TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Box Art:

Sir Auros' review of: Knockoff Lio Convoy

Name: Lio Convoy

This is one of the two Beast Wars knockoffs I've been scouring Big Lots stores for and I finally found one with some other toys in a section of my local store not normally reserved for toys. The colors deafened me and the plastic is hardly on the level of a Takara item, but I'm thinking of turning it into some sort of kitbash project. I've wanted a version of the Japanese Beast Wars II Lio Convoy mold, and until I can find one for an affordable price, this knockoff will have to do.

Alternate Mode:
The major change (apart from lower quality plastic and horrid colors) for this mold seems to be the lack of articulation in the lion's head. The original (which I do not have, so I'm going from pictures here) has articulation in the mouth so that it opens and closes, four missile launchers in the mane, and the face seems to be able to rotate around the head. The knockoff has places for the two missile launching guns, but no missile launchers built into the mane. The face is all solid with no articulation possible. If the company that made this had only chosen a tan color for the coat, this would be a more realistically colored figure than Takara's, though the glittered, translucent mane wouldn't help much. This mode looks adequate (if not awkward) as a lion mode, but like most Beast Wars figures, I'd rather display in a nifty robot mode than a wacky beast mode.

Robot Mode:
Here's where things start to fall apart...literally. The arms, though still using ball-socket joints, become loose and are prone to falling off, and the whole figure really is plagued by looseness. This version appears to be missing certain pegs and holes to keep everything fitting tighter in robot mode and has a grand total of four colors. Yellow (beast mode coat), gray (nearly all robot parts), red (the eyes), and gold (Maximal symbol). That's it, four colors, and that's why I'm getting some red and blue paint and doing something to this mold. I'm still considering recoloring the yellow beast coat. The main change I've noticed comparing mine with pictures is that the head is not articulated. It cannot turn at all, and it's also very hard to get out of the middle of the beast during transformation. The missile launching guns actually do fire, though I wonder how long the spring mechanisms will last. The robot mode gives me a good idea of how the real version is, and I'm still interested in finding one, but for now I'll be repainting this and seeing if I can make it look presentable for display.

Transformation: 7 - Good design, but the robot mode isn't very stable.
Durability: 8 - Surprisingly, this line of KOs seems to be made of much higher quality plastic than most, but there is a fair bit of looseness.
Fun: 6 - Not much fun to play with or for display because it's so hideous.
Price: 10 - At $5, how could you say no?
Summary: 7 - It's ok, it's worth the price of admission if you come across one, it's something to talk about, yadda yadda yadda.