Lio Convoy (2015 Collectors' Club Exclusive)
Vehicle ModeRobot Mode
Allegiance: Maximal
Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: White, moderately dark brownish gray, and some dull metallic gold, transparent cherry red, black, blue, silver, pale yellow, and red
Rating: 9.7

(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to the "Thrilling 30th" Generations Orion Pax toy. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of the "Thrilling 30th" Generations Orion Pax toy here.)

    Lio Convoy is, via Club fiction, part of the "Beast Wars Uprising" universe, but there's nothing keeping you from making him a "normal" pre-BW toy in the vein of the BotCon 2006 exclusives if you so desire-- it's the same concept, with the character given a vehicle alt mode with animal-like paint apps. As with the original Lio Convoy, Lio's basic colors are white, a fairly dark brownish gray, and some black and dull metallic gold. The first three aren't particularly exciting colors, but it's the paint apps that really make this color scheme-- and like most Transformers Club exclusives, Lio Convoy has a ton of 'em. The broken up dull metallic gold details on the mold's rear section of the cab mode and the shoulders really look remarkably like a lion mane, and quite frankly is the most ingenious paint app that Lio Convoy has. There's also some of that nice metallic gold along the wheel hubs and the sides of the vehicle mode-- it's a pretty nice color and complements the white quite well. The front grill is also detailed like a lion's nose and mouth, with black near the center, a red "mouth" near the bottom, and even white-and-blue-striped headlights that actually look a little like the pores whiskers come out of on the nose. The white painting along the sides of the long nose vehicle mode help emphasize this "lion nose" look even more. The transparent plastic used for the cockpit, painted cherry red (along with his axe weapon), makes for nice "eyes" for this big "lion head" of a mode, and overall the vehicle mode just looks fantastic. In robot mode, Lio Convoy's robot mode colors are replicated fairly well too, with some red and silver details on the abs, red painted on the lower arms, a silver circle-around-a-Maximal-symbol decoration on the left side of the chest, and even some white and gold detailing on the front of his feet to make them look like the "lion paws" the original Lio Convoy had as feet. There's also a black pelvis, with some nice blue and dull yellow details on them. All of these colors really go together quite well, and keep Lio Convoy from looking remotely boring in either mode, with no one large area being one unbroken color.
    Lio Convoy does have a new headsculpt, which generally looks solid, although the side antennae are a bit smaller than they should be due to size constraints in alt mode. The actual details are nicely done, though, with some nice silver eyes on the faceplate and forehead vent, yellow eyes, and a really nice, eye-popping shade of blue used on the rest of his head. Other than the new head, no mold changes have been made to Lio Convoy.
    TFCC Lio Convoy is one of the best redecoes the Collectors' Club has done, with a lot of creative details used to bring out the "lion" in a toy that really didn't call out those details without just the right mix of color shades and paint. The headsculpt is a LITTLE clipped, but not much, and the colors on him really pop while still being faithful to the original. It's also just a great mold-- highly recommended, especially since as a "freebie" exclusive that came with Club membership, he's cheaper to get than most other BotCon/Club exclusives.



Lio Convoy Bio:
FUNCTION: Maximal Supreme Commander
MOTTO: "The balance of nature must be preserved by an unceasing battle for survival."
As far back as his memory records extend, Lio Convoy has been entrusted by the Builders with protection of equilibrium in the ecosystem over which he presides. However, Lio Convoy's understanding is that if either the Maximals or Predacons were to achieve superiority over their enemies, the inevitable result would be an imbalance leading to the downfall of their society. He interprets the brutality of war as nothing more than natural selection at work.
Lio Convoy is never seen without his Typhoon Staff, which was presented to him by the Builders as a symbol of his authority. It continually emits a hypnotic pulse that paralyzes any bioorganic Transformer within a 1 km radius. Unbeknownst to Lio Convoy, the same pulse exerts a limiting effect on his internal Energon Matrix, restricting a power the extent of which even the Builders fail to fully grasp...
Strength: 9.0
Intelligence: 10.0
Speed: 10.0
Endurance: 10.0
Rank: 10.0
Courage: 10.0
Fireblast: 8.0
Skill: 10.0

Review by Beastbot

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