Review: #919
Name: Big Convoy
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Maximal
Line: Age of the Primes
Year of Release: 2026
Size Class: Leader (Wave 3)
Mold Status: new
MAMMOTH MODE:
Based upon the character that appeared in the Japanese exclusive Beast Wars Neo anime, Big Convoy transforms into a woolly mammoth.
As an update to the original toy, this is still pretty much a brick. It's still looks fairly decent, with the only robot parts peeking out the back are the white robot legs.
He is big and bulky, but compact as well. He's still clearly much bigger than a Voyager, although he's smaller than the original toy (which was an Ultra size class).
There is some articulation, but they're not super useful. The trunk can move up, while the front legs can move forward. It's not designed for this mode but you can still use it if you wish.
If you look very carefully, since the front legs aren't fully enclosed, you can also see the robot chest from underneath. As mentioned earlier, it's still a very good beast mode.
This version doesn't retain the original toy's "attack mode", which isn't a big loss. Everything here holds together very solidly.
A strong mammoth mode that doesn't have many flaws.
TRANSFORMATION:
He's still very much a shellformer, but less so than the original. You would still want to remove around a third of the mammoth mode (comprise of the trunk and his back) to set it aside, since it'll be the robot mode's weapon. After that, the halves on either side of the head form the shoulder pads. The back unfold for the legs, taking the front mammoth legs as waist armor. The arms unfold from the middle. It's not as twisty and complex as the original, but can still get confusing.
ROBOT MODE
Robot mode looks very good, although like the original, there are some slightly proportion issues. Most are ironed out, but his arms still look a little bit skinny.
He carries a massive amount of kibble, but that's just replicating the original. He has giant shoulder pads, the front mammoth legs around his waist, and lots of panels behind his legs.
The head sculpt is almost classic Optimus, but with tusk like horns on either side.
In terms of height, he is around a Voyager. He is heftier though, carrying more mass.
From the side, you can see how much the kibble stick out, mostly in the lower body. The upper body is surprisingly clean.
Articulation is good, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and ankles.
Big Convoy has a ton of gimmicks that are focused around his weapons. First up are the tusks, which are attached via 5mm posts (and are prone to falling off...), these can be detached and attached underneath his arms as melee weapons.
Next up he has a small white gun that he can wield in either hand.
The gun can peg and store behind his waist.
Next are red missiles that attach to the sides of his legs. They're not as big and impressive as on the original toy though but still great that the gimmick was kept.
Those can be held in his hands as well, so that's a bonus (although it looks stupid like that).
Next, underneath each arm you can flip out some tonfas, they look small in proportion to his body but are still very cool since they're integrated weaponry.
Finally, it's the piece that you detached when transforming him (technically you can leave it on during transformation but good luck having it stay on). It's a huge piece, and can store on his back.
Surprisingly, having it on his back doesn't cause him to go completely off-balance. It still looks ridiculous though.
That piece has to do something (since it basically cheats the transformation, so that it doesn't stay as kibble in robot mode). It unfolds to form a massive gun.
The gun can be held, and it is as long as he is tall, so it's quite unwieldy.
To help with that, the gun has a few improvements, including a stand to keep it upright, and it also attaches at the shoulder, so it's quite solid when you use it.
And then finally, you can flip up the shoulder pads to reveal sculpted missile launches. Phew.
Yet, that's not all the gimmicks, because open up his chest to reveal a gold Matrix of Leadership.
It's detachable and can be held in both his hands.
And that's a lot of gimmicks, which makes for a really fun figure, giving him a lot of play value.
He's super stable in robot mode as well, and the pieces all peg together nicely.
Despite the amount of kibble, they don't get in the way of articulation either.
A really nice robot mode, and while it is arguable if it is a completely improvement over the original toy, it's is one of the funnest Leader figures we've gotten thanks to the sheer amount of weaponry gimmicks.
OVERALL:
Big Convoy is a figure with a lot of play value. His mammoth mode is static, but makes up for it with a fantastic robot mode. The number of weaponry options that he has is astounding, and it is super fun even just trying them all out. Even the big gun isn't as unwieldy and awkward as the original. it's a figure well worth getting.
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