Scalpel
Scalpel's alternate mode
is a microscope, which certainly fits his "medic" function. It's also nice,
just as an aside, to have an alt mode that, while not TOTALLY new to the
Transformers universe, is certainly a rare one and hasn't been done in
a loooong time. Anyways, this mode is generally pretty impressive, especially
for at this scale-- there's a bit of purple detailing on part of the body
that obviously doesn't belong there on a real microscope, but other than
that there's no robot mode extras whatsoever. You can't actually see through
the microscope lens (and it's too small anyway), but it is translucent,
and all the necessary details are there, like fake "dials" and the like.
The main body of the microscope can also be raised or lowered in respect
to the base on a gray bar, and it can be angled a bit at a joint close
to said bar-- again, impressive at this scale. I do wish there was a bit
more paint detailing in this mode, though, as Scalpel could use a bit more
color variation than just black, white, and gray. Nothing too "out there",
of course, but a couple more painted details, at least.
Scalpel's transformation
is quite unique, and it leads to an equally unique robot mode. It's very
insectoid-looking, but in more than just some details like many of the
Movie Decepticons-- Scalpel has six crab-like legs, a long body, two tiny
arms, and a head with large eyes sporting antennae. It's certainly a "love-it-or-hate-it"
kind of mode-- either you're up for Transformers having robot modes deviating
this much from the norm or you're not. Personally I am, but I figure Scalpel
did it wrong in a few places. For one, too much of his balance is on the
front end, which makes it a bit hard to get him to stand in any pose that
isn't a standard one. His arms are also WAY too tiny, even for little insect-ones--
it's hard to imagine them doing ANYHING useful, they make a T-Rex's look
big. The front half of Scalpel also just doesn't mesh with the back half
in terms of shape-- I wish the body actually sat on top of the six legs
instead of in front of them. However, I do LOVE the head sculpt, with the
narrowed, large eyes, little nodules for a mouth, and the transparent antennae--
and the purple circuitry detailing on his chest just looks great and helps
give at least a little variety to his color scheme. The way the sides of
the microscope dials rotate under to form Scalpel's stomach is also quite
inventive. As far as articulation, Scalpel can move at three points on
each leg, at the shoulder and elbow of each arm, at the neck )at two ponts),
the base of his waist, and at the base of his antennae. Again though, given
his odd balance this is less movement than it would appear from just listing
it-- plus his legs can't upward as much as you'd think they could. There
is one additional--and major-- problem with Scalpel: his legs are made
of a rather brittle plastic, and as skinny as they are, MANY people have
gotten Scalpel with the ball joints on his legs snapped. I was quite lucky
with mine, but unfortunately, this problem was never fixed. Be sure to
look carefully if you get him MOSC-- it's quite a common problem, and be
sure to be careful in that area when you play with him.
Scalpel is a great twist
on your traditional Transformer, with both an unusual alt mode AND an unusual
bot mode. His microscope mode is generally quite solid, but he does have
some proportions and QA issues in robot mode. For me the oddity of his
design overcomes these downsides, but it may not be that way for many.
Also-- remember to be careful around the legs, if you do purchase one.
Review by Beastbot