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Big Convoy-Transformer, Beast Wars Neo
Meat and Potatoes; 5.0 Perks; 5.0
Homer Factor; 5.0
Description; Oh no, not another Beast War!!!!!!!!!!!  Hey, it's COOL.

Transforms from mammoth to Convoy.  Sounds lame, but it's very cool.  Mammoth form is... well, it's a mammoth.  Very dark brown, well-sculpted fur, and two large tusks.

Bot mode takes the cake.  The figure is in classic red and white with some blue trim.  The bot mode is surrounded by parts of the beast mode, almost creating armor.  Bot mode is armed with a number of rockets, guns, even tonfas in the arms.  And last but not least, the head/trunk/tail section forms a giant cannon.

Big Convoy also has a bizarre attack mode where the cannon section rotates 180 degrees, allow you to fire the cannon. 
Ah, let the Japanese import barrage continue... and well it should, since this stuff ROCKS.  Ok, ok, not EVERYTHING from Japan is gold, see Pokemon.  Still, there is sooooooo much neat stuff that we have to hunt, scrape, claw, and fight for state-side.  Perfect example, Big Convoy, the umpteenth re-take on Optimus/Convoy from the Japanese series 'Beast Wars; Neo.'  Why spend all the extra money?  Oh, you poor, unknowing souls..

The meat and potatoes of this piece are standard Beast Wars; awesome... if you can stand the Big Bot being a mammoth.  Yes, he transforms from mammoth to bot.... but I'm getting ahead of myself.  Bad news, the mammoth mode has almost no articulation.  The hind and fore-legs of the mammoth are actually 'armor' plates that are attached to the base bot mode, so the legs don't move for poses.  However, the sculpt of mammoth is very good; nice recreation of the fur and the over all look of one of the largest land mammals this planet ever saw.  Oh, one cute touch; the truck does flex a little.  The articulation in bot mode is amazing.  Shoulders, wrists, waist, knees, all move very well, giving you a ton o' posing options when you display the figure.  The  sculpting in bot mode is also stellar; lots of details on the piece, beyond panel lines and vents.  There are also a pair of auto-cannons on the hips, a pair of missile launchers on the shoulders, two MORE missile launchers in the legs that actually fire, and tonfas that are hidden in Big Convoy's fore-arms.  None of this 'I have just a giant laser rifle' stuff, this bot is ARMED. 

The perks... depends on what you're looking for.  If you like Beast Wars, this piece is amazing.  The transformation from mammoth to bot is pretty complicated but dramatic.  The most bizarre perk, though, is the  'attack mode.'  The trunk/head/tail portion of the figure turns into Big Convoy's Big Gun.  Please, stop snickering.  the cannon is actually pretty cool looking when it's held in bot mode.  One thing, the barrel of the cannon is in the tail.  In 'attack mode,' the trunk/head/tail section can be rotated 180 degrees, so that the cannon can be fired while in mammoth form.  So... basically you have Big Convoy shooting missiles out of it's butt.  No, I'm not kidding.  Yes, it's a very unsettling sight. 

Oh, almost forgot one KEY perk; Big Convoy has the creation matrix in his chest!  The chest opens up to reveal a chamber containing the matrix!  It's a gold globe with two handles on the sides, and the handles allow Convoy to hold the matrix. Hehehehehehehehehehehe. 

Homer Factor? 
I'm a HUGE Convoy fan, as you have noticed.  However, I was very hesitant to unload $70 on ANOTHER animal version of the Big Bot.  However, I kept seeing scans of this thing... all the weapons... and thinking... ya know, this isn't bad.

I was not mistaken.  In the end, Takara created a butt-kicking piece.  Ok, so the mammoth form is kinda lame.  Even so, the awesome job done on the bot mode makes up for it.  IN the end, if you can deal with ANOTHER Beast War piece, this is the Convoy for you.