I gotta admit, I love Galaxy Force, not so much on Cybertron, but I do love Galaxy Force. As far as I am concerned, Galaxy Force was originally made with a Japanese storyline, but the American version kinda ruined it. Hell, Nitro Convoy is a guy!!! And he ended up as a girl in the American dub!!! Well, you got my point.
Anyways, babbling aside, I really like all these Cybertron/ Galaxy Force figures. Most of them have excellent details, prevalent as such on the Primus figure. Among others that enticed me was the Galaxy Convoy figure. Now Galaxy Convoy weren’t that easy to come by, so no matter how hard I looked for it, I just couldn’t get my hands on them, and eventually, I gave up. Until early 2010 when I began to see a lot of those Korean remakes of Transformers figures. Earlier in 2010, I bought a Sonokong remake of the Big Convoy figure, which in my opinion is one heck of a figure. Then came another Korean company called MOCOM, which was given the rights to remake some of the classic Galaxy Force figures. One of them, as you may have guessed, is Galaxy Convoy.
I couldn’t believe it! I’ve waited for years, and then finally I got it!!! Galaxy Convoy was touted to be one of the best designs for an Optimus Prime’s reincarnation, along with Car Robots/ RiD Fire Convoy.
So was it worth a wait? Let’s find out…
Fire Truck Mode:
Galaxy Convoy comes packed in fire truck mode, although the only thing that ever resembled a fire truck are the ladder ramp (that looks like a humongous cannon) and spray nozzle (which too look like a humongous gun). Really, he has only a minor semblance to a fire truck. Anyways, in this mode, Galaxy Convoy rolls pretty well on all of his 8-wheels, but what I do not like is the middle portion of the fire truck. It’s full of kibble and I just couldn’t help it but wonder if they could’ve done a better finishing there. The wing portion that is a necessity for Galaxy Convoy’s other alternate mode do not have a peg to lock on, so it’s kind of irritating to see that piece just dangle there unsupported.
Apart from that, I guess his just okay, albeit the absolutely unrealistic futuristic fire truck mode.
Flying Fire Truck Mode:
Honestly, I really don’t know where HasTak is going with this. I mean, when they mean futuristic, they really do mean futuristic. They took the term futuristic too seriously. For crying out loud, he’s a FLYING FIRE TRUCK, and FIRE TRUCKS DON’T FLY!!!
Anyways, now that we got that out of the way, this mode is really strange for me. I mean, I couldn’t say that this mode was designed halfheartedly since this mode was heavily portrayed in the animation series, but that’s what I really felt looking at this mode.
Battle Deck Mode:
True to tradition, Optimus Prime normally comes with a trailer that can transform into a battle deck. Galaxy Convoy isn’t much of a difference either. In order to transform Galaxy Convoy into his robot mode, you need to detach the back portion of the figure which has the wings attached on it.
A couple of twists and turns later, you get a superbly unconvincing battle deck mode which was indeed used several times in the animated series.
Robot Mode:
Now this is where the figure starts to get exciting. Galaxy Convoy’s basic robot mode stands at approximately 8-inches tall, which isn’t that big really – only about the size of a regular Ultra-class figure.
While he does look good in this mode, Galaxy Convoy’s articulations aren’t quite impressive. The head is not on a ball joint, so it doesn’t look up or down. The bulky shoulder pads somewhat prevents the arms from going up and down, although the shoulder do let the arm turns 360°.Galaxy Convoy does not have any waist articulation but his ratcheting hip joints are quite good. The legs can also turn just below the hips and finally, his ratcheting knee joints provides him the means to further stabilize the figure, especially in his subsequent mode.
As from the photo, Galaxy Convoy inherits a lot of Optimus Prime’s traditional elements such as being prominently colored in red, grey and blue. He also has that classic chest-looks-like-window shield look that is definitely welcoming. The head is slightly unconventional, especially for the fact that Galaxy Convoy actually has a mouth instead of just a faceplate.
Super Robot Mode:
Now admit it people, this is the reason why we spend RM200 over for – to see him transform into his SUPER MODE!!! Or at least I am.
Anyways, Galaxy Convoy stands at about 9 ½-inch tall, and because of the huge wingspan (at about 15-inches wide), he actually seems massive. In this mode, Galaxy Convoy finally has a faceplate, and his articulations generally remain the same. Aside from the added bulk, he really got nothing else to show except for his gimmicks.
Gimmicks:
Now, the number one gimmick that this guy has is the Force Chip. The two mounted cannons on both sides need the Force Chip in order to be activated and they actually look nice.
However, the main reason to buy this figure was due to Galaxy Convoy’s ability to combine with others, namely with either Ligerjack (Leo Breaker) or Sonic Bomber (Wing Saber). You can refer to my review of Ligerjack and Wingblade (a recolored version of Sonic Bomber).
Just as Big Convoy and the Masterpiece Optimus Prime, Galaxy Convoy too has his very own removable Autobot Matrix of Leadership. His doesn’t look as good as the previous two’s, but it’s still better than nothing.
Overall:
For past reviews that I’ve read, many have actually said that Galaxy Convoy has the best design among all reincarnations of Optimus Prime, and was either on par or better than the Car Robots/ RiD Fire Convoy. While at that time, that may be true, but after my encounter with Masterpiece Optimus Prime, I no longer share that opinion. Compared to Masterpiece Optimus Prime, this guy pales in comparison in all possible ways.
But let’s be fair, Masterpiece figures are a standard of their own. So without comparing with the Masterpiece or the 2007 Movie, or even the ROTF version, I guess Galaxy Convoy is excellent. Its articulations aren’t that exciting, but its ability to combine with Liger Jack and Sonic Bomber really won him a lot of playability value.
He looks elegant and very regal in appearance, thanks to the super mode’s head sculpt, his widespread wings, sheer massiveness and his heavy artilleries. If you already have either Sonic Bomber or Liger Jack, you definitely need to buy him. And if you’re like me, who had already Galaxy Convoy in your possession, you really need to get those two if you can find them
All in all, I think it’s quite a good figure and that you really need to check him out for yourself.
Final verdict: 8/10.
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