Beast Wars Neo - Big Convoy

Originally I never planned on getting this guy due to the relativly high price. Being a Japanese import these guys can set you back a pretty penny (BBTS had a couple for sale recently for $91, and they actually sold out). So, I let out a cry to alt.toys.transformers.marketplace and someone answered. A few days (shipping was very quick, by the way, he shipped on Saturday and I got it on Monday) later and $55 less, I had myself a brand new (well, not brand new, but very minty) Big Convoy. Oddly enough I don't feel the need to buy any more Transformers now, though I'm sure the upcoming RID releases (of which I'm picking up at least 3) and Armada will change my tune. Ah well.

Anywho, Big Convoy is a big wolly mammoth in beast mode. As with pretty much all pre-Transmetal beast modes, it's essentially a brick. The only articulation is in his tail, though his tusks and trunk have gimmicks to make up for this. He's two shades of brown with green eyes. Very cool looking beast mode.

The gimmicks, okay. Well, first off if you move his ear back (his ears also have articulation) the tusk on that side will move up. Pretty neat. Also via a similar mechanism to TM2 Dinobot's and TM2 Megatron's tail and neck (respectivly) you can make his trunk rear up. It's really stiff rubber though, but at least it's not permanently bent one way like the other two toys to use it. All in all, while some of the panels don't seem to want to lock down, a very nice beast mode, one of the best made, I'd wager.

As is the theme with the BWN toys, Big has a third mode. Essentially it's beast mode with the gun (stored in his back) deployed. Not much to look at really.

Transformation is pretty easy going from beast to robot. Like Mach Kick you just need to crack open the beast shell and position everything right. Not too much too it, though there are a good deal of things you need to do (including rotating his very stiff waist joint).

Robot mode is quite impressive indeed. Actually I was expecting a little taller robot, given the bulk of the beast mode, but all in all this is still very cool. Of course he's mainly red, blue and white in this mode with some silver accents. He also has the classic Convoy look to his chest and his head is very remnisciant of pretty much every previous version of Prime and Primal with the exception of Beast Machines Primal and possibly TM Primal (who still had the helmet, just lacked the face plate).

In terms of weapontry Big Convoy is also fairly well loaded. First off inside the beast kibble on his lower arms are a pair of tonfa (so I'm told anyway, I had no clue what those were before I owned this toy) which can be stored or deployed and don't interfere with him holding his giant gun. Next is the hip missile shooters very remnisciant of the first ultra Megatron complete with similar missiles, though they're red, not black. Those missiles are heavy though, so they don't fire very far. Their location is somewhat awkward as well, but I'll cover that in a bit. Finally there's his ginormous gun. It's essentially the entire back and most of the head of the mammoth (though the face and tusks end up as shoulder pads). That said the entire thing is rather cumbersome, though Big seems to have no problems holding the thing up (his arm joints are very tight, plus his legs and feet do a good support job.

The cannon itself is pretty neat, though, like I said, cumbersome. The trigger, rather than being the traditional button, is a weird spinning type thing. Rotate it and the two missiles will fire in succession. Their flight path and length isn't overly impressive, and the bottom one seems to be on a hair trigger that rivals deluxe Jetstorm and BW2 Starscream's guns.

The articulation on this guy is top notch, by the way. He has double jointed ankles, double jointed hinge knees, lower thigh swivels, ratcheting joints at the hips, a swivel waist, ball jointed shoulders, double jointed elbows with a ball and a hinge, and limited hinges for wrists. Plus a ball jointed head. Of course, with all that comes kibble. His shoulder pads are the sides of the mammoth head and include the long tusks, his lower arms have some kibble, though it's not too problematic. His thighs have the rear mammoth legs just kinda hanging off them (though the feet look like thrusters sorta, so it's possible he can fly) and the back of his lower legs have the front mammoth legs and slightly above his ankles are the Megatronish missile launchers. All in all robot mode is not without its share of issues, but the great poseability and cool look make up for all the problems.

And finally there's the Matrix. Well, maybe not the Matrix, but a Matrix. Flip open his chest panel and there it is. Gold with a little plastic crystal in it. Very neat and ready to light the Maximal's darkest hour, or whatever it did in Beast Wars Neo.

Yes, so, is Big Convoy worth it? Well, not the $90 BBTS wanted for one, but given that he's an ultra sized toy and both his modes are quite excellent, plus the fact that it's a Japanese import, and no longer in production (to the best of my knowledge anyway) I would say that if you can find one for $50 or $60 then got for it. It's an excellently done toy and a worthy addition to any collection.