Toy Review - Convoy - Missing Link

Series - Missing Link
Size/class - N/A
New/remould/redeco - Looks like a Copy, but I suspect all new moulding.
Wave - C01
Released here - N/A (Japan, February 2024)
Approximate Retail Price - 17,380 Yennies
Approximate Size - G1 Optimus Prime-ish
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Flat Nose Truck
Main Features/Gimmicks - G1 Goodness with modern engineering and articualtion.
Main Colours - Red, silver, blue and grey
Main Accessories - Matrix, Trailer, Roller, gun

Having some trouble with the cumbersome photo situation and google at the moment.

My main comment about this toy is:
This is the toy you thought you had as a kid. It's so good.

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Continuing on

Yup he's a good one all right. All the feels of the old toy are there, all the clickies in the right spots, some with EXTRA clickies. Some of the joints are super tight though, the eb crunch on mine was worryingly so at the start, but you just have to get used to it.

The extra moulding and decals on this guy make him feels super quality! They've changed the shape of the headlights though, as you don't have to stick hands in them any more!
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I'm not too sure if it's my memory playing tricks on me or what, but the trailer plastic doesn't seem as nice. It's a matte grey, whereas my nostalgia-memory tells me G1 was a bit more silvery/metallic. The spring loaded launcher is gone, as you can now pull the tower out. It has wheels underneath. Be aware that Roller will rattle around in the trailer now as there is no locking mechanism for the little guy.
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In the package is Foam, a little catalgue blurbing on about the missing link Convoys, a tech spec decoder and instructions. To me, it feels like the decoder is thicker plastic than they used to be. Pedantic hey?
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Roller can have the gas pump thing in him, or a woo woo light. You just spin the piece!
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There is a mtarix and the toy colour has a golden back piece and the anime colour has a black one. The backing piece is removable.
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And while the trailer is missing the Roller launcher, the missiles are still spring loaded:
https://youtu.be/x68-mqKIbrE

Overall this toy is great. Nice tight joints and articualtion everywhere. Get one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tetsuwan Convoy

I'm not too sure if it's my memory playing tricks on me or what, but the trailer plastic doesn't seem as nice. It's a matte grey, whereas my nostalgia-memory tells me G1 was a bit more silvery/metallic.

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I wonder if the matte colour is so it can be used with the anime one without seeming too jarring? I know plenty of people have gone in on both and no doubt Takara wanted that to happen too.

Can't wait to get mine! You've really got me hyped for this (not that I wasn't already). :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tha_Phantom

I wonder if the matte colour is so it can be used with the anime one without seeming too jarring? I know plenty of people have gone in on both and no doubt Takara wanted that to happen too.

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Yeah that was my main thought too.
However, I can't say I'm ecstatic about that decision is that is the case. TBH

I'm getting mine via HLJ and I've paid for registered airmail as it was significantly cheaper than DHL, and I've been hit with a triple whammy with MP Hoist, MPG Kaen and ML Convoy all back to back. It may be up to 6 weeks before I receive mine, so I'm just living vicariously through other people's photos. :) I've yet to see someone post a side-by-side comparison with an original G1 Optimus Prime, but here is a comparison photo with Music Label Convoy - which is basically a reissue original G1 OP with a new head.

Photo credit: Sato Yoshinori
https://i.ibb.co/xYVGxdH/temp.jpg

Got both Missing Link Optimus Primes from Amazon Japan. Here is some pics of C-02.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ltkhv...pgz3hm96&raw=1

Strongly recommend picking up a Missing Link anime version. Haven't put the bumper bar sticker on yet.

https://i.imgur.com/FWLCbt1l.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/RW0TTmRl.jpeg

With the Transformers Retro Soundwave

https://i.imgur.com/i4A5Etil.jpeg

And with my original Optimus Prime, which I think was a 1986 birthday present.

https://i.imgur.com/73otnIIl.jpg https://i.imgur.com/F56tqrIl.jpeg?1

Watching a review of this toy (albeit just the cab-robot) does odd things to my mind. I watch and yes it looks just like the toy I'm incredibly familiar with until they start transforming or posing it and suddenly it feels like I've shifting into some alternate universe. From reading this thread, seems like a huge step forward for the cab and a small step backwards for the trailer. Overall it is astounding. One way of describing this Missing Link line could be 'box art accurate' (which is possibly all a kld ever really wanted).

I have a question for the more technically-minded of you. When a reviewer says that this is an upgrade of the original toy with 'modern engineering' does that mean this would not have been possible in 1984, or just that it would have been prohibitive for a reasonably priced mass produced item?

Having just had a good play, I’m super impressed and feel, despite the cost, he is worth every penny. Integrating hands into the transformation works so well - no partsforming with the fists, which easily get lost as well. I miss the spring-loaded launch of Roller, and the blue colour of the original. But the actual Convoy? He’s a masterpiece and being able to ‘officially’ integrate the matrix is awesome. I was even able to take a photo of him holding it, which just couldn’t be accomplished with the original

Attachment 6764
Holding the matrix

The only flaw I can see is that my roller comes without a light. I’ve seen lights in other people’s reviews, but couldn’t see a light in the instruction sheet either so maybe it doesn’t come with it after all, and its a 3rd party upgrade?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan

Watching a review of this toy (albeit just the cab-robot) does odd things to my mind. I watch and yes it looks just like the toy I'm incredibly familiar with until they start transforming or posing it and suddenly it feels like I've shifting into some alternate universe.

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That's very much how it felt to me in hand. I've had an Optimus Prime toy for nearly 40 years, and this one is similar to look at in cab mode but does these new things that feel a bit unnatural; as they conflict with my muscle memory of how to transform Optimus Prime.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan

I have a question for the more technically-minded of you. When a reviewer says that this is an upgrade of the original toy with 'modern engineering' does that mean this would not have been possible in 1984, or just that it would have been prohibitive for a reasonably priced mass produced item?

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Nothing in this toy couldn't have been done in the 80s, but would have made the toy more expensive (as it has today) due to part counts and there were things that just weren't done back then - like the ankle pivots and extra posability.