DE 
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Series: Robot Toys
Allegiance: Predacon
Year: 2025
Prelude: I wonder about the name “Venatagon”. Is it a shortened version of “Venomous Antagonist”, maybe? Or is it… yeah, can’t really think of anything else, to be honest. Well, the figure is, of course, meant to be Beast Wars Scorponok, finally available in Masterpiece scale since Takara is still very slow in releasing more Beast Wars Masterpiece figures, especially bad guys. So fire up your cyber bees and let’s say go!
Robot Mode: We’ve had quite a few toy figures of Beast Wars Scorponok, but this one here is the first I’ve seen that looks like it jumped right out of the TV screen. Lord Venatagon looks almost exactly like the CGI model from the show, including the head, the weird golden knee pieces, and the golden chest button that does absolutely nothing.
Venatagon is roughly the size of a large Voyager or small Leader class figure and quite a bit of mass has gone into his large tail. The proportions are roughly the same as the original Ultra Class figure from Beast Wars, though the articulation is a lot better. That includes the tail, which is multi-jointed and can point up, down, sideways, whatever you like. The rest of the figure is very nicely articulated, too, and he can even open up his mouth.
Venatagon comes with two different pairs of pincers, one slightly larger than the other, and it’s up to you which ones you use. Both pincers can either be “loaded” with non-shooting missiles or a cyber bee. The cyber bee can also attach to the chest of Masterpiece Optimus Primal, reenacting the scene from “Gorilla Warfare”, if you want. He also has two different heads, which look slightly different with two different “eye colors”, both of which he actually sported in the show.
The only slight downsides of the robot mode are, one, that the ab crunch, which allows the figure to bend forward at the hip, is pretty loose. And two, the fake kibble legs on the back are just that, fake, and can interfere with the shoulders. It’s just minor stuff, though, otherwise the robot mode is very nice. The best figure of Scorponok in robot mode I’ve ever had in hand. Thumbs up!
Alternate Mode: Naturally Lord Venatagon transforms into a purple scorpion. The transformation from robot to beast is complex, but not terribly complicated. The transformation back to robot mode is a bit harder, as the eight little red legs need to be positioned just right in order to fit into the backpack.
The finished scorpion does look a lot like the one we saw on the show. The head is probably a tad too big, but otherwise he looks pretty good. The eight little red legs are, surprisingly, strong enough to actually hold up the body. The arms and pincers retain their full articulation, of course, as does the tail, and of course you can show off the missiles and cyber bee inside the pincers here, too. To simulate mass shifting, you can use the differently sized pair of pincers here if you want.
So bottom line: a good beast mode. Not quite as good as the robot mode, but still closer to the animation model than most other Scorponok figures I know of.
Remarks: Scorponok was Megatron’s second-in-command during the first season of Beast Wars. He was originally intended to survive and star in season 2, but the popularity of Waspinator ended up sending him to the big scrap heap in the sky. The Beast Wars Source Book postulated that he actually survived his demise and became a Transmetal, which would resemble his Burger King toy.
Takara has been rather reluctant to introduce the bad guys into their Beast Wars Masterpiece line, but there are Third Party options, thankfully. Lord Venatagon is a great Masterpiece-sized representation of the Beast Wars Predacon and the only real downside to him is the price tag, which is rather hefty given that the figure isn’t really that big (though he fits nicely with the Beast Wars scale chart).
So bottom line: if you’re a Beast Wars fan and want to complete the season 1 cast in Masterpiece scale, then Lord Venatagon is worth a look.
Rating: B+
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