That's a bloody long title. Moving on...
The 2002 Robots in Disguise Scourge toy
Exactly how uneven can a Transformers toyline be, and yet still be an all-round success? The answer is "Exactly as uneven as the circa 2001 Robots in Disguise line.". This started out as a purely Japanese endeavour, with a similar modus operandi to their Beast Wars spin-offs Neo and Second. As such, Car Robots, it wasn’t Robots in Disguise yet, featured a very small number of newly designed toys versus a huge number of repaints, plus a few previously unreleased toys from Generation 2. However two things ran in its favour. The first was it doing realistic vehicle modes with benefit of Beast Wars engineering, after a prolonged absence of such things. This, combined with the mystique attached to Japanese exclusives, was like chocolate covered crack cocaine to collectors. The second thing was that Beast Machines had failed, so Hasbro imported the line as a stop-gap, adding a few more recycled moulds to the ranks. It was a big success, but parents complained that those new moulds that were so prized by collectors were too hard to transform by actual children, and that's how Armada happened. What does this mean for Scourge? Well, Scourge is emblematic of RIDs repaint habit, also the Nemesis Prime concept, although he's technically a separate thing, and indeed black repaints in general. He started out as a repaint of the G2 era Laser Rod Optimus Prime. It was very much in that G2 sweet-spot where things had meaningful articulation and light-piping, and is still highly regarded today. Scourge, or Black Convoy as he was originally called in Japan, was for most intents and purposes an evil counterpart for that show’s Optimus with no ties to Unicron, and the obvious inspiration for that new chap in the new movie whom does. Unlike many such characters though, his creation was more accidental than anything else. Sure, Megatron was trying to reprogram an Autobot Protoform into a useful slave through use of his own spark energy, but Optimus Prime and a certain recurring comedic character were scanned accidentally too when seeking an altmode. Which I suppose means that Scourge has a mummy and two daddies, whatever you’d count the truck as, plus any parentage he had before. It takes a village to raise a child? Anyways, the concept of an evil Optimus Prime whom was a legitimate threat with a good toy got a lot of traction, prompting Hasbro to make a totally new Spychanger mould of him. I’ve put it in one of the pictures. Its adorable. Can I tell you what's so hysterical about that toy though? It was is only the second unique and purpose-made baddy mould in the entirety of the RID line. The line was that uneven.
Jump forward, what? 20 odd years? Fuck me, and we have today's toy. While there’s been several other toys in the interim, this is the first the really make to the mass market, if as part of the Velocitron Speedia 500 Collection. The base mould is, of course, the Legacy leader class Laser Optimus Prime, which prompted me to chant the words “paint it black” from the first moment I saw it. I never bothered with the original version because A) its not hard to get an Optimus toy, and B) that mould shares more than a few parts with the Earthrise and Siege versions. An expensive toy that recycles bits and is an obvious forerunner to a much more compelling release? Hard Pass. So I waited until Scourge was announced. And then waited for the price to be right. Eventually, I got this for 25 quid on sale, which may be affecting my response to it.
The truck mode is rather self-explanatory. Honestly, I can struggle a bit when it comes to talking about mundane vehicle modes. As long as it rolls and has no obnoxious bleed through from the other modes I'm happy. This toy pulls that off pretty well, and I'd be lying if I said the colours weren't making the best of it. Black tends to conceal many a sin, and there aren't that many here. The back-end and hitch area is where things go a little bit off the boil, but accessories tend to hide the gaps. What's possibly most interesting is that is that you've got storage for the melee weapons on both the cab and in the trailer, a welcome bit of flexibility. Speaking of the trailer, it and it's resulting base mode are perhaps a touch more engaging on their own merits, at least in comparison to the Earthrise version. It's also less involved than the toy that inspired it, which puts it in an awkward kinda place where you can see that they tried but didn't quite nail it. Visually there's no shortage of detail, a fair few ports, and it's hitch becomes a stand for the thing. Weapon integration is pretty good, with a double-barrelled gun worked in as a top hatch, and you can stick both of the melee weapons in there via dedicated slots. The base mode is OK, more adequate than anything else. It folds open with more complexity than the Earthrise version, and more visual interest. It is however mainly unpainted plastic, and is screaming out for an additional play feature. This either needs more guns, or some little chaps to stand there. It's not bad by the standards of modern leaders, and certainly not unwelcome here, but one does wonder if the budget was allocated to the wrong things.
On that subject: engineering. Transformation of the cab to robot mode and back is an oddly complex business, and the reason why it's dishonest to call this simply a retool. The legs are definitely familiar, and don't do that much in the process, but the torso turns itself inside out. It's mad. They clearly weren't trying to modernise the original here, not that there's anything wrong that. It's why both the truck and robot modes turned out so well, but it is noteworthy. At some point, you have to wonder if the presumable savings from doing this are being cancelled out by the changes you end up making to make it all work. Either that, or somebody designed the legs last, and ended up kitbashing an Earthrise Prime.
Now, let's be honest here, this robot is style personified. It's the contrast of black and magenta, with touches of teal and grey. The presence is immense, with the head sculpt and shoulder pylons being highlights. This is a guy whom could go straight from a night club to a funeral then a society wedding without changing clothes. Admittedly, perhaps to burn down that night club, while the funeral was something he had a hand in, and the wedding had Rupert Murdock on the guest list, but yes. Stylish evil is the order of the day, and just a quick car wash is all he needs, just to remove the blood stains. It's something of a prestige piece, as befits an exclusive repaint, with a lot of the basics done right, with a few nice touches. The thing is, depending on how ya count, there's 17(!) other toys sharing parts with this, before we get into different pricepoints and the movie lines, so a certain degree of nitpicking becomes unavoidable. Colour choices are a little off; Scourge traditionally has more grey in the mix and chest details that suggest windows. This new mould takes it a step further with faux kibble windows which store a removable matrix, so he's closer to the Nemesis Prime concept here. Proportionally, he's a touch long in the leg, something inherent to the mould, but as the thighs are entirely grey it's more noticeable. Posability is Legacy standard, so better than the G2 toy, although the upper arms end up a touch limited due the transformation and pylons, looking skinny with an offset swivel. The accessories have that same "OK, they tried" feel as the trailer meanwhile. The sword and decorative missile silos are fine, possibly in need of paint, but entirely within the Legacy vibe, and if you're basing a toy off Laser Prime, the usage of translucent plastic makes sense in the absence of electronics. The axe however is just unfortunate. I know what they were aiming for, and the combination with the sword is inoffensive, but the colour choices make it look like a lollipop. He probably needed a better firearm too. These are all nitpicks, mind you. It is a good robot mode.
My point? Only that Legacy Scourge is something that exists. And that choosing between optimus toys can get a bit like choosing between flavours of potato crisps. There are simply too many made too often. Scourge definitely has his own flavour though, and is based on a pretty good mould. Not an excellent mould, and an occasionally an odd one, but definitely one I don't regret buying.
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