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Me-ow, Simba the White Lion grew up. Just in from TakaraTomy are some new images of the new Transformers Masterpiece MP48 Lio Convoy! These provide stellar views of his various weapons including his arm claws, cannons, and mane shield. To go along with the new images is an official promotional video rundown from TFND on Facebook of this amazing new piece of toy engineering with comparisons showing that he's actually in the middle when lined up against his Robotmasters and Beast Wars II versions. Enjoy the images and take a view of the video then head back here to let us know your thoughts in the forums. And make sure to stay tuned to Seibertron for the ultimate in Transformers news!

I think you're getting your versions mixed up, Simba is disney, Kimba is Japan

I really wish I could afford this, I love the engineering that's gone on to turn the lion head mechanical for the robot mode. Though what's also amusing me is that I have a how to draw transforming robots book, written by PLEX that very pointedly calls out the Lio Convoy design and disses it then pretty much follows it up with a "this is how it should be done!" approach! Ah the rivalry between designers (PLEX work with Bandai for Sentai robot designs and Machine Robo)

Even if I was interested in another Prime, the more I see of him, makes him an easy pass. He doesn't really scream "Masterpiece" to me. Maybe that is to be expected when a Beast Wars anime character makes it into this line, an overtly simplistic aesthetic, but he ticks zero boxes for me.

I am collecting the entire Beast Wars MP line, to show my little bit of support, for a series I want to keep going. Even collecting figures for characters I don't like, such as Airazor, Blackarachnia, Scorponok and Cheetor. That said, if this is a sign of things to come, that support won't be extending to the Takara sub-series.

This figure, on the other hand. might make a decent upgrade to Prowl with an extensive redeco. Although, such a figure would be hinting at something More, that Takara definitely won't do...

Ah lio junior, or Ares as I headcannoned him

ZeroWolf wrote:Ah lio junior, or Ares as I headcannoned him

Prowl, brain of Magnaboss. I always headcannoned the Magnaboss team as the direct counterparts to the Tripredacus Council IE Prowl, Ironhide and Silverbolt were the Maximal Elders, mentioned but unseen.

PrOwl, does complicate that a little. But then again, that can also be incorporated into the same canon by stating Prowl entered the Beast Wars on his own after the Quantum Surge and was reformatted into an Owl.
Then again people don't really make the same issue out of Silverbolt and the Fuzor namesake, so I never saw Bots with the same names as that big an issue.

I don't like the idea of "Lio Junior" though. Excessively humanising Transformers EG with "Kid Bots", is something I've always found unnecessary and a bit grim. Like sexualising the Fem Bots.

ZeroWolf wrote:I think you're getting your versions mixed up, Simba is disney, Kimba is Japan

I really wish I could afford this, I love the engineering that's gone on to turn the lion head mechanical for the robot mode. Though what's also amusing me is that I have a how to draw transforming robots book, written by PLEX that very pointedly calls out the Lio Convoy design and disses it then pretty much follows it up with a "this is how it should be done!" approach! Ah the rivalry between designers (PLEX work with Bandai for Sentai robot designs and Machine Robo)

Of course I got the two flipped. I’m always flipping things. Birds, pancakes, Transformer terms. I’m a flipping flipper. It’s like a running gag at this point.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:Ah lio junior, or Ares as I headcannoned him

Prowl, brain of Magnaboss. I always headcannoned the Magnaboss team as the direct counterparts to the Tripredacus Council IE Prowl, Ironhide and Silverbolt were the Maximal Elders, mentioned but unseen.

PrOwl, does complicate that a little. But then again, that can also be incorporated into the same canon by stating Prowl entered the Beast Wars on his own after the Quantum Surge and was reformatted into an Owl.
Then again people don't really make the same issue out of Silverbolt and the Fuzor namesake, so I never saw Bots with the same names as that big an issue.

I don't like the idea of "Lio Junior" though. Excessively humanising Transformers EG with "Kid Bots", is something I've always found unnecessary and a bit grim. Like sexualising the Fem Bots.

Things like that never bothered me, regrading Lio junior, found it easy to look past. Though with the Maximal elders, I think that's the approach FunPub took with their botcon 2016 fiction, hence why they provided stickers for cw Prowl, Ironhide and silverbolt, to act as a reference to magnaboss. I never bothered keeping the rest of the team the same either. Heck I never even kept the genders the same

Always kept focus on humanising to a bare minimum. As well as giving gender to the Giant Alien Robots. They are not human, after all. It is fine to round off their personalities with human traits, as Beast Wars did. Beyond that is veering into fetish territory...

Still I think Prowl would work as a redeco'd Lio Convoy. Stripping off the shoulder kibble and the hideous feet, gives a lot of potential alternates to the mold.

Different perspectives at the end of the day, stuff like that was always fine by me

As for redcos, there's a black repaint, a burning repaint they could do alongside a similar redeco of Primal to represent them from the movie.

I'm getting my terminology mixed up again.

I meant 'retool' not redeco. The base Lio Convoy could be Retooled into Prowl and a couple of others.

Update

First prices in for UK buyers:

MP-48 Lio Convoy: £144.99. At time of writing, 10% deposit is available

DUE MARCH / APRIL 2020 ( Estimated and subject to any delays )

Kapow
In Demand

*MP-43, according to Kapow

Thanks to TFW2005 board member Operative294 we've learned that Transformers MP48 Lio Convoy is available as an EB Games and Zing Exclusive! This is great news for our Australian collectors as they will be able to attain Lio locally. Australian Transformer collectors now you can now access the pre-orders for Masterpiece Lio Convoy at either Zing Pop Culture here or EB Games Australia here.

Our US collectors can order Lio at Hasbro Pulse here.

Don't be a bogan hop on line and order this lion because this is one lion that won't be lying around for long, and I'm not lyin'.

Enjoy the images below and share your thoughts in the forum. As always stay tuned to Seibertron for the ultimate in Transformers news!

It took a little longer than usual, but MP-48 Lio Convoy from Beast Wars II has finally found his way onto Amazon Japan. As per usual Amazon Japan is offering the best price possible at an export price of only 14,962 JPY he comes in at about $142 USD. The full Japanese price with tax is 22,000 JPY making for a savings of 7,038 JPY for those outside of Japan. If you've never ordered from Amazon it works exactly the same as any other regional version of Amazon and is even available in English. The real kicker is that Japan doesn't charge sales tax on exports so even though a price of 16,159 JPY is shown at the link above, the 8% Tokyo sales tax will be removed at checkout leading to a much bigger savings! Factor in ultra fast shipping of 1,200 JPY that usually averages three days from Japan to your doorstep and it's a hard price to beat. It is recommended that you use a credit card as Amazon doesn't accept PayPal and an overseas bank debit card charge may be declined by the issuer.

if you'd rather deal with a domestic seller or an exporter that offers PayPal you do have options. Hasbro Pulse, TFSource, Big Bad Toy Store, Ages 3 and Up, Entertainment Earth, and The Chosen Prime are all asking $184.99 USD. Robot Kingdom is $142.99 USD. Hobby Link Japan and AmiAmi are asking 16,000 JPY while Hobby Search is asking 17,000 JPY. And thanks to Seibertronian AllNewSuperRobot in our Energon Pub Forums we have a UK price of £144.99 at Kapow Toys and In Demand Toys.

He is now up to 16,159. I pre-ordered him at 14,871. Usually online the day pre-orders will go up worldwide seems to be told ahead of time. I did it with Blackarachnia and Hound. I kind of play it like the very old fun to remember Botcon Non-Attendee Fax Days. I occasionally re-fresh my phone during the day and every time it pops up on the day it should. I never knew the option was available to use Amazon Japan but I did it with Beast Wars MP Megatron and paid $229 total shipped. If I bought him from a US distributor with tax and shipping would be about $350. It also showed up in 3 days from the date of shipping. It is well worth it and while I was a little hesitant in case there were issues with the toy I have read enough to see that Amazon Japan is just as helpful as Amazon USA.

Has anyone from the UK ordered with Amazon.Jp? I'm very interested in Lio but the UK vendors are at £144 If I've translated the price correctly, including shipping it's in the £130 ball park

figureguy wrote:He is now up to 16,159.

Which I pointed out in the article. The lower price comes in at checkout when they remove tax.

Emerje

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

william-james88 wrote:available at HLJ for 16000 yen
https://hlj.com/mp-48-transformers-mast ... s-tkt61497

What would you reckon are the chances of it selling out by Thursday?

10% chance

As predicted, still very much available. Did you get it, Sabr?

william-james88 wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

william-james88 wrote:available at HLJ for 16000 yen
https://hlj.com/mp-48-transformers-mast ... s-tkt61497

What would you reckon are the chances of it selling out by Thursday?

10% chance

As predicted, still very much available. Did you get it, Sabr?

Not yet. Other priorities came up.

Thanks to our fellow Seibertronian special operative Sabrblade we've learned earlier this month there was a Transformers 35th anniversary party hosted by DJ's spinning G1 and Beast Wars II themes while fans were welcome to tour an entire pride's worth of Lio Convoys on display. Website Chohenken was on the scene and snatched tons of pics of the event we're mirroring here to enjoy.

Practically every rare Lio Convoy special edition from the original Beast Wars II line and beyond was on display as shown in the images below. Also on hand was a prototype for the new MP Lio Convoy toy and the creator of Lio Convoy himself Hisashi Yuuki and MP Lio Convoy designer Kenta Wakizawa. Along with the images enjoy a few excerpts from the translated interview done by Chohenken's Mr. Tai. Enjoy the images and share your thoughts in the forum. Click on any of the images below to go to the original Japanese article and as always stay tuned to Seibertron for the ultimate in Transformers news!



Toys 'R' Us Special Edition Black Lio Convoy (also released as a lucky draw version)

"Flash" Lio Convoy released to coincide with the Beast Wars Special film

From creator Yuuki regarding the extremely rare Lucky Draw multi-colored Telemaga and Ksei Lio Convoy seen below: "Have you ever seen a physical thing? I think there are only a few people in the world who don't go up, and i think only the child who really hit them. There was a standard event which was without fail in old times though it decreased now to commercialize the color that children liked in the sweepstakes of the children's magazine, and it was always troubled by the head when the color was passed suddenly and it was asked to make it to the specification. I've also decided on hundreds of colors and transformers, but this color doesn't come out easily. It was a great project for the children's imagination because it was a great project."

"Normal" C-16 Lio Convoy

Galvatron Colors Lio Convoy was a Lucky Draw exclusive limited to only 50 units. This particular version of Lio Convoy represents the Bom Bom manga story wherein Lio Convoy's spark was tainted by Angolmois Energy. From Yuuki: "If I say that, it might be so. When you open the hatch of the chest matrix properly, it is the secret emblem of Deathtron that is attached. I couldn't change the mold, but I'm trying to change that."


The sketch below is the one of the designers first renditions of Lio Convoy.

"Yuki says, "I don't want a lion on my chest for the time being. I'm tired of seeing that, yadayada(laughs) (i got the illustration from my senior) that the lion's head was running away on his back. I don't want to do this anymore. I started working on this based on why i can't see the boy's favorite lion, and that's the only thing that makes a lion the coolest. Then, it is oti that it was able to do almost the same thing.""


Here's a quick conversation with the designer of the MP Lio Convoy and Lio's original designer:

"Mr. Tai: How did you start masterpiece?

Mr. Wakizawa "First of all, I wanted to create a drawing image of the bank scene that transforms the naoconvoy of anime, and what kind of modeling do you make when you come out of anime to the present world? I wonder if the chest is massive and muscular? Or, i feel like i've put that kind of thing into modeling."

Yuki-san: "It really looks like anime. My 20-year-old is ashamed. In fact, I'm sure Hiroyuki Ohkawa re-wrote the design painting that Yuki-san wrote at the time. It's going to get better and it's going to be passed down to masterpieces."

Mr. Tai: The concept was developed as a toy for children at the time, and i think there is a difference between high target s and adults this time, but what i was aware of in that area? 」

Mr. Wakizawa: "The best thing is to expand the range of motion and recreate the scene in the play, and it has to be a mast. I wanted to make a difference from the original, so i was particular about the face of the lion in robot mode and the face of the lion in beast mode, the face of the mecha lion and the living lion, the face is changed."

Mr. Tai "Eh!? What's going on with this?

Mr. Wakizawa:It's a pleasure to be. The mane is different from the mecha lion and the living lion, so I think that's also the point."
Yuki-san: "I don't think this will happen in 20 years. At that time, it is serious when i draw raw hair, so why can I change it to a linear design? I was told by an anime shop that it was ok.

Mr. Tai: "I don't think it's going to be remade after decades. It's a desire to see both."

Mr. Wakizawa "I am particular about the state of beast mode, and i think it is also a point to try to reproduce the skeleton of the four-legged animal"

MP variant repaints galore ahead. I honestly dont have room for 1 of them having the legends figure so it will be a MP i can skip whilst backtracking the ever expanding list of other MPS I'm missing.

Is it bad that my flash lio convoy is in a totebox somewhere?

Cheetron wrote:Is it bad that my flash lio convoy is in a totebox somewhere?

No, not really. Mine is in a tote somewhere as well. However I received it incomplete in a small lot with a complete Galvatron. I now have it listed on Ebay in a junk lot of figures to try and make the lot more appealing. Trying to find pieces for it is neigh impossible otherwise I'd complete and keep it.

Alpha Weltall wrote:

Cheetron wrote:Is it bad that my flash lio convoy is in a totebox somewhere?

No, not really. Mine is in a tote somewhere as well. However I received it incomplete in a small lot with a complete Galvatron. I now have it listed on Ebay in a junk lot of figures to try and make the lot more appealing. Trying to find pieces for it is neigh impossible otherwise I'd complete and keep it.

There's also photodegredation to consider. Seeing the two Moons in the second pic made me realize that I haven't been sure where my regular Moon is for years, and if I'd ever splurged on and actually displayed the rare white one, he'd probably have just turned into the yellow one by now...like my Japanese Tigatron.

So it's just as well that the only "variant" of the original LioConvoy I own is that Big Lots (Space Warriors?) KO that attempted the Flash deco, but used so much gray that it looks like he died then came back as a zombie by going super saian. Though I was surprised to see one deco I'd never even heard of: is that red-maned one the rarest of all? Sounds like it has an interesting story, even without the interesting translation.

But will I eventually buy the MP and any variants thereof? Probably!

Bumblevivisector wrote:

Alpha Weltall wrote:

Cheetron wrote:Is it bad that my flash lio convoy is in a totebox somewhere?

No, not really. Mine is in a tote somewhere as well. However I received it incomplete in a small lot with a complete Galvatron. I now have it listed on Ebay in a junk lot of figures to try and make the lot more appealing. Trying to find pieces for it is neigh impossible otherwise I'd complete and keep it.

There's also photodegredation to consider. Seeing the two Moons in the second pic made me realize that I haven't been sure where my regular Moon is for years, and if I'd ever splurged on and actually displayed the rare white one, he'd probably have just turned into the yellow one by now...like my Japanese Tigatron.

So it's just as well that the only "variant" of the original LioConvoy I own is that Big Lots (Space Warriors?) KO that attempted the Flash deco, but used so much gray that it looks like he died then came back as a zombie by going super saian. Though I was surprised to see one deco I'd never even heard of: is that red-maned one the rarest of all? Sounds like it has an interesting story, even without the interesting translation.

But will I eventually buy the MP and any variants thereof? Probably!

I'm curious about that red and black one too. Is there a better translation out there?

chuckdawg1999 wrote:

Bumblevivisector wrote:

Alpha Weltall wrote:

Cheetron wrote:Is it bad that my flash lio convoy is in a totebox somewhere?

No, not really. Mine is in a tote somewhere as well. However I received it incomplete in a small lot with a complete Galvatron. I now have it listed on Ebay in a junk lot of figures to try and make the lot more appealing. Trying to find pieces for it is neigh impossible otherwise I'd complete and keep it.

There's also photodegredation to consider. Seeing the two Moons in the second pic made me realize that I haven't been sure where my regular Moon is for years, and if I'd ever splurged on and actually displayed the rare white one, he'd probably have just turned into the yellow one by now...like my Japanese Tigatron.

So it's just as well that the only "variant" of the original LioConvoy I own is that Big Lots (Space Warriors?) KO that attempted the Flash deco, but used so much gray that it looks like he died then came back as a zombie by going super saian. Though I was surprised to see one deco I'd never even heard of: is that red-maned one the rarest of all? Sounds like it has an interesting story, even without the interesting translation.

But will I eventually buy the MP and any variants thereof? Probably!

I'm curious about that red and black one too. Is there a better translation out there?

It is a Lucky Draw figure that is believed to have been part of a coloring contest held through TV Magazine, in which children participating would submit their own coloration ideas for a recolor of the figure and the winner would receive a physical copy of the figure colored in the winner's submitted deco.