MP38 Supreme Commander Convoy (Optimus Primal).

[GoktimusPrime]

Optimus Primal, the legendary general commander, that appears in BWII isn't Optimus Primal from the Mainframe TV show. They are in different universes. They share a name, but are not the same character. Thus, they warrant different numbers.

What was meant and intended by the BWII episode in 1998 was clearly proven to be impossible by subsequent fiction.

Two characters. Two universes. Same name. It's pretty straight forward really.

Replied here.

I see this one virtually shelf warming.

The paint apps on the Gorilla mode look horrible - like a poor man's custom job somebody did on MP-32.

It's show-accurately dull, same as MP Inferno. This is what happens when you make your toys accurate to cel animated models. Although MP Inferno never had to compete with say a more toy-accurate detailed version.

Optimus Primal is a tough call. We know that TakaraTOMY have to repaint it as something to make more money back on the mould, but what else can they repaint it as? Burning Convoy is an even more obscure variant as it's based on Optimus Primal's appearance in one scene in the theatrical movie. Whereas this repaint is consistent with Optimus Primal's admittedly cameo appearance in the film, and is also toy-accurate which appeals to fans of toy-accuracy. So this redeco has a two-tier appeal, whereas Burning Convoy has a narrow single-tier appeal. But other than a cel-animation/toy-accurate or Burning Convoy redeco, what else can they do with this mould? We want TakaraTOMY to release all these characters as MPs, but from their POV they need to consider the redeco potential to justify the cost of R&Ding the mould in the first place.

The face/mask accessory looks like Inferno's face! Inferno - the Predacon that turns into an ant. Did Convoy/Optimus Primal rip his face off and wear it??

Man, I wish Hasbro/Takara would do a Generations/Legends line dedicated to Beast Wars. Even just repacks or reissues of the 1996 toys would make me happy enough.

EDIT: Oh, it's his organic 'beast' face. My bad. I never owned the original toy.

All of the first year Deluxe, Mega (Voyager) and Ultra figures came with alternate Mutant robot (not beast) heads. I say robot because they were only usable in robot mode. In the TV series most BW TFs were animated with the robot head, but at least two characters were animated with their mutant heads; Tarantulas and Waspinator. Their Transmetal forms' heads were also based on their mutant heads. Blackarachnia is a straight up repaint of Tarantulas, but animators chose to base the show model's head on her robot head instead of her mutant head. But Tarantulas has this robot head too. And although Buzz Saw never appeared in the show, he is always illustrated with his robot head instead of his mutant one (he and Waspinator share the exact same heads).

Before the BW cartoon came out I used to imagine that their mutant heads gave them a more savage or berserker quality to their robot mode. I still do this when I choose to ignore cartoon continuity and go with the original pre-cartoon toy continuity.