Scorn is a new Dinobot for TF4 (and the only completely new one to appear in the actual movie itself), and has the alt mode of a wacked-out metallic spinosaurus. (On an off-note, I do REALLY like his name-- it both is fierce-sounding and fits in with the single-syllable "S" names of the other non-Grimlock Dinobots.) In beast mode, Scorn looks pretty darned fierce and just plain awesome, and his proportions are pretty much perfect. There are a few minor robot extras-- the top of the robot head is somewhat obvious on his left side, and a couple of robot bits are slightly visible around his waist, but other than that this mode is extra-free, which is quite the accomplishment for an alt mode like this. Scorn's mold detailing is one of the most intricate of all the movie toys', and that's really saying something-- he's got spikes EVERYWHERE, from the obvious spine along his back to all the little spikes on his tail, his sharp teeth, the sides of his legs... what little isn't covered with spikes is molded like bones (such as Scorn's neck) or like segmented armor (such as the main body). Because of all the spikes, Scorn has a decent amount of rubbery plastic for safety reasons-- his entire tail and spine-spikes are all rubbery, but you can't really pose him in a way that bends these parts, so I don't see them being an issue years down the line. (On a side note, the single spine may be more in-line with your traditional spinosaurus, but it isn't accurate to Scorn's on-screen appearance, which had three rows of more haphazard, giant spikes on his back.) The color scheme is also quite unique, giving Scorn a rather fiery appearance with a good mix of red and some nice jagged orange paint apps on his main body. There's also myriad shades of gray used for secondary colors, from a straightforward flat gray on his main spines to a brownish gray on his underside to a a more medium milky gray used on most of his face and neck. By and large they serve as neutral colors to keep the color scheme from looking too loud, though I wish a little more of the gray was of a nice gunmetal shade (or that a little of the gray had instead been orange). Scorn also has a pretty varied color scheme-- between all the shades of gray, the orange paint apps, the painted eyes and tail, and the bits of red on the spine, he has a pretty good number of paint apps, here. For articulation in this mode, Scorn can move at the jaw, neck (at three points), shoulders, hips (at two points), and knees (at three points). I wish his tail could move as it's locked in place this mode, and some arm elbow movement would also have been appreciated, but generally he's pretty poseable, all things considered. All this said, the weight of Scorn's tail can cause him to fall back on that, so you have to position his legs a bit further forward than you might sometimes like to get him to stand on his own.
    Scorn's transformation is rather unique, with the side actually forming the front of the robot mode and the head and tail forming the arms. First, let's look at the positives-- Scorn still looks quite good proporitonally, with the only caveat here being that his waist may be just a TAD too long and his legs just a TAD too short, but they're very minor proportional maladies. The mold detailing is even more exquisite in this mode, with tons of layered armor and spine-like details on his chest and stomach. His color scheme is still broken up quite well, despite not having many paint apps specific to his robot mode (pretty much just the silver on the sides of his waist and his robot head)-- all the different shades of gray, again, help break up all the colors quite well. There's also several parts of his transformation that just strike me as ingenious-- the use of his tail as a lance-arm; the way the sides of his dino hips form a sort of armor "skirt" that is molded to look like more dino teeth (as if he needed more spikes!); how his spine splits into two and goes behind his upper back, framing this mode quite well and giving it a unique silhouette; how his middle dino toe on each foot folds backwards to give Scorn the same sort of pointy "knight shoes" that the other AoE Dinobots have; and how his face looks like a pretty straightforward angular knight helmet with a faceplate, helping him fit right in with his fellow "knight" Dinobots. All this said, there are a few obvious dino mode extras, the most egregious of which is Scorn's right arm. The way the fist comes out of the top of the head and the jaw folds backwards gives him a jaw hanging off his elbow and an obvious gap in his lower arm. I prefer to ignore the instructions and only unfold the hand from the dino-head, alleviating both of these issues, though in turn this makes the dino head all the more obviously his right arm. There's also the front arms of the dino mode just hanging behind Scorn's butt. It doesn't get in the way of articulation much, but it still definitely looks ugly. For articulation in this mode, Scorn can move at the neck, shoulders (at three points), elbows, slightly at the wrist on the right arm, and at the hips (at two points) and knees (at two points). Unfortunately because of his transformation he doesn't have waist movement, but otherwise he's quite poseable and well-balanced. For a bonus weapon, a sword slides out from underneath Scorn's tail to be held in his only normal hand, giving him another big spike to stick into someone.
    Scorn is my favorite deluxe from the Age of Extinction line. He looks fantastic in both modes, has a unique transformation and good-to-great articulation, a nice color scheme, extremely well-done mold detailing, and tons of unique design cues and creative usage of his dino parts in robot mode. He only has a few minor kibble issues for downsides. Highly recommended if you at all like the idea of a dino made of knives that also becomes a knight robot.

Review by Beastbot

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