G1 Scorponok

Robot Mode: As a robot Scorponok stands taller than all other G1 Transformers except for Fortress Maximus. With claws instead of hands and his green/purple hue he looks menacing and dangerous. Carrying a large rifle as well as multiple guns emplacements on his shoulders Scorponok makes for one dangerous Decepticon. His posability is good for a G1 toy, he has full arm movement in the shoulders and elbows, too. The legs sadly bend only at the hip, but overall he's pretty bendy, especially for his size. So overall the robot mode is pretty good.

Alternate Mode: Scorponok is a triple-changer. Apart form his robot mode he can transform into a giant Scorpion and a city. The Scorpion looks extremely lethal and dangerous. The pincers, the tail with the laser gun, the large 'backpack' with the guns on top, the green spindly legs, everything fits together into an excellent beast mode.

The city mode, on the other hand, is nothing too special. A futuristic base, it doesn't look half as a impressive as Fortress Maximus' city mode and it's not just because I'm missing a few parts here. Overall I'd say that Scorponok might just take the prize for worst city mode in G1 (though Metroplex might argue with that).

Partners / Add-Ons: Apart from multiple parts to enhance his city mode, Scorponok comes with two extra figures. One is Lord Zarak, his nebulon partner, who forms his head in robot mode and rides in his helmet/cockpit in Scorpion mode. The Headmaster figure has good posability like most first wave Headmaster figures.

The other extra figure is Fasttrack, a drone that can transform from a buggy-like vehicle into a robot. Nothing too special here, little more than an add-on.

Missing Parts: I'm missing some parts for the city mode, specifically the accessoires to the repairs bays located in the green parts to the left and right. For the photoshoot I have replaced them with BlackZarak's parts, which are silver instead of orange.

Remarks: Scorponok, or more specifically his Headmaster Lord Zarak, was introduced in the final arc of the Transformers cartoon (which really was little more than a long toy commercial). Zarak is the leader of those Nebulons who took up with the Decepticons as Head- and Targetmasters and the body of Scorponok (who has no personality of his own) was once his command base / city. In the Japanese Headmaster series he became leader of the Decepticons, though interestingly the Japanese reversed the names. Scorponok was called Mega Zarak, while Zarak was called Scorponok. Scorponok also played a big part in the old Marvel Transformers comics and seems set to be a major player in IDWs comics, too.

Scorponok makes for an impressive toy (except for his city mode) with only one major drawback: He is much smaller than his cartoon adversary Fortress Maximus, little more than half his size. Which makes it a little hard to restage their battle from the cartoon. Still, I don't regret buying this beauty for a minute. Interestingly enough it, just like my Fortress Maximus, hails from Vienna. Coincidence?

Rating: B