You might also want to bear in mind that only the beast appears in the film. The robot mode had to be formed from what they had on screen.
Scorponok is - yet again - a Scorpion. Several previous appearances - Headmaster (along with a Masterforce repaint), Beast Wars and Energon (with a Cybertron repaint) go before this one. This is the smallest Scorponok being only a deluxe. It captures robot Scorpion well in a Beast Machines type way - imagine a Vehicon scorpion. The top of the tail swings round and pivots up and down, there are 2 more joints on the tail, and another swivel at the base. The 6 legs are unarticulated. The arms have universal joints at the shoulders, a swivel at the bicep, a bending elbow and each arm ends in a 3 part claw. If the words "egg whisk" aren't going through your mind when you see this then you're too young and are thinking about a food processor. However everything above the elbow can nestle snugly against the head in beast mode limiting the articulation to the elbow and below.
Scorponok is gifted with 2 action features. His tail sting is basically a restricted missile, click the button and it jumps forward. Bar far the more impressive is the claws. Roll Scorponok along a flat surface and motion is transmitted to the claws from a wheel underneath. Egg Whisk action ! The claws spin really quite fast. You can see some gearing moving in the body of the scorpion as you push him along but it seems to serve no functional purpose. What does is the 2 5mm peg holes in his back, and the hexagonal cog at the base of the tail - these attach to the underside of Blackout allowing Scorponok's claw gimmick to be powered by the mechanism for Blackout's rotors. Unfortunately the claw speed is a lot slower when powered this way.
TF: Pull the Scorpion legs and their base away from the side of the beast and fold down. Fold down the face. Pose the arms. That's it
Robot mode looks like some demented beetle or Doctor Who monster. V short legs, visible tail and undercarriage mechanics, odd 4 eyed head, and big arms with articulation as outlined earlier. Which is a marvel when you consider the power for the claw gimmick is being delivered inside the arms. It'll win no beauty awards but it's functional and you can easily imagine a drone army of these - like the Scrapmetal
Overall: I like it. I like the gimmick, I like the combination and the robot mode works for me in a certain way. But it ain't gonna be everyone's cup of tea.
Scorponok is a wave 1 Movie Deluxe toy. He was sold in Japan as Movie toy numbered MD-04. Scorponok was also sold in a 2-pack with Blackout. A very similar version was sold as Screen Battles: Desert Attack Scorponok with posed figures of soldiers Donnelly, Epps & Figueroa. This set was available in Japan numbered SB-03. A smaller non articulated version of Scorponok is included with Movie Blackout.
Nice repaint - always good to see some Beast Wars love.
Movie Blackout is also repainted for Revenge of the Fallen into Grindor. The Scorponok minifigure with the toy is also repainted into the black colours used for Stalker Scorponok.