From no one in particular to must own toy in no time at all. Scoop!

Prior to March 29th, I could pick Scoop out of a crowd; I knew he was a Double-Targetmaster and a bright orange and yellow payloader who was a member of the Wreckers. I just didn’t have an immediate need to own him. He’s a Targetmaster and as such he’s higher on my list than some, but still not someone I felt overly compelled to hunt down.

Until the morning of March 29th.

What happened on March 29th? This picture graced the Botcon Twitter feed:

An image from the upcoming Botcon 2012 comic book, it was titled “Metalhawk & the crew ready for a tussle!” My initial thought was, “Heh, once I get my Botcon set with Timelines Metalhawk in it, I’ll be able to recreate this shot with my toys.”

Followed quickly by,

“Wait. Except for the orange and yellow guy.”

It didn’t take long for me to recognize him as Scoop, thanks to his rather distinctive set of guns. I basically saw two possibilities:

1. Scoop was possibly going to be part of one of this year’s Botcon souvenir sets and I should probably grab his G1 toy to make a nice display along with his new form.

2. Scoop was just popping up in the comic but wasn’t getting a new toy. If this were the case I must get his toy now.

Oh, the odd, unexpected obsessions that can suddenly take hold in a toy collection. Shortly after my need to own Scoop for one reason or another kicked in, Allspark.com got a little mini-exclusive news item related to Scoop’s presence in the image. Pete Sinclair from Fun Publications, the Botcon folks, had “stopped by to give an exclusive scoop about Scoop”. I guess sorta kinda, not really spoilers for the Botcon 2012 comic ahead:

“Pete@BotCon –
I am gonna give you all this one little reveal. We’ll call it an Allspark exclusive… I guess I should throw up a Spoiler tag.

Scoop does not get a new body

Scoop is not cannon fodder

Scoop is just… Scoop”

No new toy? Yes. I must own his G1 toy immediately. I went first to Ebay. I don’t know why I did that. On the whole, I hate Ebay. Whatever reason for going there, I found him complete (i.e. with his two Targetmaster partners) for anywhere between $35 with sticker damage to $50 with mostly ok stickers. Not happy with this particular price range, I came to my senses and went to check the sales threads in the forums. First try, over at TFW2005.com, I found a picture of a very nice condition 100% complete Scoop for less than half the Ebay prices. Bought.

He has pretty much standard G1 level articulation, which consists of being able to raise his arms, though that is hampered when he is transformed correctly as the large wheels on this shoulders collide with his scoop. Moving the scoop out of the way allows him to at least raise his arms to firing position, which is kind of important for a Targetmaster.

Scoop, as well as his partners are actually very detailed for their sizes.

Tracer on the left and Holepunch on the right. Yes, a gun named Holepunch that just happens to be “a former office manager”. Brilliant on a couple different levels.

Scoop comes by his name honestly, transforming into a piece of construction equipment.

Just like the other Double-Targetmasters, his alt mode has points to mount his partners in weapon mode. Unlike the other Double-Targetmasters, Scoop doesn’t just have the two. He actually has five total. With his partners in their combined weapon mode, that’s six guns you can put on him at one time.

Bright orange and festooned with weaponry? Well, it definitely makes a statement.