Review #11: Generations Scourge and his Sweeps
(or, Scourge X 3!)
So this is a wee bit different then past reviews of toys sharing the same mold. There's no colour differences. (At least, there were none originally... more on that later.) There's no changes to the mold. In fact, this is three of the same figure. So I didn't use the "Mold Mates" moniker that I have used on similar reviews in the past and will likely use again. After all, these aren't re-uses of the same mold. It is the same use of the same mold.
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Technically, there was no "Generations Sweeps" toys. Just a Generations Scourge. In Transformers fiction, Scourge was the leader of a group known as "the Sweeps," and his Sweep underlings were identical in apearance to him. This makes any toy based on Scourge an excellent army builder, in that you can buy multiple copies of the same toy to help build up your ranks. (Very helpful in this case, as there do tend to be more Autobot toys, making the Decepticons a bit outnumbered.) I've heard of some particularly silly people buying vast numbers of this toy. I was content to limit myself to three. One for Scourge, and two to be generic Sweeps.
In the good ol' days of G1, Scourge's vehicle mode was some sort of space worthy hovercraft that resembled no less then a flying bath tub. While I generally prefer when "Classics" style toys try to stick somewhat close to their G1 roots, I must say that this is one case, where Scourge is presented as a "flying wing" type aircraft, that I can see straying a bit from the source as something of an improvement. There are enough details carried over (such as the cylinder on top of what will be the robots head) to help sell this figure's identity in this mode.
In the good ol' days of G1, Scourge's vehicle mode was some sort of space worthy hovercraft that resembled no less then a flying bath tub. While I generally prefer when "Classics" style toys try to stick somewhat close to their G1 roots, I must say that this is one case, where Scourge is presented as a "flying wing" type aircraft, that I can see straying a bit from the source as something of an improvement. There are enough details carried over (such as the cylinder on top of what will be the robots head) to help sell this figure's identity in this mode.
One of his weapons (more detail on them when we look at robot mode) can clip onto the aformentioned cylinder via a 3mm "c-joint" clip, and can be used to homage this character's second G1 toy release as a Targetmaster. Of course, the gun does not transform into a robot itself, and thus this Scourge is not a proper Targetmaster. Still, a nice touch. Also, the head can be raised out of his vehicle mode. This seems to have been deliberate as doing so involves extending his head further then necessry for transformation to robot mode, and is a nice nod to something that may have had precident in the original animated series. Alas, raising the head makes the rear landing gear unusable, hence why in the pictures you may note that the one with the extended head is leaning backwards a bit.
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Picture from TFWiki.com
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He has fold out landing gear on his undercarrage (although, as mentioned, one of them becomes somewhat less useful if you extend his head out) but they are just tiny solid plastic wheels, nothing that would actually roll. But they do allow the figure to display well on a flat surface. Also, in addition to the clip point on top of the head, there are two clip points for 3mm clips on the underside of the wings if you have extra weapons to use.
So, shall we get onto robot mode, then?
If in vehicle mode Scourge and his Sweeps were a nice new vehicles for a figure that was once a flying bath tub, in robot mode we have figures that look exactly like what Scourge and his Sweeps should look like. Excellent representations of the characters.
I did make a slight alteration to the two I am using as generic Sweeps. The figure came with red painted fingers. I left that alone on Scourge, but attempted to remove the paint on the Sweeps. I found the paint an absoloute bitch to remove, however, so on the second Sweep I resorted simply to covering the red fingers up with the infamous silver Sharpie. |
Scourge comes with two weapons, both of which can be stored inside of his wings when he is in vehicle mode. I took advantage of the figure's multiple guns to further differentiate Scourge and his Sweeps. One Sweep each carries one of the individual guns. Scourge, meanwhile, takes advantage of the fact that the two guns can clip together to form one larger weapon. This combined larger weapon, again as a homage to Scourge's Targetmaster past, seems to take a visual cue from Scourge's Targetmaster partner, Fracas.
One final way I differentiate Scourge and the Sweeps... With the Sweeps, in robot mode I leave their wings closed. For Scourge, I open up his wings giving them a more cape-like apearance. |
The figures have very nice posability. The neck features a ball joint. His arms can be raised on a hinge at the shoulder, and can also swivel forward or backward 360 degrees. (The wings can get in the way if you want to move the arms back, but they won't be in the way for most poses and they can be moved if necessary.) There's also a swivel right above the elbow, and then the elbow itself has a 90 degree hinge. He has a waist swivel (always nice!), ball jointed hips, and ball jointed ankles. His knees are hinged and can bend backwards as much as you can possibly need. You can even bend them forwards a bit, if you really feel a need to.
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This figure reminded me of something I forgot to mention in my review of Wreck-Gar and Junkheap. Facial hair! I did mention it in passing in the previous review, but I didn't talk about the hair's construction. The hair on Scourge's figure (as well as the Junkion figures) is made of a softer, somewhat flexable plastic. This is good in that it allows the bit of gotee that extends below the chin to not be snapped off if you are posing the head using anything other then the most extreme care possible. I do wonder about the long term durability of this plastic, but that is a question that will hopefully take years to answer properly, and if ten years from now their beards are still intact (and if I still have this website!) I'll let you know that all is good. I wouldn't stress about it too much in the meantime.
Size comparison!
My final thoughts here: A solid figure for kids, and for adult collectors (who aren't too attached to the concept of flying bath tubs) a great update to a classic character. The robot mode especially looks fantastic. If you're a casual fan, I doubt you'd need more then one of them. If like me, you're slightly less then casual in your collecting, be sure to get a few extras to be Sweeps! Just don't go too crazy and build up a massive Sweep army, remember to leave some behind for other collectors... or, gasp! kids to buy and enjoy. ^_^ I would definitely recommend this figure. Review added 6 February 2012 by Yotsuya. Please comment! An addendum to this review, which covers a Reprolabels sticker set that has recently been released for Scourge & his Sweeps, has been made available. You may read it by clicking here, and scrolling down past all of the stuff about Battle Tanker. Enjoy! (Yotsuya, 9 May 2012)
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