Toy Review - SCOURGE (Studio Series, Rise of the Beasts)

[GoktimusPrime]

Black Convoy^SCOURGE
Series - Generations
Sub-line - Studio Series
Hypo-line - Rise of the Beasts
Size/class - Leader
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 11
Released here - April 10, 2023
Approximate Retail Prize - $100
Approximate Size - 20cm
Allegiance - Terrorcon
Alt-mode - Peterbilt 359 truck
Main Features/Gimmicks - scythe deploys from right arm, left claw-hand can be replaced with cannon. Compatible w/ Freezer.
Main Colours - various shades of dark grey with black, dark orange and beige highlights
Main accessories - trailer hitch/cannon











This toy looks amazing; demonic in both robot and truck modes, like something from Mad Max. Scourge's face resembles the Terrorcon insigne and is painted in silver. Much of this toy is made from dark orange plastic that's been painted over with greys. Hasbro designer Sam Smith explained that this was done to allow Scourge to emulate that spooky orange inner glow that he has in the film. The parts of the truck bonnet can be tricky to tab in, and since they are made of clear plastic, it is advisable to be careful.

I would prefer for the scythe to be a detachable accessory instead of being permanently attached. It would've made at least one step of the transformation simpler. The scythe can technically be removed, but it's not designed for it. The left arm is designed to be removed and replaced with either the cannon accessory included with this toy, or Freezer (sold separately). The instructions show that the cannon can be attached to the back robot, although it can also be attached to Scourge's buttocks, which I prefer as it conserves shelf space. Granted storing it on the back looks better, but I appreciate that the designers have kept collectors in mind by giving us a more space-saving option.

This toy is apparently based on an earlier design of the character. This is why the smokestacks are visible in robot mode on the toy, but not in the trailer. The neck is thicker and the chest grill is more pronounced. These things honestly don't bother me though; overall I think that this is a great figure. Recommended.

[SharkyMcShark]

I think that this is a really really fun figure.

There are a lot of nice touches for a transformation that is conceptually really quite basic, when you think about it. It is essentially arms fold back, legs clip together, lay the robot face down. The way that the truck bonnet is formed from the shoulderpads and the back, and that the robot chest actually swings up to form the grill, really tickle me in the right way.

I don't know if I'll bother with the movie but I am glad that I picked this one up.

[Sutton]

Picked him up on a good special, and I'm glad I paid what I did - as a voyager, he'd be good value but I'm just not feeling it for a leader price in 2023.

It's a good figure and I love the unique design of both modes but the parts count and intricacy just isn't there. Hasbro has gotten extremely lazy with worrying about hiding hands the last 2 years - maybe just go back to detaching them 1984 style if you're not even going to try.

I also wish Hasbro would give up on doing battle damage paint, and leave it to those of us that know how to do it convincingly. It's meant to look like rust/scratches, but actually looks like an explosive curry incident. It's also a missed opportunity that while they smeared him in brown, but left all those faction symbols unpainted!


Despite all that negativity, I am really enjoying him overall still, and the 70-ish I paid for him through Amazon feels about right.

[Deano85]

Glad we got the arm cannon because i'm not a fan of the tentacle arm.

[snaketales]

Gave the logos a little touch-up to make them stand out

[Deano85]

That looks awesome. I was thinking of adding some paint on those grill symbols as well.