DSC_3075
So with the G1 lineup nowhere near exhaustion, it makes perfect sense that Hasbro/Takara Tomy is trying things to lure in new customers. While I didn't participate in the regret that is named Raiden, I did get my hands on a MP-48 Lio Convoy, again thanks to some help from Singapore.
So while we here in Canada/USA and lord knows where else got Beast Machines, Japan carried on with the Beast Wars line up, and created I believe two additional series, Beast Wars 2 and Beast Wars Neo, each with a variety of toys that never fully made it over here, though through the years some repaints have appeared as store exclusives, my most favourite being the Nemesis Prime repaint of Big Convoy.
Like many of the Beast figures of the day, the classic Lio Convoy had a decent toy release, though the beast mode suffered from Shellformer syndrome, though to be fair at least the Beast modes looked pretty good as a result, even if articulation was crap.
Lio Convoy is the Maximal leader figure in Beast Wars 2. He is of course, a lion, and if you're current on your Transformers product you'll know that he's shown up in Legacy as Leo Prime.
It's such a random release that I'm almost positive my theory about Mainline and MP figures having some sort of concurrent development cycles is true.
It's an interesting toy, certainly more articulated in Beast Mode than before. The waist of the robot mode appears to be locked in this mode and as such you cannot rotate the rear legs of the lion mode. Due to the design for the front paws at the "shoulder" spot, front paws can't really spread out either. Overall, it's better than before as you have SOME options, but realistic looking pouncing and other lion type activities are, sadly, still out.
Lion head is certainly more anime accurate on this figure (and apparently prone to paint chipping(), and while the mouth does open like you'd expect, it' only hinges normally for the upper part of the head and not the actual lower jaw. Kind of weird but you know, I roll with it.
Being a more Japanese design, Lio Convoy has quite a few gimmicky attacks (probably preceded by shouting of attack names), all of which were on the previous toy. You get some embedded rocket launchers/projectile weapons (useable even in robot mod), spinning mane attack, really awkwardly placed claws (even in Lion mode they're awkward). Furthermore, the tail turns into a spear or whip in robot mode
Other less exotic ideas are boosters in the calves (probably for flying), Matrix of Leadership in the chest, his hand held gun the "Cybertron Buster" which I'm calling his freaking shotgun, and what is called Holder Parts, which I don't know if its canon or not, but apparently there's a little caddy for some of his looks missile/cannon parts.
Transformation isn't hard per se, but it feels like due to the design and of course, QC, more parts either come close to rubbing or are actually rubbing than the designers intended to. Fortunately, it isn't as bad as Megatron where I lost paint the first time I even touched it.
If there's a section that will annoy you, it is likely going to be the getting all the torso pieces in place. Having said that, maybe it's just me or is Takara Tomy budget cutting and making these manuals smaller and smaller, because I swear I used to be able to look at pictures and figure out what they were doing. I'm not 100% certain that I got the shoulders on properly.
Robot mode looks very good. Part of that is likely the fact that up until now, pretty much every figure has had a box for a upper body. Lio Convoy has a very muscular look, including the torso, so VISUALLY it is quite different, with the next closest one being Black Arachnia. Perhaps with more Beast stuff coming, especially the more stylized anime designs, we'll get more of these organic designs.
Articulation is... well, as you'd imagine, kind of meh overall. Legs are fine. Generally uninhibited though lacking a true ankle rotation. Dual thigh swivels are present as are double jointed knees. There's a waist, as mentioned,
The rest of the body is kind of where you can see the trouble coming from. The head is decent, and actually allows for some tilting. Shoulders are technically standard, but there are panels that allow the shoulder to come towards the chest. Elbows are double jointed though QC issues make it hard to access the full range of motion. Due to transformation, there's an extra joint at the wrist that allows for some tilt.
The giant shoulder pads on both sides, make for some challenging maneuvering. While you can technically move them out of the way to allow for proper shoulder movement, you'll only get so far before things look strange. You'd need a design where those parts are on the shoulders like Pauldrons for better articulation. The front paws of just dangling from the forearm don't help either.
Overall, an interesting figure in terms of design and actual choice of character. I guess the figure sold well enough that they released the Dark version of the character, but I don't know if it sold THAT well seeing how they were on clearance in Singapore.
Time will tell, I suppose.
DSC_3075
So with the G1 lineup nowhere near exhaustion, it makes perfect sense that Hasbro/Takara Tomy is trying things to lure in new customers. While I didn't participate in the regret that is named Raiden, I did get my hands on a MP-48 Lio Convoy, again thanks to some help from Singapore.
So while we here in Canada/USA and lord knows where else got Beast Machines, Japan carried on with the Beast Wars line up, and created I believe two additional series, Beast Wars 2 and Beast Wars Neo, each with a variety of toys that never fully made it over here, though through the years some repaints have appeared as store exclusives, my most favourite being the Nemesis Prime repaint of Big Convoy.
Like many of the Beast figures of the day, the classic Lio Convoy had a decent toy release, though the beast mode suffered from Shellformer syndrome, though to be fair at least the Beast modes looked pretty good as a result, even if articulation was crap.
Lio Convoy is the Maximal leader figure in Beast Wars 2. He is of course, a lion, and if you're current on your Transformers product you'll know that he's shown up in Legacy as Leo Prime.
It's such a random release that I'm almost positive my theory about Mainline and MP figures having some sort of concurrent development cycles is true.
It's an interesting toy, certainly more articulated in Beast Mode than before. The waist of the robot mode appears to be locked in this mode and as such you cannot rotate the rear legs of the lion mode. Due to the design for the front paws at the "shoulder" spot, front paws can't really spread out either. Overall, it's better than before as you have SOME options, but realistic looking pouncing and other lion type activities are, sadly, still out.
Lion head is certainly more anime accurate on this figure (and apparently prone to paint chipping(), and while the mouth does open like you'd expect, it' only hinges normally for the upper part of the head and not the actual lower jaw. Kind of weird but you know, I roll with it.
Being a more Japanese design, Lio Convoy has quite a few gimmicky attacks (probably preceded by shouting of attack names), all of which were on the previous toy. You get some embedded rocket launchers/projectile weapons (useable even in robot mod), spinning mane attack, really awkwardly placed claws (even in Lion mode they're awkward). Furthermore, the tail turns into a spear or whip in robot mode
Other less exotic ideas are boosters in the calves (probably for flying), Matrix of Leadership in the chest, his hand held gun the "Cybertron Buster" which I'm calling his freaking shotgun, and what is called Holder Parts, which I don't know if its canon or not, but apparently there's a little caddy for some of his looks missile/cannon parts.
Transformation isn't hard per se, but it feels like due to the design and of course, QC, more parts either come close to rubbing or are actually rubbing than the designers intended to. Fortunately, it isn't as bad as Megatron where I lost paint the first time I even touched it.
If there's a section that will annoy you, it is likely going to be the getting all the torso pieces in place. Having said that, maybe it's just me or is Takara Tomy budget cutting and making these manuals smaller and smaller, because I swear I used to be able to look at pictures and figure out what they were doing. I'm not 100% certain that I got the shoulders on properly.
Robot mode looks very good. Part of that is likely the fact that up until now, pretty much every figure has had a box for a upper body. Lio Convoy has a very muscular look, including the torso, so VISUALLY it is quite different, with the next closest one being Black Arachnia. Perhaps with more Beast stuff coming, especially the more stylized anime designs, we'll get more of these organic designs.
Articulation is... well, as you'd imagine, kind of meh overall. Legs are fine. Generally uninhibited though lacking a true ankle rotation. Dual thigh swivels are present as are double jointed knees. There's a waist, as mentioned,
The rest of the body is kind of where you can see the trouble coming from. The head is decent, and actually allows for some tilting. Shoulders are technically standard, but there are panels that allow the shoulder to come towards the chest. Elbows are double jointed though QC issues make it hard to access the full range of motion. Due to transformation, there's an extra joint at the wrist that allows for some tilt.
The giant shoulder pads on both sides, make for some challenging maneuvering. While you can technically move them out of the way to allow for proper shoulder movement, you'll only get so far before things look strange. You'd need a design where those parts are on the shoulders like Pauldrons for better articulation. The front paws of just dangling from the forearm don't help either.
Overall, an interesting figure in terms of design and actual choice of character. I guess the figure sold well enough that they released the Dark version of the character, but I don't know if it sold THAT well seeing how they were on clearance in Singapore.
Time will tell, I suppose.