[Toy] Galaxy Convoy from, um Galaxy Force… DUH!

Toy has posted a new item, 'Galaxy Convoy from, um Galaxy Force… DUH!'



Now finally, I have here one of my favourite Optimus Prime toys. Actually thats
incorrect as it is actually a Convoy, Galaxy Convoy to be exact. Nevertheless,
out of all the Optimus Primes/Convoys of various descriptions this is at the top
of my list as the one I like the most. I really like Galaxy Force. It was the
first Transformers cartoon that I watched in Japanese before the English and I
loved the differences. Especially since I was at the height of my Japanese
language studies at the time, the characterisations were much better done than
the English and it wasnt until much after that it got forced into being part 3
of the Unicron trilogy. I mean really it doesnt fit very well at. The surprise
that Convoy shows at being able to combine with other Transformers is the main
giveaway, especially since the main gimmick of the previous series was
Transformers combining AND EVERYBODY did it Moving on.Galaxy Force Convoy is a
Fire truck, harking back a bit to the heroic days of Robots In Disguise. Sure it
is unlike any firetruck I have ever seen, but hey who cares, its a big red truck
and it looks tough and cool! I can believe its a fire truck. Some howIn 2011, I
covered the second version of this figure that I got, the smaller and rather
nice Hybrid Style Galaxy Convoy. A good and expensive little bugger that one and
he was based off of this guy.I just love playing with this toy. Its big, tough
and has multiple options for shenanigans to go on with. I also managed to forget
to take some shots of it then (I took these pics in 2011 too) that I would think
of a must have now. Therefore, I am going to start with Vehicle mode.Convoy
comes in a couple of pieces. The main body and a trailer of sorts that forms his
super mode armour and a small artillery style gun pod thing. What I find rather
nifty is that in vehicle mode, you can get away without the trailer piece
connected to form a somewhat weird looking flatbed truck. As opposed to Robots
In Disguise Optimus who cant form the fire truck without his extra bits.


Then on top of that, you can have these bits mounted on the legs to supply guns.
Its a pretty decked out truck! It does suffer from visible-head-syndrome and
unlike Energon Optimus, they dont even TRY to cover it up.
Galaxy Force and therefore Cybertron figures always impressed me with their
general sculpted details, there are practically no boring bits on these toys and
any plain areas have details all over the place.


Admittedly though he does have a big gap in the middle of the truck which can be
sort of covered by the eventual shin guns.The cab is sweet! The transformation
is rather clever and his fists become the black grill and the back of his palms
the pipes on the side of the truck. Its almost like when he transforms into the
truck he is ready to punch his way through anything! The cab windows are high up
and rather small, as well as evoking a Star Convoy feel through them and since
they do look so small, one could surmise that this is a MASSIVE truck. Very
cleverly done and really adds to the feeling of strength this Convoy has!One
other touch I really like is there is even a bit of detail inside the cab! Very
hard to get a shot of though.


In a very interesting move, I found that the rear wheels are provided with
suspension of sorts. Well I guess its good that its there, as that does form the
feet of the Super Mode Convoy.



With the trailer off the truck can look a bit empty. There are robot feet
sticking up, you cant really do much with the flat bed and there is a very
obvious Matrix sticking right out in the open But then I guess the idea is to
not have him as a flatbed truck is it now. But still


And here are a couple of truck pictures next to his Hybrid Style friend.


The weapons can be activated on vehicle mode and he comes with two force chips,
one of which is the standard Autobot Force Chip (or should that be Cybertoron?)
and a snazzier Matrix inspired one.They of course unlock the more violent parts
of the truck mode. I guess normally one could refer to them as ladders? Now they
become ladders of DEATH!R

L
Naturally the detail on these two is very nice. The top side of the truck also
houses the pistol he uses in robot mode too. The inclusion of weapons into this
is very well thought out!The right side only pops down two missile launchers on
either side. But the left side opens to reveal the blaster and activates lights
and sound, it also the side that ha the battery pack in it. A slight shame, as
we shall see later onSadly those blue circular details on the side of the cannon
dont light up. I always thought it would be super cool if they lit up in order
as a blast went off.


Final truck detail, is that he has a flight mode. One could question how
aerodynamic this thing would be and quite easily come to the conclusion that it
has zero chance of actually getting airborne, but hey, were talking about
sentient robots from outer space, so LOGIC BE DAMNED!Despite it almost looking
like a fan made mode (it isnt and features in the instructions and cartoon), I
must admit I like it in a cheesy lame wayOk, I think that covers the vehicle
mode enough for my liking, lets move on to the robot mode. And you know, after
my little bit about forgetting the robot mode pics Id normally include, I have
found them! Jeezaloo. See what happens when you have images on your hard drive
for a couple of years before getting to them

He does come off as being a bit stumpy in robot mode, but he still looks
powerful!

Like his vehicle mode, its big and powerful! He does suffer from short forearms
however but he does have a hinge at the joints for his fingers and you can see
straight away that he is a truck when in disguise. The face has a rather cool
addition of a fold away face mask, so when he goes into super mode, a lever on
the back of the head can be pushed and the mask flips up for a lipless version
of Convoy. General details are great, he does have a faux grill lights loin
piece though and the chest windows arent the truck windows. I dont know why, but
some people get really worked up about whether or not Optimus windows are real
or faux. TBH though it has only really shown up since the movie series has begun
(the anger that is, I dont really recall anyone whinging about Ginrais chest
windows.

There are plenty of other details to make that truck impression though, and
thats what I like! Its kind of a bit of a funny homage to other Convoys really,
as the cab front looks nothing like the robot modes chest piece.


You can see the withdrawn face mask in the second photo above.What I also like
about this Convoy, is that he comes with a removable Matrix. His hands are too
big to hold it though, but the cartoon has it float out of his chest and do what
is required. His chest windows slide out of the way to the sides nicely and it
looks pretty decent. there is a cover piece before you see the Matrix as well,
which is a nice effect they didnt have to include, but I am glad they did. It
really adds a bit of class to this figure.


The Matrix comes out too, which is nice and is detailed well, but lacking in
paint. Lets face it though it doesnt need much paint really.

On top of all that, there is some great detail in BEHIND the Matrix. Oh man!


This smaller mode is quite poseable and well balanced due his rather large feet.
Whats cool about this mode is that you can use the back of the truck as his
artillery cannon.


The force chips work the same way as they do for vehicle mode. Then if you are
feeling a little bit underwhelmed by that, GALAXY CONVOY SSSSUPPPAAAAAR
MOOODDDOOOOO!


Little Galaxy Convoys calves flip under his feet and the back of the truck
becomes a big backpack for him. Oh yeah, look at that wingspan, the wings evoke
a nice God Ginrai feel to him as well. The cannons always swing under the wings
for fighting and flip upright when negotiating, or having a beer. Hasbro
stupidly had the images of Optimus on their box with the cannons over the
shoulder which never happened in the show and looks pretty stupid.This is where
the placement of the batteries becomes a bummer. Without them the balance is
pretty good, but with them in (two AA sized batteries) and with them being so
high up, his centre of balance becomes too high despite his large feet, the lack
of heel spurs lets him down quite a lot and he has a bad tendency to fall over
backwards.The head gimmick here is really cool though.On the left is the normal
mode head with the ears on the side. However flip them out, and pull that lever
and lo!


Behold embiggened mode!


Once again detail are pretty cool. Most of them are the same, except for the
back, as it now has the truck hanging off it


I love the extra sculpting all over the place. and he just looks like he is
kitted up the wazzoo, even to the point of having little missile pod things over
the straps of the backpack.The legs even look seriously beefed as well. Its very
clever that you fold the smaller robots feet down to smooth the connection with
the ankle. The red guns that are parallel with the side of the leg in the far
left photo can be pivoted around for some extra blamm power, not that this
Convoy needs anymore


One thing that has me a tiny bit concerned is that beautiful blue has some
little flakes in it, making the colour stand out with a slight metallic look,
but maybe weakening it too


He does look suitably cool when standing in front of other Transformers
too.Scourge has got some performance anxiety there methinks.And next to his
Hybrid Chum.Aw so cute.Since the super mode is pretty much just extending legs
and a backpack, his articulation is relatively unhindered from his smaller bot
mode! Lets see some posing!!


Not too shabby for such a large fellow to be honest. The only thing that I am a
little disappointed with is that his big cannons dont have any handles he can
reach, but his Hybrid brother caters for that.As it is though, I love this toy.
Its a great representation of the character that Galaxy Convoy was, strong and
determined and here he has the power to face the challenges that Master Megatron
would throw at him. Add to that the clever transformation with the fist grill
and the various modes you can have him in, both vehicle AND robot mode and this
toy has a lot of potential as well as looking ace! And THAT is why it is my
favourite Optimus/Convoy figure!

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Toy
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