Beast Wars Transmetals 2 Scourge

In my fit to buy a Transformer named Scourge I sprung on the chance to buy the TM2 version for $3 on eBay. I also got a TM2 Iguanus and a TM2 Ramulus from the same guy for $25 total (with shipping), so if you divide I paid $8.33 for each one which is good because Ramulus was $14 which may be too much (Iguanus was $3 as well).

Anywho, Scourge is a big ol' hunk of TM2. I must say that he looked really cool in the package, and if you pose him just right in beast mode he looks really cool. However, he's got his fair share of problems which I will get to in pretty much the rest of the review.

So Scourge is a transmetal locust. He's a big, ugly bug. Actually compared to the small sizes of Ramulus and Iguanus he's really big, almost big enough to be a mega sized toy (extend his abdomen an inch or two and he'd be the right size). However, beast mode suffers from various unstability issues. For one the thing his wings are attached to just kinda sits there with nothing to hold it in place except for gravity and friction. His front four beast legs are also attached to his beast stomach (also his robot stomach) by a single peg which has devastating effects if it comes unpegged (beast mode falls to pieces).

Scourge's main gimmick is a firing mechanism that works the same sort of way that Silverbolt's does (the BW one). Press something and his wings flip forward and a button gets hit which fires the missile that's part of his wing. There are two problems with all that. First is the unstable issue. The lever/button thing that sets all that off is attached to the unstable part I mentioned before, so getting it to work without causing Scourge to become a heap of bug and transmetal bits is a task and a half. Also, not really a problem, but only one missile fires, which is a mixed blessing. It's good because you can only lose one missile, but it's bad because the missiles are tough to lose due to how hard it is to trip the mechanism (unlike, say, Silverbolt, who has an easy to trip mechanism and missiles that fly off in different directions).

Ah yes, one good thing about his beast mode, he's one of the few bug Transformers that can actually stand on his big legs instead of crawling on his belly. It doesn't exactly overshadow his flaws, but it's nice to know they're finally getting something right.

Transformation is something else all together. I was able to figure it out without the directions (as is half the fun of Transformers), but I had to check numerous pictures of him before I was satisfied it was right. First you need to detach his beast front legs (which are attached to one of his arms) from the peg on his beast stomach. Next you need to open his abdomen via two of the spikes on it (it has a change purse opening action to it). Pull his arm out of there and close it back up. Next spin his upper body around so the translucent green part is above the peg on his stomach. Now he has an arm in front of and an arm behind him. Swing his arms to the sides of his body and then flip the wing mechanism so it's behind him. Now fold out his feet and attempt to stand him up.

Phew. Okay, so what you get is a big ol pile of crap. Sorry, but his robot mode is not my cup of tea. It has the potential to be cool, but it suffers from some (yet again, sigh) unstability issues. For one his arms and shoulders are held in by fate alone, and there's nothing at all to hold the hinge joint below his chest into place (though you can leave the abdomen open and flatten it on his back to remedy that somewhat). A peg or notch or something wouldn't have killed them.

Also his left arm is the champion of kibble. It holds four of his beast legs and his beast head. Ah yes, speaking if his beast head, at first I couldn't find his spark and I thought they forgot it, but if you open the left eye you'll be able to see it. It's actually pretty disturbing to see it there, but that might just be me, I dunno.

All in all Scourge has some cool possibilities, but he suffers from a lot of unstability issues which end up making him score a lot lower than he could have. For $3 I'd say pick it up, but I wouldn't spend more than $5 on it, and even that may be pushing it. Also if you leave him mint on card you'll have a nice viewing piece and won't ever have to deal with the floppiest robot mode known to man.