I got the Korean version of Big Convoy back in the early 2000’s. A lot of his joints are lose but he makes a cool display piece.
I wonder if Magmatron will get done as three seperate figures that could be their own robots but also combine into Magmatron, that way they can spread the figures out across the line and leave open the commander slot for another character
Apart from articulating the mammoth mode and not making it a shell-former, I'm not really sure how they could improve upon Big Convoy. I believe the last, anime-coloured version of that mold was meant to be an unofficial MP version, to compliment the MP Lio-Convoy release?
I also have a Korean Big Convoy. The clear plastic shoulder is a little loose but not too bad. The other joints are fine. If you find one that's cheaper than the Encore, it totally suffices.
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Make him a commander class, give him the kind of hands that ER Op has or Siege Jetfire's hands, the head of the Mamoth mode able to seperate from the buster cannon he has, a waist joint, ankle tilt, a mouth plate that moves up and down but not revealing a mouth type, similar to the original Armada leader OP, for name upon release, call him "Big Prime" or use "Big Buster Prime!!"
Despite the name, Big Convoy isn't actually all that big. He's the same height in robot mode as Lio Convoy and Optimus Primal. Even his original toy was shorter than both of theirs, while both of their MPs were scaled to the height of his original toy.
Conversely, Magmatron is huge. He towers over Big Convoy in the cartoon. In a sense, both he and Galvatron are big dudes, while Big Convoy and Lio Convoy are medium-sized.
In fact, this was also true of Optimus Primal and Megatron in Beast Wars season 1, which is why their Kingdom toys were a short Voyager and a good-sized Leader, respectively. It was only when the two became Transmetals that they became more equal in height, with Optimus becoming a lot bigger to match Megatron.
And then of course the two went even BIGGER in their Season 3 upgraded forms, which actually means that the POTP Optimal Optimus and Legacy TM2 Megatron toys being Leaders makes them both too small to accurately represent just how massive they were when compared to both their Season 1 and Transmetal bodies.
Conversely, Magmatron is huge. He towers over Big Convoy in the cartoon. In a sense, both he and Galvatron are big dudes, while Big Convoy and Lio Convoy are medium-sized.
In fact, this was also true of Optimus Primal and Megatron in Beast Wars season 1, which is why their Kingdom toys were a short Voyager and a good-sized Leader, respectively. It was only when the two became Transmetals that they became more equal in height, with Optimus becoming a lot bigger to match Megatron.
And then of course the two went even BIGGER in their Season 3 upgraded forms, which actually means that the POTP Optimal Optimus and Legacy TM2 Megatron toys being Leaders makes them both too small to accurately represent just how massive they were when compared to both their Season 1 and Transmetal bodies.
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Agreed, I'd probably pass on a Big Convoy but would definitely be interested in Ultra Mammoth colors. Or 2004 Universe Nemesis Prime, one of the few toys I kick myself for not picking up back in the day when I had the chance.
Heh, I just picked up a loose complete Universe Nemesis Prime at last year's BotCon. For reasonably cheap, too.
Sideswipe could be a starting point for R.E.V. and Crosswise, Jazz could possibly be a starting point for Hot Shot. Not sure about Wars off the top of my head (such a weird name). But once they got these started, there are so may recolors they could do, especially if they went back through some of the G2 Go-Bots. I'd love to have a deluxe version of Firecracker.
Wars is actually the name of my first novel. Yes, I intended to rename it at some point. No, I never did. And no the novel isn't good. I shelved it. So I think of that book first when I recall the Spychanger.
But you know what? I'm going to throw my support behind the name W.A.R.S. Yeah, that's how it's spelled and it is HARDCORE. What kind of bot has a name liked W.A.R.S.? A true bad-ass, that's what! Wicked Attack Recon Sportscar. In what world is that NOT awesome? Not one I want to live in, that's what!
You know what makes him even more hardcore? The fact that he's voiced by Steve Blum!
Well aware, and that's the plan if push comes to shove when the time comes.
However, that doesn't look as good on my shelf next to the other series. ;P
Honestly, a previous comment to the contrary notwithstanding, I don't think anything's stopping Hasbro, even now, from using the word "Convoy" if they wanted to. People are just more familiar with Prime, and Hasbro likes to lean into their most popular character. The club, on the other hand, enjoyed highlighting the more obscure corners of the franchise, and had little need to promote Prime, specifically.
(EDIT: I missed Sabrblade's explanation, which came after the post I'm quoting. I'm happy to concede that, in the current era of shared packaging, a toy that will be sold in Japan can't have the word "Convoy" on it if some other Japanese company has "Convoy" trademarked. It wouldn't have affected Hasbro selling such items only in America, but that's not the current reality.)
Woot! Stopped by the Target 'near' work and got Inferno! They had two Armada Starscreams there too, but I passed on them. Inferno is definitely a good add for my Beast Wars remastered collection!
I'm not familiar with "Convoy" being blocked in Japan. It was used, even after the Michael Bay films, in Japan. As far as I recall, the main reason Takara-Tomy have used "Prime" is due to the trademark for the Bay film items (toys, etc) and to align more with TFs outside Japan ) shared packaging, etc). If Hasbro called it "Lio Convoy" in English, I don't think that would cause any problems for Takara-Tomy. Furthermore, Takara-Tomy adds stickers over the US packaging in Japan, which covers over/replaces info that's not relevant (or possibly permissable) in Japan/their market. Thus, I believe it's just a preference on Hasbro's part and that they could use it if they wanted to. As for the a term being trademarked (or otherwise legally protected), I've found that in Japan, it's a bit looser n some cases. For example, there are many companies called "Takara" over here, including a chain of second-hand shops, which sell, amongst other things, second-have Transformers toys.
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