Star Convoy was one of the rarer Japanese pieces, until Takara released a reissue of it in 2005. It's one of the few larger-scale toys released in Takara's Battlestars: The Return of Convoy line, as the majority of the figures released were Micromasters. This is, in fact, the last version of Optimus Prime before Generation Two, and if you're trying to follow continuity, this is where you start throwing up your hands.

I got Star Convoy from a dealer at Botcon 2006 on the cheap - it had been opened and traded to the dealer for other merchandise. It's about the only 'deal' I got at Botcon that year. He comes with a Micromaster version of Hot Rod, which used to (and probably still does) go for more than I paid for the whole unit, and which I'll take a look at after the main commentary.

Vehicle Mode

Remember in More Than Meets The Eye, when Huffer took Prime's trailer, because Prime was too damaged to carry it? You had itty-bitty Huffer carrying this massive semi-trailer, and it was funny. Star Convoy's vehicle mode is similar, except it's covered in guns, and has tank treads in the back. But it really does look like a Micromaster hauling this gigantic trailer.

There's no pivot for the cab, so Star Convoy always drives on the straight and narrow. In addition to Convoy's shoulder-mounted cannons, which are located above the cab, his cannon mounts into the roof of the trailer, and there's an additional cannon at the rear of the trailer. In fact, given it's generally tapering shape, the tank treads in the back, and the armaments, rocket-tank-trailer isn't a bad all-in-one description.

And speaking of tank treads, Star Convoy's got some electronics going for him. A switch on the side of the tread mounting actives a motor, which has both forward and reverse positions, and is strangely powerful. Turning on the treads rotates the rear cannon 360 degrees. Star Convoy moves at a pretty fast clip in his vehicle mode, and since he's actually on treads, he's somewhat of an all-terrain rocket-tank-trailer.

Finally, the back of the trailer opens up to store all the miscellaneous pieces, and a separate vehicle that can carry and launch Micromaster Hot Rod (or theoretically, any Micromaster). In vehicle mode, Star Convoy is about the same length as G1 Optimus Prime (with trailer).

Micromaster Base Mode

So, apparently, all of the large figures in the line absolutely had to have some kind of base mode for the Micromasters. Because Star Convoy wasn't busy enough leading the damn Autobots, he occasionally had to transform into a romper room for the rank and file. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this mode - it seems to be an afterthought. Basically, it's Convoy splayed out with his chest open. If anything, it's more of a "holy crap, look how badly Convoy's hurt!" mode than a base.

The one good point of this mode is that the tread unit detaches from the base itself, and with the help of two non-storable-in-any-other-mode attachments, becomes a mobile weapon platform for Micromaster Hot Rod. Again, it moves pretty fast. Don't let it roll off your kitchen table while you're reviewing it for your blog.

Transformation to Robot Mode

You're skipping the base mode, and transforming Star Convoy straight from a rocket-tank-trailer to a robot. Get ready, because this one's complex. You flip up the front wheels onto the side of the trailer. You split the cab into the arms, and then flip down each, pegging it into the wheel base you just flipped up, and move the arms into place. You pull out Convoy's fists. You position the shoulder laser cannons just so (okay, now I'm padding). You flip down Convoy's chest, flip up his head, and close the chest cavity back. A portion of the trailer flips up onto Convoy's back, then you rotate the chest portion 180 degrees. Flip out his feet. You're done. Congratulations, I know that one was difficult.

Robot Mode

Star Convoy is an imposing figure. He's massive, tall, and bristling with coolness and weaponry. He's also a brick. Let's get that out of the way first.

The only points of articulation on this figure are that his shoulders rotate, his elbows rotate, and his waist rotates. Since his legs are one big molded-together piece, there is no posing this figure. His arms are actually a little stubby, as is his torso, given how long his legs are. His head does not rotate, and unless you count his chest plate flipping down as another point, that's it for articulation.

But despite all of that, Star Convoy is a wonderful figure. There's a lot of detail present in the robot mode, and all of the classic Optimus Prime elements are here, including the windows in the chest and the general head shape and features. This figure of course has the faux chest windows that appear on a lot of Prime figures, but it's got that really sharp looking star on his chest that separate it from the pack. Even though you can't really pose him, he still looks quite impressive. Also, his electronic treads work in this mode, to make him 'walk' forward. The motor and treads work so well that he doesn't have any problem transitioning from a flat surface to carpet! Here's a little example of this feature in action:

Star Convoy scared Veronica (my two-year old) when he started rolling at her, hence the shaking camera in the second clip.

Differences between the reissue and the original

Unlike the majority of Transformer reissues over the years, there are some pretty significant changes between this reissue and the original version. Almost everywhere the reissue is silver, the original was white; this includes the majority of the trailer, Convoy's fists, chest details, and the crest on his forehead. This doesn't include Convoy's face and the distinctive Optimus-grill above the crest on his head, which were both silver on the original. Furthermore, the star on his chest, which is a metallic gold in this release, was the same yellow as Convoy's knees, headlights and waist pieces. There may be other differences, but as there aren't many high-res images of the original version that I can find (and none on Flickr!), I can't make out any more subtle variations. I'm going from the decent but blurry photos at TFU.info. Again, did I mention the original is kinda rare? Here's an image of the original from the Transformers: Generations book:

Micromaster Hot Rod

Star Convoy comes with a Micromaster version of Hot Rod (Hot Rodimus if you're nasty), who apparently lives in Star Convoy's chest cavity when he's in robot mode. He's one of my favorite Micromasters; his vehicle mode is spot-on accurate to the original figure (minus a few paint applications). His transformation is a little different. His legs flip down, his chest flips over, and you're pretty much done. In robot mode, he retains all of the elements that mark him as Hot Rod, but his characteristic spoiler ends up on his shins instead of his back. Hot Rod has about as much articulation as any Micromaster, which is to say, not much. His arms rotate at the shoulders, his legs are jointed at the hips and knees, and his feet move independently of each other, though the knees are held together by one long rod. For those of you counting at home, that means Hot Rod has five points of articulation, the same as Star Convoy himself. Of course, this toy was crafted long before 'points of articulation' became part of the action figure lexicon, but wow. Also of note is that all of Hot Rod's details are stamped on, rather than done as decals, which is fairly common with the reissue releases, and looks fantastic.

Final thoughts and notes

Even though this figure is more or less the defining example of a Transformers 'brick', it's still a neat piece. Takara released a PVC version of Star Convoy a few years back, and it's much closer to the box art above than this figure. I actually turned that figure into a color scheme a few years back. I'd love to have a version of this that was more accurate to the box art above, but short of the PVC, I won't hold my breath. Are you paying attention, person in charge of choosing characters for the Revoltech line?

I should add that according to my two-year-old daughter, Star Convoy is a bad guy, and that Hot Rod is his baby. That'll teach him to roll at her.

Finally, I should also note that this is the second in my series of Prime Commentaries, if you count the review I did of Hybrid Style Convoy I did a few years ago, which I do. Since my Prime collection is quite large and interesting, it'll be fun to review and comment on some of the more unique figures.

Tags: battlestars commentary optimus prime review star convoy transformers

Posted by Dan on February 12, 2008 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)