G1 Scoop

with Tracer & Holepunch

Series: Generation 1
Allegiance: Autobot
Categories: Double Targetmaster
Year: 1988

Generosity has its own rewards.
A gung-ho fighter who never gives up. Considered the best in the field. Uses cool headed logic and hardened battle tactics to outwit his enemies. Always ready to lend a helping shovel to his fellow Autobots, no matter how dangerous the situation. The kind of soldier you want around when you're pinned down in a slug swamp with no ammunition. Teamed with Tracer who transforms into a twin laser-guided ion blaster, and Holepunch, a former office manager turned military man who transforms into a steel-shattering dual compression cannon.

Robot Mode: Scoop is a pretty typical-looking 1988 G1 Transformer. He's somewhere between today's Scout and Deluxe scale, he's blocky, and he can only move his arms at the shoulders, nothing else. A positive note is that Scoop is very nicely sculpted, including lots of detailing, but sadly most of it gets lost amidst the mostly orange paint job. He's actually got a pretty nice face sculpt, too, but with it being all-yellow, you don't really notice it much. Anyway, you can tell Scoop transforms into some kind of wheeled vehicle, but little else. The big identifying piece of kibble, his big scoop, is stored on his back. Scoop comes with two Targetmaster guns (see below), which he can use individually or combined into one big gun. And... yeah, that's it. Like I said a typical 1988 Transformer. Nothing more to it than that, I fear.

Alternate Mode: The name Scoop might have clued you in, he transforms into an orange payloader with a big scoop out front, with which he can scoop up things. The sculpting of the payloader is nice, he actually features lots of sculpted details, but here, too, most of them kind of get lost in the near all-orange paint job. The shovel is actually the most articulate part of this entire figure, as you can move it quite a bit. The vehicle mode features five peg holes where you can plug in Scoop's weapons. One out front, one on each side and two on the back. So bottom line: a simple, yet surprisingly nice vehicle mode for a 1988 G1 figure.

Partners / Add-Ons: Like all the 1988 Targetmasters, Scoop comes with two Nebulon figures that transform into weapons (using the term 'transform' very loosely, as they basically just fold out barrels and nothing else). The two figures are completely immobile, but very nicely sculpted for such small guys. Still, best to leave them in gun mode. The whole Targetmaster gimmick never made much sense to me anyway. Who wants to take a gun into battle that talks back and might decide to run off?

Remarks: In 1988 the G1 cartoon was over (at least outside of Japan) and the toyline began its decline toward run-away gimmickry. And after the Head- and Targetmasters had been popular the year before, Hasbro decided to go nuts and introduce "Double Targetmasters"... meaning they have two guns that turn into immobile little dudes. Because the only thing better than a gun that might argue with you are two guns who might argue with you and each other, I presume. Anyway, except for a few comic book cameo appearances Scoop hasn't got much of a media presence and there is little else to make him interesting, either. He's not the worst of the 1988 line-up, but far from the best, either. The good news is that he usually goes for spare change on ebay, so if you want to work toward completing your G1 collection, he's easy pickings. Not sure why else you'd want him, though.

Rating: C-