Age of the Primes Big Convoy

Prelude: Why is this guy not called Big Prime? I mean, Lio Convoy was renamed Leo Prime for his Legacy release, so why does Big Convoy get to keep his real name? Maybe they were afraid that people might interpret Big Prime as “Obese Prime” or something? No idea. But yeah, we got a new Big Convoy in Age of the Primes (maybe we can rename the line Age of Convoys now?), only the second-ever mold for this guy, so let’s give him a hearty welcome. Let’s say go!

Many thanks to my buddy James who gifted me this guy and has been nagging me about finally writing this review for the last eight months or so.

Robot Mode: Obviously Age of the Primes Big Convoy is a new version of the original Beast Wars Neo Big Convoy figure, which I own and adore, so comparisons will no doubt abound in the course of this review.

In fact, let us start with the comparison. Age of the Primes Big Convoy is, for the most part, the spitting image of the original toy. He’s a bit stockier, a bit shorter, and some colors are different by a shade or two, but overall it’s pretty clear that this is supposed to be the same guy, no doubt. Big Convoy is a Leader-Class figure (still shorter than the original, which was an Ultra) and while the robot itself is pretty slim, his abundance of kibble makes him look a lot broader than he actually is. Also, no wondering what he might transform into, his kibble parts pretty much spill the secret.

Now the original Big Convoy was already a pretty well-articulated figure, so the new one can only improve it incrementally. We’ve added ankle tilt and that’s pretty much it. Our new Big Convoy can pose pretty well, though his kibble does restrict him in certain poses. Overall, though, very nice. The colors and details are a close match to the character from the cartoon, maybe a bit more muted than the original, but with some shiny pieces, too.

Now let’s look at the gimmicks, of which the original had quite a few, and nearly all of them are included here as well. The original Big Convoy was the first one to feature a removable Matrix of Leadership inside his chest and we see that here as well. His forearms feature flip-out batons. His shoulder pads feature sculpted missile launchers, while his lower legs feature missile launchers. Here’s one of the differences, as the original toy had a spring-powered launching mechanism for those missiles, while the new one simply pegs them in place. However, the new figure does have one feature the old one didn’t, namely that you can unplug the tusks from his shoulder pieces and have him use it as handheld weapons.

Finally, there is the biiiiiig gun. Like the original, it’s made from the head, tail, and entire back of the mammoth mode. Here, too, the spring-powered missile launcher was removed, but you can mount blast effects here instead if you want. A new feature is that the BFG features a flip-out stand, so Big Convoy doesn’t have to hold it up all the time. His joints are strong enough to do it, but I’m sure it’s taxing. When not needed, the BFG can be stored on the back. Big Convoy also carries a tiny little white pistole, not really sure why, which you can also store on the back.

So how does the new Big Convoy fare in direct comparison with the old one? Well, the old one is a bit bigger and leaner, plus it can actually shoot missiles. The new one is stockier and while he is just as kibble-ladden, he does appear a bit more whole-some and less liable to pop off pieces of himself whenever you pose him too wildly. So in terms of play value, I’d call him a bit better, in terms of looks the old one wins.

Let’s move on to the alternate mode.

Alternate Mode: For many a year Big Convoy was known as the ultimate shell former, as his beast mode was almost entirely formed from the various kibble pieces adorning his robot mode, to the point where you could actually form the mammoth from the unplugged kibble pieces and have the robot stand beside it. Don’t believe it? Here’s proof! This new Big Convoy here honors his predecessor by also being a shell former, but this time the pieces are firmly attached, at least. Whether that’s an improvement or not I shall leave to you.

Of course Big Convoy still becomes a wooly mammoth, no changes here. Much like in robot mode, Big Convoy is a bit smaller here than his predecessor, again a bit stockier, and the tusks aren’t quite as majestic, maybe. The fur is still brown, though a somewhat lighter shade. Now there is no mechanism to raise the trunk like the old figure had, but on the other hand the trunk isn’t some rubbery monstrosity this time, but hard plastic with two joints, which I actually do prefer. Articulation is still pretty much zero in this mode, so no real changes here. Big Convoy can move his front legs a bit and wiggle his ears, that’s it. 

Now the old Big Convoy could transform into a kind of attack mode here, too. The BFG, which forms the center of the head, back, and rump is raised up, turned 180 degrees around, and set back in, so now instead of the trunk you have the muzzle of the BFG pointing forward. It was never the best of modes, to be honest, but it worked in a very, very weird way. Now technically the new Big Convoy can do that as well (see picture no. 19), but the BFG cannot be plugged in in that position, so it really just lies there on top of the mammoth.

So bottom line for the beast mode: again, not many differences to the old toy. Here, too, I’d say the original looks a bit better and sleeker, while the new one is a bit more solidly put together and I like the trunk better. 

Remarks: Beast Wars Neo was the second of two Japan-exclusive Beast Wars cartoon series, the stories set in the far future of the events of the Western Beast Wars series (mostly, there was a lot of time travel involved). Neo is the sequel to Beast Wars II and features a team of Maximal recruits, led by notorious loner Big Convoy, dealing with the fallout of having Angolmois capsules (aka the life force of Unicron) loose in the universe. Unlike Lio Convoy, we haven’t really seen much of Big Convoy outside of Japanese Transformers media yet.

Now let me say that, if you do not already own a version of the previous Big Convoy figure, you should definitely get this one here, unless you are absolutely not a fan of excessive kibble or beast formers. Big Convoy looks great, is well-articulated, and features most of the original gimmicks. If you already do own the original, however, you should be aware that you are not getting much that is new. Age of the Primes Big Convoy is a bit better for playing with, the original is a bit better for display purposes, in the end it’s a very tight race between them. So unless you’re a Beast Wars fanatic like me, there is really no need to own both old and new versions.

Rating: B+ 

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