along with the name "Predacon Scorponok & Sandspear". That's right, while the Terrorcons are the main baddies of this film, this package confirms the "drone troops" are Predacons!
The back of the box shos Scorponok and Sandspear in both modes. Scorponok has a 7 step transformation called out while Sandspear's is 4 steps. Both the "Beast Alliance" and "Rise of the Beasts" logos grace the back of the box.
Accessories:
Scorponok comes with two accessories: his tail/weapon and Sandspear.
The tail/weapon accesory looks like a mechanical scorpion tail with blades at the bottom and top. The bottom blades form a hilt while the axe blade on top is curved. Since the axe blade doubles as the tail stinger in beast mode, you can bend the weapon so the blade points forward at an enemy. The base of the blade has a 5mm peg while the areas above the hilt and on either side of the axe blade have 5mm ports. This is one mean looking weapon and I appreciate that it has articulation. I can imagine this as a sword/axe blade weapon and a whip like weapon with a blade at the end! This piece is made up of black and grey plastic with green paint applications running along the length of the tail/sword "blade" section.
Sandspear is basically a Battle Master. The creature transforms from a techno-organic looking scorpion into a spear weapon. Sandspear is similar in design to Scorponok in beast mode including having large mandibles, creepy eyes in front and claws that have spikes running along the sides. The middle section of the figure looks almost organic, with a rough pattern that looks more like it belongs on an organic creature. Interestingly, each of his claws has a 5mm port so he can hold weapons from other figures. I expected this on Scorponok, but not on Sandspear.
Sandspear is made up of light brown and metallic grey plastic. Dark silver paint applications run along the back and to the head. The eyes are painted orange.
To transform the figure, swing the claws back. Then swing the tail back and swing out the blade. Now rotate both arms back. Finally, swing out the 5mm peg on he bottom of the mandible area. Sandspear may be a spear in weapons mode, but he can only really be held in weapons mode using the 5mm peg under the head and not in the middle or at either end. Still, with his claws still showing and legs extended out he somehow looks especially dangeorus, like any contact with him will cut you up badly!
Robot Mode:
Scorponok never transforms into a robot form in Rise of the Beasts, so there is no "screen accuracy" to worry about in this mode. What we do have is a really interesting robot mode that looks techno-organic, a fun nod to the Beast Wars era. Several parts on Scorponok have a rough, organic pattern on them including the shoulders, chest and legs. These sections are overlaid in some places with what looks like metal armor or machinery while other sections such as the middle of the torso look completely mechanical. He has a really creepy face design with antennae and visor eyes that seem to call back to G1 Scorponok's head design. Another fun little detail are what appear to be gears around his wrist area. This appears to be a nod to the arm design of the 2007 movie Scorponok whose forearms could spin like a drill. Overall, I really like this robot mode sculpt. It "feels" like a Beast Wars inspired toy.
While I am very fond of the sculpt, the figure does suffer from a couple design weaknesses that I partially ascribe to the limited budget for this class of figure. First, the back of the torso, forearms and lower legs are all hollow. Now, normally the hollowed out parts on Transformers don't really bother me so long as there are enough other "filled in" parts to balance it out. Here however there are just so many hollow parts that I find it a bit distracting. The other design issue I have is with the scorpion legs. On each side they are just one solid piece on a hinge. They should swing back to get out of the way, which is fine until you try to pose the figure out. The scorpion legs wind up blocking certain positions unless you swing them out, which doesn't look great.
Scorponok is made up of gunmetal grey, silver and light brown plastic. There is a lot of paint on this figure, more than I had expected. Two shades of green are used in this mode. A brighter, stronger shade is used for his shoulder detailing and the Predacon symbol on his chest. A lighter green is used on his legs. Silver paint is used for his claw blades, antenna and face. Orange paint is used for his visor eyes, a possible nod to G1 Scorponok's animation and comic book model which featured orange visor eyes. Overall, I really like the deco on this figure, especially since it is not a Deluxe (or even falls into that classification system).
There are nine points of articulation on this figure. That does not sound like a lot by today's standards, but the elbow, shoulder and knees are all ball joints, so you get a kind of retro-Beast Wars amount of articulation with a good range of motion. Each fist has a 5mm port in it, allowing him to hold his weapons. The sides of the forearms also have 5mm ports. Want to load him up even more? The lower legs also have 5mm ports on the sides! Overall there's some fun play value in this figure, especially if you've been picking up the Battle Master figures in the Rise of the Beasts toy line.
Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
- Detach the accessories and set them aside for now.
- Push the shoulder armor down.
- Rotate the arms up.
- Swing the scorpion head from the back up and over the back of the robot head.
- Swing the scorpion legs out.
- Connect the two lower robot legs.
- Swing the lower robot legs forward.
- Swing the robot legs forward so the feet sit behind the scorpion head. Push the leg(s) section down into place.
- Attach the Axe weapon to the port between the two lower robot legs.
Beast Mode:
Just as the robot mode features a combination of organic and technological features, so does the beast mode. The lower legs and scorpion head section have some rough patterns that look like they could be organic armor. Meanwhile other parts like the claws on his arms and the scorpion legs llook like machinery. Throw in his tail axe blade/stinger weapon and this is one fierce looking creature! I really like the level of detail on this sculpt and it shines through in this mode as well as the robot mode.
This mode concentrates parts together more, so now we get a lot of green paint in the same area of the figure. The beast mode head reveals even more green paint and orange eyes. I specially love the way green paint is sprayed onto the scorpion legs. It really gives the figure a distinctive appearance.
There are six points of articulation in this mode. This includes two in each arm and three in the tail weapon. Unfortuantely due to the way the tail/weapon is constructed, it cannot angle back while having the axe blade weapon point forward so it just kind of sticks up vertically in the back instead of angling back like a real life scorpion. Honestly, to me this is a nitpick but I would feel remiss if I did not point it out. This mode allows you to use the 5mm ports on the robot arms, but the ones on the sides of the robot legs are a bit hard to use since the beast mode legs get in the way.
Final Thoughts: I have been enjoying the "Beast Alliance" figures and this is no exception. I also like the way this two pack serves as a troop builder pack where you get two scorpion drones in one box. The sculpt is really nice on both figures, but clear sacrifices were made to hit the $15.99 USD price point. Recommended if you're looking for a troop builder to serve your Terrorcons. If you can get this on sale at some point, I would recommend going that route if you can (though I personally bought two packs at full price).
Pros:
- Excellent sculpted details on both figures.
- Really nice deco for a figure of this class.
- Fun play value.
- Cool troop builder.
Cons:
- Hollow parts in the back, arms and legs feels excessive even for this size class.
- The lack of articulation on the beast mode legs causes issues posing the figure in robot mode.
