Megatron’s right hand man is a vicious, powerful scorpion. Scorponok complete with the original design and branding.
The Beast Wars branding is incredibly striking. When the first waves were released in 1996 it was clear Hasbro and Kenner were keen to move away from the classic Transformers look. Instead of black and purple packaging Beast Wars is bright. Scorponok’s box is a great example of the organic textures and the red and yellow colours used to make it stand out. in 1996 Scorponok was part of the original wave of Beast Wars figures released alongside Megatron, Optimus Primal, Polar Claw, Waspinator, Dinobot and a bunch of others.
On the back of the box we get his bio and tech specs. Desert Attack Commander: Scorponok surprises enemies 3 different ways, by launching its robotic bee, by firing a two shot missile blast and by using its terrifying tail for poisonous cyber-strikes.
Beast Mode
Once we get Scorponok out of the box, the biggest difference from the original release is the paint job. The colour scheme now more closely matches the Beast Wars CGI cartoon, using blues and greys instead of black. I’d have preferred the original colour scheme for all the reissues but I do like what they’ve done and for fans of the series. This feels more like the Scorponok character we’ve come to know.
The Beast Wars figures also emphasis the play features. In both robot and Beast Mode Scorponok’s pincers come spring loaded. One pincer has missiles that fire in sequence as the claw is lifted and the other has a robotic bee that fires and transforms in one motion. The Robotic Bee is loaded with four springs that transform the top of the pincer into two wings, releasing the head as its abdomen flicks up. In the cartoon it got the name Cyber Bee and was mostly used for scouting. It could also inject venom (a computer virus) with mixed results.
Word of warning, on the original figure the peg that holds the bee in place is super fickle. Nothing got updated for the rerelease. So be careful when handling it.
We also have the scorpion tail looming above the figure. Using a series of cogs, it allows Scorponok to strike down in a poisonous cyber strike. Everything is spring loaded and the action itself is menacing. In Beast Mode, Scorponok doesn’t look much like an actual scorpion. Typical of the Beast Wars figures, it does come loaded with features and making it cartoon accurate wasn’t a priority. It’s all about being fun.
Robot Mode
Transforming Scorponok into robot mode is pretty straight forward. The pincers become his hands which is similar to Megatron, who got a dinosaur head and tail for hands. Though Megatron did at least have opposable digits in the cartoon, Scorponok is a bit stuck using his deadly oven mitts. Thankfully as a robot he doesn’t need to wipe. All the play features from the beast mode still work as before. We also get access to the mutant mask, a piece of armour that covers Scorponok’s face to protect him in battle. This feature was dropped after the first wave of figures, but we also see it on Megatron and Optimus Primal.
The figure itself is a bit top heavy with the claws and tail, but unlike Retrax the pillbug, the legs do a much better holding up the weight. The claws and tail on Scorponok are massive in robot mode and look out of proportion. The figure itself doesn’t look much like the CGI cartoon but that isn’t uncommon with a few of the Beast Wars releases. The toyline had plenty of redeco’s to bring it inline with the CGI cartoon.
Scorponok: War for Cybertron
Released in 2021, we got to see a much more cartoon accurate take on the Scorponok figure in Kingdom: War for Cybertron. The similarities are immediately obvious. Putting them side-by-side, in robot mode, the Kingdom release looks so much more like the character from the cartoon, the chest piece and overall shape match a lot closer than the original figure. The Kingdom feels like a much better balanced figure with better proportions, especially in the pincers and tail. Hidden inside the pincers are a twin-missile and a cyberbee however they are just pegged in. There’s no spring loaded action features here.
In beast mode, the Kingdom release looks more like an actual scorpion. It’s an interesting balance, taking cues from the cartoon series for the character, but from the real animal in Beast Mode. The Kingdom line brought a lot of my favourite Beast Wars figures back with a little polish, including Waspinator and Tarantulas. It does remind me why I love the original Beast Wars so much though. The focus is on fun, gimmicky action features without being too tied down by the source material.