REVIEW: Spider-Man's Stinger Strike Scorpion

Produced by Hasbro | Released September 2011

An evil clone of Spider-Man, the Scorpion shares the webslinger's heightened strength and agility but also has a few tricks of his own, including a cybernetically-grafted tail...

Packaging Shots

Stinger Strike Scorpion

First things first, this is not the Mac Gargan/''Classic'' Scorpion but is instead based upon the Ultimate Spider-Man villain. However, as we're yet to see the ''real'' Scorpion appear in the Marvel Universe line, this figure is probably about as close as we're going to get for now.

Let's start by looking at the sculpt. The figure is a great representation of the comicbook character's sleek, updated look. The figure features a very cool segmented armour design that's detailed but sleek and there's some nice sculpting, with the figure's hands being especially cool. This detailing continues to the head sculpt, which - again although sleek and fairly simple - has enough going on to make it interesting. I particularly like the eye/goggle details but the whole mask/helmet is very nicely designed and looks great.

It's always a little saddening that some of the regular Marvel Universe figures feature such simple designs (after all, comic characters tend to be fairly simple/iconic) so it's great to see this extra detailing here, as it gives the Scorpion a very cool look. He's one of those figures you tend to spot new detail on every time you cast an eye over him, which is something I like.

Unfortunately there are a few problems with the figure's articulation. Whilst everything that's here works well, he's lacking a few joints you'd expect to see on a figure of this scale. For starters, there's no torso/waist articulation. Granted, he has his back/tail piece (more on that later) but it's not positioned so as to interfere with any kind of waist joint. There's also no wrist articulation, meaning it's impossible to rotate his hands. Similarly he lacks any form of ankle joint and his knees are a simple two-piece, single bend joint (unlike the three-piece ones found on the GI Joe and Marvel Universe figures.)

However, the tail's articulation is surprisingly good. A ball and rotator joint at the base of his spine and a second matching joint around halfway along the tail's length allow for a wide range of flexibility and - as you can see from the images - you can pose it in some pretty neat-looking positions. 

And while we're on the subject of the tail, you may have noticed the spine/spike protruding from the end. Yes, that is a launching missile (and a rather powerful one at that.) 

Paint is very nicely applied and although there are no shading or wash effects, the basic app is remarkably clean. It gives the figure a very cool, comicbook-look that I like a lot. I've seen some pretty garish colour-schemes on the Spider-Man figures, but I'm pleased to say that the green and black scheme used here works well - it's bright enough to make the figure pop but not so bright as to make him look cartoonish.

Extras

Sadly the Stinger Strike Scorpion does not include any extras, unless you count the tail missile. There's also no stand or base but thankfully the tail can be employed as a prop to keep the figure from falling over.

Final Thoughts

This figure comes with a couple of pretty major drawbacks. He's not the ''proper'' Scorpion. He's lacking some fundamental joints. He has no accessories. There's no base. You could even argue that perhaps he has a little bit of a cartoonish look about his design. 

Yet for all these negatives, this is a remarkably fun figure. The costume design is great, the execution is superb and the paint - although simple - is as near to perfect as I've seen on a Hasbro figure. I can even forgive the lack of articulation elsewhere, as the brilliantly simple-but-effective tail set-up works superbly and really pushes the figure into the realms of the awesome.

He sits well in the hand, feels robust and - despite his limited limb articulation - can be posed very effectively and naturally. I don't think I've ever had as much fun photographing and posing a figure as I had with this one. The Stinger Strike Scorpion is one of those rare looks good as a collectible, plays well as a toy figures.

Now I just need to find the Lizard and Shocker figures from the same line, because if they're as cool as the Stinger Strike Scorpion I'll be a very happy True Believer.

Highly recommended.

Scores

Sculpt	A-
Paint	A-
Articulation	B+
Production Quality	A-
Final Score	A-

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