Masterpiece Convoy Version 2 Review

2005 Boards member CookSux has posted a review of Masterpiece Convoy Version 2.0! The new version of Masterpiece Optimus Prime comes with a host of accessories, and a fantastic design that captures the very essence of Generation 1 Optimus Prime. Check out the size comparison image as well – this new Masterpiece is a perfect match, size wise, for Revenge of the Fallen Leader Class Optimus Prime.

Read on to check out the review to see how Masterpiece Convoy measures up! Review: Transformers Masterpiece MP-10 Convoy by CookSux

Ladies and gentlemen, thanks to ToyArena.com, I cracked and got my hands on TakaraTomy’s PERFECT NEW MODEL MP-10 Cybertron Commander Convoy. I won’t bore you guys with all the controversy surrounding this release, so I’ll cut straight to the review.

Alt Mode: Since the figure comes packaged in robot mode, I transformed it right away to the typically neglected alt mode. The transformation sequence was surprisingly easy. I never took my original Masterpiece Convoy out of its box, so I never bothered to ever transform it. I can’t speak about that process in comparison. I can say though, as its own toy… there are two points to keep your eye open for. No matter how much I fiddle with it, I can’t get the legs and feet to peg together. I can get the front half in easily, but the bottom half just loosens up enough to lose the friction hold. This could be because I misaligned something, but I doubt it. It’s also good to note that you shouldn’t have to use more force than normal. The instructions weren’t too clear on what I should do with a panel attached to the front wheel, so I kept on pulling at it. I realized that any more strength would break it, and that the directions showed for the silver tabs to slide down instead. Crisis averted. The arms also snag a big on the wheels, so just fiddle around with it to get everything in place.*Optimus Prime maintains his G1 Truck mode and it honestly looks like the best iteration yet. The truck cab looks very convincing and has a lot of details. The wheels are still rubber, but gone is the working suspension system that the original had. It’s also missing orange paint apps on the flood lights. Spike is included*as an extra bonus, but I honestly wouldn’t have cared if it wasn’t. It’s a small figure made of rubber, and is less articulated than the cheapo figures that come with Human Alliance toys. Since there isn’t any paint details on the face, it reminds me of a Shrinky-Dink mannequin. There aren’t any working doors, so you have to put him in through the chest. For any of those that care… Human Alliance figures do NOT fit in Prime’s cab.

Trailer: These days I don’t know what it is about Prime’s Trailer that excites me. It could be pure nostalgia, but I’m aware that these things take up a lot of space and don’t really do much, but I typically require my Prime to have one. MP-10’s Trailer is essentially the same trailer we’ve seen before, but scaled to fit this version of the character. The look of it is nice, and the plastic has metallic sparkles.. but the roof of mine looks kinda sloppy with dark spots on certain areas. The plastic actually feels very similar to FansProject’s G3 Trailer. Instead of sitting on a peg, this trailer actually pegs itself into Optimus Prime’s legs. It’s a pretty secure fit. It does everything the other trailers do: the doors open, a hatch pulls out, and there’s even a little silver Roller that can come out. The Deck Drone can also sit outside of the trailer once you fold two roof tabs off. To this day I never understood why there was an open square on my G1 toy; now I know. Roller seats Spike and has a bit of transformation. A tab on the rear hatch can fold down so that Prime’s gun can peg inside, and the rear panel can flip over and serve as a trailer hitch. Truth be told, I think it’s a pretty useless feature… but hey… the more features the merrier we all are. There are two legs that unfold to keep the trailer up when it’s not attached to Prime. Like every other trailer, you have to pull out the support legs to hold the halves up. These have an automorph gimmick that lowers the feet when you pull them out. Once the Trailer is open, you’ll be amazed at the intricate amount of sculpted detail that’s inside. It’s just a shame that everything just looks so boring. It’s all just gray and blue… with no other color to break it up. There are two consoles that Spike can sit in, but that doesn’t really mean much to me. Thankfully you can fold the seats down. It would have been nice if there were monitors on the walls, anything that can break up the gray would have done wonders. The Deck Drone is fully articulated with ratchet-joints in the arm and a ball-joint for the Drone itself. The radar dish and maintenance arm are both articulated and Spike can also sit inside the cockpit. Part of me wishes that Takara added handles to this or even a missile launching gimmick. There really isn’t much for innovation here. The Maintenance Deck mode is just the Trailer sitting upright. As cool as this mode is, I never understood why it was so popular. I don’t remember it appearing in any episodes of the cartoon or in any issues of the comic. The weapons don’t really look too impressive in their storage spaces either. I originally had trouble with the Drone drooping, but then realized that I had the fold the arm a certain way to hold the weight up.

Robot Mode: This Masterpiece version of Convoy/Optimus Prime looks pretty damn nice… but at the same time this feels like*the millionth figure released. The proportions are much more anime-esque than the original Masterpiece Prime toy, and it is better scaled with other Masterpiece figures. I still have to get my hands on Hot Rod and Grimlock, and don’t want anything to do with the Seekers… so I can’t get any comparison shots for height. The proportions of MP-10 make Prime look like a Quarterback, and his head is the best I’ve seen. I’m not quite sure why his ear-fins are moveable. Sadly his mouth-plate doesn’t move to simulate him talking. The arms are very similar to the old Masterpiece figure, except I find that the forearms look a too long. The shoulders have a lot of range in movement because they’re attached on hinges that pull out, just like the original. This will loosen over time… or just be loose in general. Another set-back is that his fingers aren’t individually articulated. The hands aren’t on ball-joints, and there isn’t a pop-up communicator screen either. The legs though are great. The hips are on ratcheting ball-joints, and they have a lot of character. I just wish that his hips didn’t hinder movement. Prime can’t lift his legs high enough to sit down properly. The chest opens up to reveal the Matrix, and it doesn’t light up. It is, however, removable. It feels like it’s made of pewter, but I’m not sure. As for die-cast count? I honestly just think that they’re in the toes of his feet. That was the only part that was cool on my lips. There is a hatch on Prime’s back that reveals his signature gun. This gun folds up into a nice little package, but feels fragile in my hands. The gun looks a little small for me too. Also making a return is the glowing energy axe that only appeared in More than Meets the Eye. I really wish that Prime at least came with a jetpack. The last thing I’d like to mention is that this guy is too big for a Classics shelf.

Overall: It wasn’t too long ago that I considered the first Masterpiece Convoy*the best iteration of the figure. That says a lot for a toy mold that’s nearly a decade old. That brings me to MP-10 Convoy. I think that since we’ve had so many versions of this toy, it’s really easy to overlook and demand a lot. Optimus Prime is a hero and role model to so many people out there, it’s no wonder we’re all very judgemental when it comes to another “Masterpiece” toy… especially after the first one got so many things right. But let’s face it, MP-01 is not a perfect toy. Sure it may have more play features than MP-10… it looks dated and ugly in comparison. I’m also not saying that this is the greatest toy to ever have come out. MP-10 is far from perfect, but I think a lot of that has to do with a 25 year-long pre-disposed expectation for that one Godlike toy. So if I take off my biased glasses, I can admit that this is pretty good. It’s a nice package with an Optimus Prime that looks great in both modes. There will*be*sacrifices… but this is a toy that transforms. It’d be unreasonable to expect so much, but at the same time it’s very hard not to. If I look at it along the lines of a transforming Gokin, or even a Transformers… I think it’s fine. If I look at it along the lines of it being the perfect Prime? I can’t back that up too much.*I’ll get off my soapbox to say that only you can make the final decision on this very expensive toy. It’s a fun figure to play with, and that’s saying a lot compared to MP-01. I got mine thanks to ToyArena.com and as far as I know, they’re the only ones that have him early. Hit them up if you want to experience the “Perfect New Model” yourself.