Titanium Scourge

Series: Titanium
Allegiance: Decepticon
Year: 2006

After the catastrophic battle in which both Megatron and Optimus Prime were mortally damaged, the fleeing Decepticon forces dumped the ruined bodies of their former comrades into space to lighten their load. In the void of deep space, the wreckage drifted until an ancient creature known as Unicron swallowed it up, melted it down, and used it to create a host of mechanical servants. Among this host was a squad of elite tracker-terminators known as the Sweeps, led by the deadly and silent Scourge.

Screaming down out of the night sky of Cybertron, Scourge and his troops fell upon Autobot and Decepticon alike, destroying all those who stood against them. They were the first in a long line of heralds and servants to the evil Unicron, and to this day many of the streets and buildings of Cybertron carry the scars left by their powerful disintegration cannons.

Robot Mode: Quite simply put, this here is an updated version of G1 Scourge. The robot is somewhat smaller than the original, but makes up for it in terms of detailing and articulation. The torso holds a myriad of sculpted details and unlike the G1 original, the figure can move more than its arms. Okay, it’s still not a contortionist, but its leg movement is only hampered by the bulkiness of the legs, the arms can move freely, and even the wing shells on his back can be positioned in different ways.

That’s also the main difference to the G1 figure, the wings. G1 Scourge was stuck with the half-shells of his vehicle mode, unable to spread it bat-like as we’ve seen in the G1 cartoon. Titanium Scourge’s wings, on the other hand, are two separate pieces each, allowing multiple poses. And there are blue and gold patterns on the inside, giving them the appearance of actual wings. Oh, and just like G1 Scourge, he can go ‘cloaked’, meaning he can wrap his wings around himself in robot mode. Very nicely done.

Not so nicely done: Scourge has no weapons. Not sure why they didn’t include a handgun with him, but he comes unarmed and there is nothing on his arms or torso to suggest any built-in weapons, either. Still, that’s pretty much the extent of his faults. Being made partially of die-cast metal, he’s somewhat heavier than standard figures, too. Whether that’s a bonus, a hindrance, or inconsequential is up to you, dear reader.

So bottom line: the most faithful homage to G1 Scourge yet. And a pretty good robot mode, too.

Alternate Mode: Unlike the later versions of Scourge, the Titanium figure not only near-perfectly replicates the alternate mode of the G1 original, it also gets there by a near-identical transformation. Basically Scourge just tugs in his legs, wraps his wings around himself and he’s done. The only difference to the transformation of G1 Scourge is in how the legs come together, everything else is the same.

The resulting vehicle looks very close to the G1 original. It has more detailing, especially on those parts that form the robot legs, and has more of a point upfront, but it’s easily apparent that the two are the same kind of craft. Now whether or not you like this shape of space craft or not is, of course, entirely up to you, but there is nothing objectively wrong about this vehicle mode and it pulls off a near-perfect homage.

Remarks: The Titanium series brought out an odd mix of homage figures from various series, plus versions of figures seen only in comic books and the occasional repaint that made very little sense. Still, quite a few of the Titanium figures are excellent toys and usually bring us figures we haven’t gotten anywhere else, at least up to that point. Case in point, Scourge, as this was the very first homage to the G1 Sweeps leader ever, long before the Botcon or Generations version.

As for the toy itself, well, it’s nothing more and nothing less than an updated version of G1 Scourge. More articulated, more detailed, but essentially the same figure, so at least in terms of resemblance it easily blows both Botcon Scourge and Generations Scourge out of the water (Botcon Scourge remains my overall favourite, though). Sadly they didn’t give him a weapon and I’m really missing that little something extra that made other Titanium figures such as Rodimus Prime so awesome, but apart from that: solid. If you’re looking for a great update to G1 Scourge, Titanium Scourge is a very good choice and while you can probably get Generations Scourge cheaper, he’s far more affordable than Botcon Scourge.

Rating: B