Scarem is one of the initial line of Transmetal II basic assortment toys. Although small in size, this toy manages to be lots of fun. Like his predecessors such as Insecticon and Spittor, Scarem has a very creepy look and interesting features.
Beast Mode:
In beast mode, Scarem is a Transmetal beetle. His primary color scheme is metallic orange, dark green, neon pink and vacuum metallized dark blue. His two most striking features in this mode are:
- Huge Mandibles - Each mandible is almost as long as the rest of the figure itself. It takes little imagination to see how fierce they can be in battle!
- Ability to stand - Most "insect" based Beast Wars toys from the original Waspinator to Tarantulas have always shared one problem: the inability to stand up well in beast mode. Scarem is quite different. His insect legs were all molded in such a way that the insect mode stands up very well with a good amount of clearance room between the surface it stands on and the 'belly'. A fantastic job in this respect.
Even these features should not distract one from the molding however. This toy looks very striking in beast mode. The neon pink is dabbed in critical points against the dark green while dark green tubing details are painted and molded across the dark blue vacuum metallized shell on the back of the beetle. In this mode, Scarem has ten points of articulation which include his mandibles, each on a ball joint.
Transformation to Robot Mode:
The transformation begins with bringing down the mandibles. They swing back and reveal the robot head. The rear insect legs swing down and the waist twists around. The metallic blue halves of the beetle shell then swing out and the back panel swings down. Twist the robot head around and Scarem is ready for battle!
Robot Mode:
Scarem lives up to his name in robot mode. The same color scheme remains, but now instead of a creepy beetle, Scarem takes the form of a terrifying robot warrior. His huge mandibles act as his hands now. An interesting feature of this toy are the robot legs. Comprised of two insect legs each, one can form Scarem's legs in two ways:
- Separate - By keeping the legs separate, one has more posability since each leg rests on a ball joint.
- Linking - By linking both insect legs together to form one leg, each side gains a bit of stability, however some posability is sacrificed in the process.
The molding on Scarem's face is highly detailed. On the head along there are four different colors used and his eyes have a sinister look about them. Scarem's "Spark Crystal" is located in his chest. One merely has to flip down his chest panel and the Predacon symbol/Spark Crystal can be seen nice and clear. As a robot, Scarem has twelve points of articulation (assuming the insect legs are kept seperate). This is a nice toy and well worth the price. B+
