This one jumped the queue by a few figures, but it's a special one.
My addiction to Transformers isn't as crippling as with anime waifus because I look at them as Engineering feats rather than versions of characters. From that perspective, the mainline is OK but I feel I've seen many of the tricks already by this point - 40 years is a long time. So, unfortunately for me, that generally means I've graduated to MP and Third Party stuff, which hurts the wallet. But occasionally there will be a product release that despite limitations, truly captures my attention.
That is the story of the Transfomers Missing LInk Convoy. Takara Tomy set out to create a toy that looks like the vintage 1984 figure, but with added articulation and other modern conveniences. The dream is that this is the first in a line of figures that get updated in this way, or at the very least a G1 Megatron, gun mode and all.
So this is the C-01 release. There is a C-02, which is just the Cab and is decoed like the show. Never had a 84 Optimus Prime, let alone a Japanese one, but the box seems to follow the design of the similarly styled reissue very closely. Front illustration is new, showing off the new articulation of the toy.. sort of. I say that because I can't get anywhere even close to the amount of waist swivel the image suggests.
I've seen variations of the interior, but they generally all have a Styrofoam tray. Yes that beautiful, beautiful ozone layer destroying material is back. It's been a long time since I've seen one of these on a toy, and even the stuff they pack IKEA furniture with isn't as nice as this foam. There are also holes on back to help you push out the main figure without having to damage the actual foam insert.
Some of the pack ins. Now, there are no separate fists in this toy, and I knew about the missiles and the gas nozzle/hose from browsing eBay ads for years, but I wasn't aware that you had to put on Roller's wheels yourself. We also get a lovely documentation pouch which has a Tech Spec card, one of those Red plastic decoder strips, instructions, a product pamphlet, and decals that I am never going to apply to my figure.
I'm a bit too lazy to do the work, but the Silver Roller, along with the Energon Axe, were additions years ago during one of the reissues. Not entire sure about the Matrix. The double handled Ion Blaster is new to this version as the figure actually has articulation to pull off a two handed pose, though in the show one hand wraps around the muzzle.
Out of box, the iconic 1984 toy that a good portion of the people on this planet are familiar with. If there are any aesthetic differences between this and the previous ones, I can't really see them. But I would imagine this is probably something that is best addressed by people who actually have an older one.
Tires are indeed rubber, though the quality of which remains to be seen. It's hard to make out, but it seems that the writing on it says "Formula Desert Dog" - I imagine this is relevant to the original toy.
Trailer splits open to reveal the Repair Drone along with the classic seating intended for the little Diaclone figures. The Drone is again on a jointed arm that lets you position piece in its various modes. The cockpit still opens (again, for the Diaclone figures) and the arms do move. While the radar dish remains the same (jointed arm, wheel for rotation) the pincer arm seems to have been given a hint of the 2000s by the inclusion of a ball joint for the main shoulder area.
I didn't take the missiles off and load them, but you can make out the Repair Drone actually has launchers, spring mounted ones at that, which is something that has been absent on Transformer figures for a long time now.
One feature that I'm pretty sure was added thanks to the MP-44 is the fact now that the Repair Drone is truly mobile, with a wheeled base and everything. Again, hazy memory - on the original toy there was a slide of some sort along the bottom of the Trailer, and I cannot remember if this facilitated the movement of the Drone. It's a bit of a bitch to actually get the thing off (it slides off) but it can be done.
On to the Cab, the front windshield opens up like on the original toy, this time revealing a chromed plastic Matrix holder. It's not quite what we got in the movie, but it does the job. The holder can actually pop out and behind it is the seats meant to hold the Diaclone figures.
Most of the modernization is on the Cab, which converts into the robot mode. The differences are subtle, visually, so that anyone not really paying attention wouldn't really notice this was an update. The transformation sequence is very similar to the original toy, with the extra steps used to separate the legs and adjust the front wheels of the Cab. Overall, if you remember your OG steps, you'll breeze through this without much trouble.
Close up of the head and the Matrix in the chamber. From what I can tell, the head is the same head which was on the Walmart reissue a few years back, which means its probably the same as, at the very least, all the reissues we've gotten since the Encore days.
In a nutshell, this is the new articulation of the Missing Link Convoy. I realize I should have twisted the head a bit to show that it works. The legs are able to spread out and the toes are now articulated. They gave him a slight ab crunch for some reason and vastly improved arms via three swivel joints on the shoulders, allowing for lateral shoulder raises, elbows with rotation, and articulated fists with wrist rotation. There's a waist that kind of works. Elbows and knees are ratcheting joints.
Put it all together and what do you get? Well, it's kind of like when they patch an old game and while the improvements are there, you're still looking an old game. The Articulation certainly allows Convoy to do things that he never could before. It's a fantastic feeling to see something like this actually do some decent poses. But, at the end of the day, it's also kind of funny as the gangly proportions of the original toy haven't changed.
In terms of Paint Applications, things are nicely done, with the most difficult paint apps being on the face and on the raised details that are now sculpted in rather than requiring stickers. Work is sharp with no overspray or texture issues. There's probably slightly more actual paint on this as compared to the typical mainline figure, as several decals are now painted on, and the fact there's the need to paint metal in order have it mesh with the plastic. Colour matching isn't bad, but the Navy Blue was certainly a closer match than the Red was.
Build Quality is a tricky one. I mean the figure holds together well and does poses and all that. From a manufacturing perspective, my only real complaint is that whoever was in charge of sanding didn't do a very good job of QC, especially the Navy Blue parts, most notable on the back of the Repair Drone and on the back of Convoy's legs. On the other hand, this product reminds me why we don't have toys made like this anymore. One thing that people take for granted is how much less likely it is that newer figure will break. I mean yea, you get bad QC but generally speaking if something falls off you can just pop it back on again. This is very much one of those fragile plastic/metal combinations that needs to be handled with care. While the target audience is likely children of the 80s, I'm absolutely confident that someone out there will buy one for their kid and figure that they would never break it.
In addition to the material mixtures, my biggest concern is the legs. One of my absolute least favourite transformation mechanism is the slide. Tolerances have to be very precise to ensure there is sufficient clearance, and over time, friction from transformation cycles can wear the material down. Then there's the fact that generally speaking, parts in this type of motion are thin. All of the above is what you're seeing in the above photo - the two vertical pieces need to be separated and slid apart. Adding to the fun of this is the fact a single pin is what connect each of the "hips" to the thin plastic piece in question.
So yeah, I won't be doing anything crazy with this figure.
The Missing Link Convoy is a unique product. There's never going to be another one like this in the sense that most companies are looking to capitalize on the MP market and create their own versions of MP level figures. Takara Tomy went back to the OG and updated that. As mentioned above, I'm hoping the success of this figure results in the continuation of the line.
All-in-all, if you're a Transformer fan and you were an 80s kid, if you have the funds chances are you bought this figure, so there's really no need to sell it, as it were. People born later, however, are likely looking at us like we're crazy.
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