Man. 2020 has been a weird year. I know that’s an understatement but I mean, global pandemic and panic aside, it’s just been weird. We moved in October. So basically all of Fall has been dealing with the move. So a lot of my picture taking and toy opening/reviewing has slowed down a LOT.
Amid that chaos, SO many different Transformer things hit at once. Generations Selects seems to be churning out a LOT of toys, Earthrise ended as fast as it started and now I guess we’re rolling into Kingdom with some people already having the Core Class guys from Wave 1. Then there’s Studio Series, which basically ran out of Bay-verse toys to make (to it’s credit, they did cover just about EVERYONE, including Dino/Mirage, who was just announced, and I’d bet my bottom dollar we’ll get a Q/Wheeljack). In what I assume is Hasbro just not wanting to dump ALL of the ’86 characters into Kingdom, they rolled out Studio Series 86. It’s basically everyone who hasn’t been announced or leaked *cough thanks weibo cough*.
As Hasbro distribution continues to be kind of…all over the place… a few cases of the first Voyager Wave of SS 86 were made available and I grabbed them. So let’s take a look at Scourge!
Scourge (and Hot Rod) come in the usual SS style box, but obviously with “The Transformers: The Movie” logo on the front. His insert has the ‘reformatting’ scene where he’s created by Unicron, which is an excellent touch (and VERY 80’s). As you can see, the number is now designated at 86, then XX.
I’ll be totally honest, I had very little hope for this line. Typically the Studio Series toys suffer from being very delicate due to the Bay-Verse designs and the plastic is usually a bit thin all around.
But then I got Scourge out of the box. He’s a friggin’ BRICK. Not in the sense that he’s a brick-former, I mean in the sense that he’s a DENSE, solid toy. Strong, sturdy – almost to a fault, joints, full heavy plastic, and excellent painted details had me instantly thrilled with the toy.
He has all of the articulation we’ve seen from the WFC Trilogy line, with a ball jointed neck, full range shoulders, upper bicep and wrist swivel, waist swivel, hip swivel, full range knees and even ankle pivots.
Transformation is straight forward and fun. I’ve grown very weary of super complicated transformations. The Masterpiece line has become a bit of a poster child for over-engineered designs, so I’m always happy when I can get a fun transformation into two great looking modes that doesn’t take an hour. Scourge has always had “shell-former” aspects to him and this version isn’t entirely different in that sense. His big ol’ wings wrap around him to make the space boat mode. There’s more to it obviously, but it’s fun and holds together perfectly so I’m happy.
He also features the “head popping out” mode featured in Ghost in the Machine, which is both hilarious and awesome at the same time. He does include a blast effect seen here as well, which is always welcome. You can, if you so choose, have him wield it like a melee weapon/popsicle.
The Sharkticon is the Cyberverse version of the toy. He’s quite excellent.
BOTTOM LINE
I’m a bit stoked now for the SS86 line if Scourge is an indicator of the quality. I do remain guarded. Blackout was one of the first SS toys I owned and while he was amazing some of the line ended up total duds. If the rest of the guys slated for 86 are this nice though we’re in for a fun ride. Especially if the Grimlock shown off is this good. Scourge isn’t 100% perfect by any means. I feel like his shoulders are a bit too wide, which can make him sometimes look a bit gangly, but I think it depends on the angle. His joints are all very tight, but some of them are almost TOO tight so just go slow when loosening up his articulation. But honestly, he’s a home run through and through. Buy him.
Size comparison: he’s a voyager, measuring up with Prime and bigger than deluxes (except Ratchet and Ironhide)
Pax Cybertron 