Black Convoy is an evil clone of Optimus Prime who has all of Optimus Prime’s physical abilities, but carries none of his moral attributes, like wisdom and mercy, which makes him an absolute monster of a Decepticon warrior. Now, even though Transformers as a toy line has long relied on repaint potential to fill out its character ranks, Black Convoy seems more deserving than most of the term “pointless repaint,” especially to those whose knowledge of the fiction extends to just the G1 cartoon, which was before the character’s time. Without the foundational footing the G1 cartoon or comic can provide a character, mass acceptance is a tough commodity to come by, so Black Convoy has largely had a tough road to haul.
The idea of an “evil” Optimus can seem like a thin narrative idea on the surface, but like anything else, it all boils down to execution. Back in 2000, Black Convoy appeared as “Scourge” in Car Robots/Robots in Disguise, and it was then that Takara and Hasbro realized they could sell the same figure twice if they just slapped some black paint and a Decepticon logo on Optimus Prime and called him “evil.” If we’re honest, that’s all Black Convoy is, but Scourge ended up being one of the more popular characters from that series, and the original Scourge toy is very fondly remembered by fans.
Black Convoy appeared again in 2007 and 2008 as “Nemesis Prime” in both Alternators/Binaltech and Classics/Universe toy lines. This time there wasn’t a substantial narrative element supporting the character, so fans were able to use their imaginations to fill in the gaps in the story. In the case of both these figures, the appeal was primarily in the black deco, and that’s essentially what we’re seeing here with Takara’s Masterpiece Black Convoy.
There isn’t a whole lot of information available about this guy as far as background story goes. There is a short bio in his instruction booklet, but, like all Takara releases, it’s printed in Japanese (which I don’t read or speak). What I can surmise, however, is that this Black Convoy is a Herald of Unicron, which in itself is a little ambiguous. Traditionally, Heralds of Unicron were those, like Galvatron, G1 Scourge, and Cyclonus, who were reformatted and given new purpose by Unicron. Now, to make this potentially more confusing, the Robots in Disguise Scourge is not the same character as G1 Scourge, but what I’m wondering is if this Black Convoy is a link that joins those two characters named “Scourge.” It just seems like an odd coincidence that the original Scourge was a Herald of Unicron, and this Black Convoy, who has been known as “Scourge” in the past, is also a Herald of Unicron. This guy could be the bridge. Maybe. I don’t know.
Whatever the case may be, this figure is a beautiful addition to the Masterpiece collection and one that’s worth owning even if his official background story isn’t 100 percent clear.
What we have here is basically a black repaint of Takara’s MP-10 Masterpiece Optimus Prime. The figure is identical in every way except for the deco and the fact that he doesn’t come with a trailer. Somehow I think the mold works way better in black than it does in Optimus’ reds and blues.
Ironically, I wasn’t all that thrilled with MP-10 Optimus Prime when it came out. I waited for the Toys R Us-exclusive Hasbro release, and I found his colors and proportions to be off. In fact, when I got him, I just tossed him on my shelf and forgot about him — I never transformed him or even posed him at all. This may have been my loyalty to the original MP-01 Optimus Prime speaking, but I just couldn’t warm up to MP-10.
When this Black Convoy was released last year, however, I was immediately interested because I’m a sucker for glossy black figures, but I couldn’t muster the interest to spend the money to get the same mold in a different color.
I should point out that the Decpticon sigil is not part of the shoulder sculpt the way Optimus’ Autobot sigil is; it’s simply tampo’d on there, so if you wanted, you could easily slap an Autobot sigil over it to make him resemble the original Masterpiece Black Convoy, MP-01B.
Fortunately for me, I found an eBay auction for Masterpiece Black Convoy a few weeks ago that included a set of alternate heads sculpted by DaCa-Toys. See, one of my gripes with this figure, and one the the reasons I dragged my feet for so long, is that his eyes just look sort of… lifeless. They’re molded in red plastic, but the problem is there’s no light-piping feature, so the red color doesn’t show up at all. The eyes just look black, which I think detracts from the figure substantially. The DaCa-Toys heads have eyes that are painted blue, which isn’t as accurate as I’d like, but they look better than the eyes in the stock head. There’s an icy cold quality to the blue eyes that almost makes them seem like a better fit for the character than the usual red eyes.
The above pics showcase the stock head (upper left) and the two DaCa-Toys heads (bottom left and right). Each gives the figure a distinct look, but I definitely prefer either of the two DaCa heads to the stock head. I ended up sticking with the one on the right; it gives him a freaky, Frankenstein-like quality that I think works for this character.
For accessories, he’s got the energon ax, a blaster, and a “Dead” Matrix — basically all the same accessories MP-10 came with minus the trailer, Roller, and Spike.
The energon ax this time is a deep, blood red color that looks mean and matches the red windows of his chest. Scourge came with a red sword, so I’m assuming this is meant to emulate that. I like this ax for Black Convoy. Even though he’s used it in official fiction, the ax never seemed a good fit for Optimus to me. It’s too vicious a weapon. Optimus should have something like Captain America’s shield — an offensive weapon that’s not intrinsically offensive. The spiked ax is better suited to Optimus’ evil clone here because it suggests cruelty and brutality — tenets of the Decepticons.
The rifle is the same as Optimus’ and it features the same fold-up gimmick. It’s a nifty feature, but it also compromises the authenticity of weapon. While it’s nice that it can be stored while he’s in truck mode, I’d prefer a more solid blaster that looks legit. It’s not terrible, though, and like the ax, this particular weapon works more effectively here because Optimus’ blaster is iconic. Black Convoy’s weapon doesn’t carry the same expectations. Heck, I’d be fine with it if all he came with was the ax.
The Dead Matrix is something of a curiosity. As the fiction goes, it’s imbued with a portion of Unicron’s essence, and it would be bad news for Primus if it were to be opened in his presence, just as opening the standard Matrix would be doomsday for Unicron, as evidenced by the 1986 movie. So it’s basically an “evil” version of the standard Matrix that has the power to wipe out Primus — heavy duty stuff.
It’s a die-cast metal piece with some heft to it, and it fits snugly in Black Convoy’s chest. It doesn’t open like the Matrix that came with MP-01, so it’s basically just an as-is display piece. It is awfully pretty, however. The casing is die-cast while the centerpiece is a clear red plastic that looks really sharp when the light hits it right. It glows red and looks like something an evil Prime would carry in his chest. I dig it.
Like MP-10, this figure is easy to pose due to his ample and functional articulation. Unlike the Hasbro MP-10, however, his ankles aren’t a loose mess; he can actually hold a pose, and I’m not worried about his taking a shelf-dive the instant I turn my back.
Because he’s a character of dubious origin, I like to think he’s the product of one of Shockwave’s experiments. Like, he was intended to be a clone of Optimus Prime that could be used to infiltrate the Autobot ranks, but something went wrong during the creation process, which resulted in a ‘bot that’s more of an instinct-driven monster than a ‘bot who bears any semblance to Optimus Prime in terms of character. He’s cruel, he’s cold, and he holds only the most tenuous loyalty to the Decepticons; he was created in their labs, that’s about as far as his loyalty goes. He’s a beast of a character who serves his own interest above all others. And since he does share Optimus’ physical powers, there isn’t a Decepticon or Autobot he couldn’t handle, which makes him a genuine threat to everyone.
That’s the story I’ve created for my figure, which I’ve culled from various interpretations I found around the Internet. A Herald of Unicron sounds fine and all, but to me it comes off as a bit forced, unless they are actually trying to link this guy to G1 Scourge.
His alt mode is a rather intimidating-looking truck cab, which immediately calls to mind the Stunticon Motormaster. It looks nice on its own, but I have to say I do miss the trailer here. Optimus Prime’s alt mode works because it looks like this huge, powerful truck, and the trailer is a large part of that. Black Convoy doesn’t look to be much of a threat in his alt mode, which to me compromises the effectiveness of the character. The trailer’s absence did make for a cheaper figure, though, so it’s not all bad. He’ll likely stay in ‘bot mode on my shelves anyway, but I do like the look of his cab and do wish there was more to it.
As a Takara Masterpiece figure, he comes with the standard accessories like the trading card and instruction booklet. The cards are always nice and all, but all of mine just sit in the packaging where I never look at them again. I think Hasbro ultimately has the right idea by not including little extras like these.
Some comparison shots:
Black Convoy isn’t going to be a figure for everybody, but it’s one I’m glad I finally picked up, He adds to the Decepticon Masterpiece ranks, he looks cool when added to “Team Black” (Soundblaster, G2 Sideswipe, and Black Rodimus), and he’s just a beautiful figure in his own right, Optimus Prime repaint or not. If you’re new to the concept of Black Convoy/Scourge/Nemesis Prime, this would be an excellent figure to start with because he’s definitely one of the better representations of the character released yet.
Ok. I’m convinced. Sold. My Mp’s need a leader until we see Megatron done and I’m not into Ratbat.