Car Robots Black Convoy

Series: Car Robots
Allegiance: Destronger
Year: 2000

Vengeance is an excuse for failure. I do not seek vengeance.
Black Convoy is a no-nonsense field commander. Formed during the creation of the Decepticons when Gigatron scanned both a tanker truck and Cybertron Commander Fire Convoy. Because of this mix-up, Black Convoy resents the Cybertrons and especially their leader. He's cunning, dangerous and cruel -- if there is any Cybertron goodness within his circuits, he covers it up as acts of destruction. His battle station is a fully loaded weapon and high-tech equipment arsenal. Furiously wields his signature sword in battle.
(adapted from RID Scourge bio)

Robot Mode: Black Convoy is a repaint of G2 Laser Rod Optimus Prime, as such I have only very little new to say about his excellent posability, his great looks, or his all-around good construction. The only thing I can say is that, due to his dark paintjob, Black Convoy looks even scarier and much more sinister than the already bad-ass G2 Prime. The purple sword he carries might be a bit much (I'd have preferred a red blade), but it fits him. He lacks the electronics of G2 Prime that would make the weapon he carries in his right hand (either the sword or his gun) light up along with his eyes, but that's not a big loss in my mind. An all-around good robot mode with very little room for improvement.

Alternate Modes: Black Convoy transformers into a tanker truck. The truck itself is mostly black, while the trailer is mostly silver. Thank god they didn't see the need to put any kind of stupid stickers on this one (again, see G2 Optimus Prime), so it looks pretty good. The disk launcher on top can shoot black discs (with the G2 Autobot logo still on them, but whatever). A solid truck.

Add-Ons / Partners: Black Convoy's trailer opens up into a battle station that can shoot multiple missiles and disks. I nearly got a heart attack when first trying out this mode, as a pretty big spider had stowed away inside the disk launcher and came crawling out when I tried to fire it. The station as such is decent, one of the better trailer-turned-battle-station, but nothing too special.

Remarks: Black Convoy, or Scourge as he is called in the American version of Car Robots, was one of the primary characters of the cartoon series. Now, I've had quite a few misgivings about the RID series, its childish plots and anime-look, but the introduction of this evil clone of Optimus Prime was definitely to my liking. There have been evil versions of Prime (or Convoy) before, but this was the first one that actually featured in the corresponding TV series.

Sure, just like all the bad guys in RID (except for Megatron) he's a repaint of a figure from a previous series, but he is a very good repaint and his role in the cartoon only adds to that. And it doesn't really matter if you call him Black Convoy, Scourge, or Nemesis Prime, he is a great toy. If you're a fan of RID, Primes, or evil Primes, this is definitely recommended.

Rating: A-