Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

News Credits: 668 · by **Autobot032** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 2:27 am

At this year's BotCon, which you can see more of here, Scorponok was one of several molds picked for reuse for the usual BotCon boxset that comes with each convention every year. However, BotCon 2014's Scorponok is a very nice redeco and remold of the Energon/Superlink Scorponok/Megazarak figure, and includes a functioning Headmaster figure! Today's gallery is not about that version, but have no fear, we'll have a full gallery in classic Seibertron.com style coming very soon!

Today's gallery focuses on one of the original uses of the mold: Takara's Superlink SD-05 Mega Zarak! Superlink is the Takara equivalent of Hasbro's Energon. You can see other Energon figure galleries by clicking here. We've included over 160 high res shots of this figure, it's Japanese language packaging, and our usual Hasbro versus Takara comparison photos. You can see the full gallery by clicking any of the images below.

Superlink Mega Zarak

Keep your optics tuned to Seibertron.com for the latest in news and updates, plus the best galleries around!

News Credits: 2 · by **BERSEKAEL** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 7:06 am

very nice, can't wait for the official seibertron galery!

by **deliciouspeter** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 7:29 am

Beautiful photos. This is my favorite deco of the mold. Perfect.

News Credits: 13 · by **OptimalOptimus2** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 7:48 am

Is the Superlink Megazarak really cartoon accurate? I'm not sure about that. :-?

News Credits: 241 · by **Jelze Bunnycat** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 7:59 am

OptimalOptimus2 wrote:Is the Superlink Megazarak really cartoon accurate? I'm not sure about that.

Funny thing: the Hasbro version is cartoon-accurate this time around:

There seems to have been some color chart mix-ups between Hasbro and Takara: Hasbro's art shows the Takara colors, and vice-versa.

by **Valandar** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 8:06 am

Are there GPS issues with this deco of the mold?

News Credits: 241 · by **Jelze Bunnycat** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 8:12 am

Valandar wrote:Are there GPS issues with this deco of the mold?

None documented. The GPS-type plastic is a darker, more bronze shade

News Credits: 3554 · by **Seibertron** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 8:28 am

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:
Valandar wrote:Are there GPS issues with this deco of the mold?

None documented. The GPS-type plastic is a darker, more bronze shade

It doesn't have GPS, but it does have the same problem with the piece that connects the upper arm to his torso. If it gets stuck and you apply pressure, the piece immediately snaps. While I've never experienced this problem with the other 4 uses of this mold that I own, when I transformed Mega Zarak into jet mode, that front panel immediately snapped with no warning or anything. I have experienced this with a few Scorponoks that I have obtained from collections I buy to resell in the Seibertron.com store before, so I'm a little familiar with the problem. It just surprises me every time because it breaks so easily once the piece gets stuck.

Fortunately, the piece is the identical color on both the Hasbro and Takara versions so I just went out to my storage, grabbed a different Scorponok that had the other arm broken, and swapped pieces so that Superlink Mega Zarak would be as good as new.

Once I fixed Mega Zarak, I liberally applied Ace Hardware's Lub-E (which is plastic safe) to the areas of concern on all 5 uses of this mold which immediately loosened up the part that gets stuck. While I'm not as concerned with Scorponok or Mega Zarak because I get lots of Scorponoks in the collections I buy (though it still sucks when it breaks because Energon Scorponok is a $50 to $60 toy all day long), I am highly concerned with the BotCon ones and Dark Scorponok due to their scarcity.

Really wish they would have addressed this problem before they started using it for BotCon figures. Seems like it would be a simple design fix with the mold to strengthen the piece that breaks or change how the screws hold the pieces together or something.

by **Rated X** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 9:30 am

Beautiful gallery Ryan. These are the galleries I love to see get done. Vintage stuff that I cant see anywhere else. Can you elaborate on the part that breaks a little bit more and maybe put a picture of where to put the lube to avoid problems ? Ive never turned my Dark Scorponok or Doublepunch into jet modes before. Is that the only time you risk the snapping ? Got the Botcon Scorponok coming and I don't want any issues.

Also while were on the subject of this mold, has anyone received their non-attendee set from Funpub yet ? They are really taking their sweet time on those...

Website · by **STngAR** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 12:27 pm

I like the colors of the Hasbro version. Although I do like the dark version the best

:MAXIMAL:

News Credits: 638 · by **ScottyP** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 12:55 pm

That Superlink deco on this toy is just gorgeous. One of the handful of Superlink toys that's very worth double-dipping on.

News Credits: 3554 · by **Seibertron** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 2:58 pm

Update to my fix with this Scorponok mold ... while the Lub-E seemed to work just fine last night, when I checked on E-Scorponok's arms just now before putting him away, I encountered the joint-lock-of-doom on him which usually signifies that the little piece of plastic will crack in half. I took it apart again, trying to understand what it is that gets caught. I decided that the front pieces need to be swapped from left to right to avoid putting additional pressure on the piece when transforming the arm (if you take it apart and swap the front left and right should pieces you'll see where the pressure is when the arm is transformed). In addition, the peg that the screw goes into needs to be sanded down a little bit and I used a power drill with an appropriate sized drill bit to smooth out the inside of where the long peg slides into both of which I did to help reduce the tight friction. After I put my Scorponok back together, it seems that the problem is resolved and the arm transforms just fine now.

News Credits: 3554 · by **Seibertron** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 4:25 pm

I just put together a YouTube video about how to do a preventative fix on the Scorponok mold so that you can prevent your Scorponok's shoulders from breaking. Video will be up shortly.

News Credits: 3554 · by **Seibertron** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 4:27 pm

ScottyP wrote:That Superlink deco on this toy is just gorgeous. One of the handful of Superlink toys that's very worth double-dipping on.

It's an awesome redeco. I prefer the Hasbro version of it for some reason. And while I still really like the new Botcon version, I still would like to see just a regular Energon Scorponok slavishly done in G1 Scorponok's colors though the BotCon version is probably about as close to it as we'll ever get.

News Credits: 3554 · by **Seibertron** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 5:32 pm

Seibertron wrote:I just put together a YouTube video about how to do a preventative fix on the Scorponok mold so that you can prevent your Scorponok's shoulders from breaking. Video will be up shortly.

And here we go ...

News Credits: 5 · by **Overcracker** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 7:40 pm

Thanks for the video Ryan.

I'm gonna have to bust out my Dark Scorponok from storage and fix him. It always seemed a little too tight there.

News Credits: 3 · by **Samsonator** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 8:46 pm

Man, having never owned any of the Energon Scorponok mold (always wanted one, but the chance has never presented itself) I never knew this problem even existed. At least now if I actually get one I'll know what to watch out for, and how to prevent it.

News Credits: 3554 · by **Seibertron** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 8:51 pm

Samsonator wrote:Man, having never owned any of the Energon Scorponok mold (always wanted one, but the chance has never presented itself) I never knew this problem even existed. At least now if I actually get one I'll know what to watch out for, and how to prevent it.

It's currently on sale MISB at the Seibertron.com eBay Store!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=181186440265

News Credits: 60 · by **fenrir72** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 8:53 pm

Mine (Takara) is in storage too. Thank you for this PSA Ryan. This bugger is so hard to find these days.

The days of RID,ML,SL and GF...........the 'bots were more..........robotic, angular and beefy and none of these aerodynamic insectoid/humanoid Bayformer style.

by **Rated X** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 10:40 pm

Thanks for the video Ryan. Well done. Just like your Doublepunch, mine had the pieces on wrong. My Dark Scorponok has the pieces on right though. I bought it used on e-bay so I cant confirm if it was fixed by it's original owner or if it came that way from the factory. It still seems a bit tight though. I might sand the peg down a bit. Im glad to see they caught it this time with the Botcon Scorponok. Hopefully when it arrives, no fixing will be needed.

News Credits: 3554 · by **Seibertron** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 11:21 pm

Rated X wrote:Thanks for the video Ryan. Well done. Just like your Doublepunch, mine had the pieces on wrong. My Dark Scorponok has the pieces on right though. I bought it used on e-bay so I cant confirm if it was fixed by it's original owner or if it came that way from the factory. It still seems a bit tight though. I might sand the peg down a bit. Im glad to see they caught it this time with the Botcon Scorponok. Hopefully when it arrives, no fixing will be needed.

Just to make sure you got the other bits from the video ... it's not just the pieces that need to be swapped, but you might need to drill the hole to make it a good 3/8 and sand down the bottom peg a little so that it's not so tight.