Toy Review - Encore God Fire Convoy

GOD FIRE CONVOY
Series - Car Robot
Sub-line - Encore
Size/class - N/A
New/remould/redeco - reissue
Wave - N/A
Released here - N/A (released in Japan March 2018)
Approximate Retail Price - 30,000JPY (approx. $360)
Approximate Size - 29cm to top of head antennae, 32cm to top of wings
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-modes - Hino Branbilar fire engine (Fire Convoy), car carrier (God Magnus)
Main Features/Gimmicks - Gestalt form of Fire Convoy and God Magnus, electronic lights and sounds
Main Colours - Red, white, navy blue
Main Accessories - dual missile launcher gun, sword

Notes:
1) This is primarily a comparative review between the original God Fire Convoy and the Encore reissue
2) Special thanks to Michael Vella for his help in making this comparative review possible

↓L-R: Fire Convoy (Car Robot), God Magnus (C), Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Fire Convoy (TRU Exclusive), God Magnus (T), Fire Convoy (Encore), God Magnus (E)
https://image.ibb.co/mc2Nu7/fireconvoy001.jpg
↑L-R: Fire Convoy (C), Optimus Prime, Fire Convoy (T), Fire Convoy (E), God Magnus (C), Ultra Magnus, God Magnus (T), God Magnus (E)

↓L-R: Fire Convoy (C), God Magnus (C), Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Fire Convoy (T), God Magnus (T), Fire Convoy (E), God Magnus (E)
https://image.ibb.co/huWyZ7/godmagnus000.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/ebbnSS/godmagnus002.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/dt9Vgn/godmagnus002a.jpg

↓L-R: Fire Convoy (C), Optimus Prime, Fire Convoy (T), Fire Convoy (E), God Magnus (C), Ultra Magnus, God Magnus (T), God Magnus (E)
https://image.ibb.co/nGGXu7/godmagnus000a.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/icBAgn/godmagnus005.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/hMWMnS/godmagnus001.jpg

FIRE CONVOY: Differences in Fire Engine Mode

• Reissue's plastics no longer have any metallic flaking in it. It's all just flat coloured plastic, much like the Hasbro version

• Windows have changed from a clear cyan to clear navy blue

• Ladder is now a light coloured flat grey instead of a darker metallic silver

• The 「消防庁」 (Fire Dept) and "Cybertron" text is bolder on the reissue

• Front and rear number plates which are blank on previous versions now read "C-001" on the Encore reissue

• There are fewer silver decoes on the rear end of the Encore

↓L-R: Fire Convoy (C), Fire Convoy (E)
https://image.ibb.co/hzSoZ7/fireconvoy002.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/f61FE7/fireconvoy003.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/iSVgnS/godmagnus011.jpg

↓L-R: Fire Convoy (C), Optimus Prime, Fire Convoy (E)
https://image.ibb.co/hSJ6Mn/fireconvoy004.jpg

↓L-R: Fire Convoy (C), Fire Convoy (E)
https://image.ibb.co/kojVgn/godmagnus012.jpg

FIRE CONVOY: Differences in Robot Mode

• Encore's whites are now a brilliant pure white

• Encore's chest plate is now painted instead of chrome. While this may not look as nice as the chrome chest it does mean that the chest is now resistant to scratching/flaking like the previous versions

• All blues have been replaced by navy blue

• Lighter grey on the antennae and darker grey on the waist

• Single silver stripe on each shin instead of the double stripes

• The joints on the Encore figures are by far the loosest whereas the joints on the originals, even after all these years, still remain the tightest

• The rocket launchers on the Encore don't plug in very tightly and are prone to easily falling off the shoulders

• The Encore's pistol does not easily fit into the robot's fist - the gun handle is a tad too thick

• QC: there's a mark on the Encore gun showing that it wasn't cleanly broken off the sprue

↓L-R: Fire Convoy (C), Optimus Prime, Fire Convoy (T), Fire Convoy (E)
https://image.ibb.co/bTaE7S/godmagnus006.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/kdPJZ7/godmagnus009.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/iHSNu7/fireconvoy005.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/bY4wMn/godmagnus008.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/hVK7SS/godmagnus009a.jpg

↓L-R: Fire Convoy (C), Fire Convoy (T), Optimus Prime, Fire Convoy (E)
https://image.ibb.co/d2sBnS/fireconvoy006.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/m53O1n/godmagnus016.jpg

SUPER FIRE CONVOY

• Encore has darker grey and yellow

• The hands are very floppy

• I wish that they'd painted the crosshairs sculpted on the inside of the Matrix cover, especially given the price of this reissue

• QC: there's a stress mark on one of the Encore's arm cannon barrels

↓L-R: Fire Convoy (C), Fire Convoy (T), Optimus Prime, Fire Convoy (E)
https://image.ibb.co/nCaaE7/godmagnus017.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/hZZD1n/godmagnus018.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/hwWt1n/fireconvoy007.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/k2THSS/fireconvoy008.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/eArt1n/fireconvoy009.jpg

GOD MAGNUS

• Encore's whites are now a brilliant pure white

• All dark blue, including blue chrome, are placed with a flat navy blue

• All metallic coloured plastic, such as the grey, are now flat

• Autobot logo on the robot crest is now highlighted with gold chrome

• Thighs are misassembled - they're on the other way around. Although this doesn't physically affect the toy in any way. It still transforms and holds up just fine

https://image.ibb.co/fTY6Mn/fireconvoy010.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/dqghu7/fireconvoy011.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/iGci1n/godmagnus001a.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/iBzwMn/godmagnus001b.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/hhsi1n/godmagnus013.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/fCa31n/godmagnus014.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/bH6bMn/godmagnus015.jpg

GOD FIRE CONVOY

• God Magnus' side panels are extremely loose and with no locking mechanism it is prone to just flopping out

https://image.ibb.co/nyHNu7/fireconvoy012.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/dBNcSS/fireconvoy013.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/mcRRMn/godmagnus019.jpg

SUPER GOD SWORD (compared with TRU Exclusive sword)

• Far sturdier plastic that is much superior to the TRU version's

• Can still be tricky to get into God Fire Convoy's hands and the grip isn't exactly tight

• Colours are definitely more show-accurate

• Comes with an alternate handle so that Brave Maximus can hold the sword (same as Fortress Maximus' sword handle)

• Sword handle attaches onto the hilt very tightly. Doesn't appear to be easy to remove once assembled

https://image.ibb.co/b5jP7S/fireconvoy014.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/f6F8Z7/fireconvoy015.jpg
https://image.ibb.co/bvYTZ7/fireconvoy016.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/jJsNu7/fireconvoy017.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/cXBhu7/godmagnus020.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/buB47S/godmagnus021.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/gZTj7S/godmagnus022.jpg

COPYRIGHT STAMPS

• The Encore no longer states exactly when it was manufactured. The month/year indicating wheel is now blank

https://image.ibb.co/mcRyZ7/fireconvoy018.jpg

SOUND GIMMICK
The Encore comes with many more bytes of sound than the original had. The voice acting and sounds overall are superior to the original but let down by a pretty poor quality speaker. Watch this video to listen to the sounds (English subtitles provided).

OVERALL
The colours are certainly more cartoon-accurate for those who are into that sort of that. A lot of good ideas were put into this toy but it's been let down by several quality issues such as loose joints, potential stress marks, misassembled thighs and a low quality speaker. But what I find to be the real let down is the price. This toy has its pros and cons and ultimately it's not really a whole lot better or worse than its predecessors if we weigh everything up... but it's so much more expensive than its forerunners! :o I just cannot justify paying 3.6 times the price of the originals for this set. I like the idea of Car Robot toys being reissued, but not at such jacked up prices.

I love the deco, it's a shame about the poor QC on the set especially given the price tag.