Scorpio
Insector

The deadliest of all the Insectors. When bitten by Scorpio his victims are either paralysed or dead. He sneaks up when you last expect him.

I'm not exactly sure of this mould's origins, but Zectron seems a fair bet, or a Mark work-for-hire gig at the behest of Select. It's certainly not descended from Takatoku, and the rather simple transformation (once you get past the smoke-and-mirrors of the scorpion legs, it's staggeringly plain) suggests Mark had a hand...

As the name hints, Scorpio is based on a scorpion, but even by this line's standards, it's a very stylised take - more like a scorpion-based spaceship or tank. There are actually a fair few moving parts, with six independent, jointed legs, moving arms with claws, and a poseable tail.

This basically makes him a wear and tear magnet - few have all six legs, and hardly any (like mine) have the chrome 'sting' for the tail. It's a bit mad looking, to be honest. Sadly, the legs don't seem to be able to hold the weight of the back end, and they also get in a tangle pretty easily. Thus the tail usually ends up deployed for balance rather than menace.

The simple transformation leads to a respectable robot mode, rather let down by everything folding onto his back - if nothing else, all the kibble gives him a balance problem once the hip joints start to wear. I do like the way he's got hands as well as claws, though - too many lazy designers would have just had the robot using the scorpion limbs.

The robot doesn't look bad, actually, despite the odd shoulders. The head cast is nice, and those pincers on top of his head do look nasty. There's also respectable articulation in the legs and at the shoulders.