Dave's Mega Beast Wars Rant: Polar Claw Scorponok Found 'em at Toys R Us today for $14.99 each (for Columbites, it was the Sawmill one). Was grinning like a maniac all the way to the register. CAPSULES: Polar Claw: Okay beast mode, somewhat gimpy robot mode, neat gimmicks. Mildly recommended. Scorponok: He rules. Period. BUY THIS TOY. RANTS: Packaging: These guys come in boxes instead of on cards, with full instruction sets in a bag inside the box along with a catalog. Sadly, the catalog is a full Hasbro/Kenner line thing, and not even very up to date. The scale pattern is in full force on the box, with eyes at the small ends of the box and a plastic window for the toy to be seen through. Inside, Polar Claw is nestled in plastic bubble forms similar to those on the cards for Deluxes (but a little more complex) while Scorponok is wired down to cardboard. MAXIMAL: Polar Claw Function: Infantry Battle Commander Quote: None Secret Weapon: Left foot reveals quick-attack claw, right foot fires robot bat A foot soldier with a hunter's instinct, this ballistic bear is equipped to command front-line infantry battles against the evil Predacons. Along with his savage teeth and ferocious fangs, his most devastating weapons include a quick-firing robotic bat, which features sonar sensors to detect enemies and alert Polar Claw for combat at all times -- and at all costs! STR 9 INT 7 SPD 4 END 6 RNK 8 COUR 9 FRP 8 SKL 7 Avg 7.25 Okay, the note here is a bit lame in many places. I'll assume the writer meant "claws" instead of either teeth or fangs, and the last sentence doesn't hang together at all. Oh well. Beast Form: Not very poseable, too much red stuff shows through, and he's got a serious deer gut. However, both weapons are usable in bear form, which is cool, and when he rears up on his hind legs, his jaw opens automatically, revealing serious fangs. About 5 inches long in bear mode (13 cm), about Wolfang's size. Tranformation: Legs are very simple fold-out affairs. The bear fore legs turn into shoulder-mount weapons, with the gut becoming his robot arms. The head flips around kinda like Waspinator's, swapping the bear head for a two-faced robot head. Yep, mutant heads are here to stay, looks like. Hands and feet flip out, claws flip up, etc. Robot mode: As mentioned above, kinda gimpy. His legs get too narrow near the calves and his torso is a bit too long. His hips are restricted so he's not as poseable as he could be. His "normal" face has something of a death grin on it, and an ugly yellow facial color. The mutant face is a little better, but all red. There's a button on his head which serves no visible purpose, but is part of the mechanism that triggers the bear's jaws. Seven inches tall, he towers over the Deluxes, but he doesn't really move much...the loss of full hip motion really hurts. Gimmicks: As mentioned, the bear jaw thing is neat. The left shoulder has the rapid-fire claw, which is less impressive than I think the designers hoped. The bat, though, is the Really Cool Thing about Polar Claw. It fires about a foot, unfolding as it flies thanks to springs all through its body. While the world's best-looking bat, it's certainly not much worse than Batimus Primal, and beats the heck out of Hellbat's Breastforce bat (Japanese toy). In addition, it can be launced from an already-unfolded position if you want, or can rest in PC's fist. PREDACON: Scorponok Function: Desert Attack Commander Quote: None Secret Weapon Locations: One claw fires secret missiles, other claw launches bee. The searing summer heat of the Mojave desert turns it into a dry, barren wasteland. A place where only the strong survive. A place the vicious Scorponok calls home. With hidden robotic technology incorporated into its scorpion body structure, this desert attack specialist surprises enemies 3 different ways: by launching its robotic bee; firing a 2-shot missile blast; and by using its terrifying tail for poisonous cyber-strikes! STR 8 INT 5 SPD 5 END 7 RNK 6 COUR 7 FRP 9 SKL 8 Avg 6.875 Well, there you have it. The cartoon may not be on Earth, but the toys are. Note also, Scorponok is an "it." Beast form: Easily the best toy techno-scorpion I've seen (the list includes things like Zoids, Mighty Max, Multi-Macs, Mojo, etc.), and the first one I've seen capable of stinging something other than itself. The tail will actually lash forward and strike via various mechanisms when you push on a lever. The sting itself is translucent blue with a nice staining of red (blood) on it. The color scheme is mainly black with red accents in this mode, and the claws are the same translucent metallic blue as the stinger. As the entire head is jet black, the toy doesn't suffer the animated version's "Groucho eyebrows." With the tail erect, the toy is about 9 inches (22.5 cm) long, 5.5 inches (14 cm) wide and the tail rises to 5.5 inches (14 cm) above the ground. Impressive. Missiles and bee all fire in beast mode. Transformation: Fairly simple. The scorpion's head splits to form the robot's feet, and there's some other rotation and peg-manipulation going on. Difficult on a first try, but very easy once you get the hang of it. An interesting side effect is that the claws change sides (because the body is rotated around). Robot mode: Only six inches tall at the head, the stinger adds another three inches to the total height. Fully poseable legs, if a little loose at the hip. Arms are also fully poseable, although the big claws make this less apparent. The stinger is fully usable in this mode and is VERY cool. The head splits open kinda like Ransack (G1)'s chest does, but the head underneath isn't anything to write home about, and with the mutant head split open you lose some poseability anyway. Be very careful with the claws, because the missile-shooter is touchy. Gimmicks: Very cool stinger action. The missile claw fires its two missiles about 4 feet, with deadly accuracy when they're pointed at clutter or other hard-to-get-at places...I nearly lost a missile within a minute of opening the toy. The Mighty Bee has an impressive unfolding action, but this leads to less than impressive launching...he's lucky to make it 6 inches thanks to all the somersaulting. It also cannot launch while unfolded. It is, however, a very cool bee, and can even move its abdomen to bring a hypothetical stinger to bear. Folding it back up can be tricky the first time. Dave Van Domelen, will say it again...Scorponok RULES!