Takara-Tomy Transformers Missing Link C-01 Optimus Prime (Convoy) Action Figure Takara-Tomy, 2024
Day #2,700: April 16, 2024
C-01 Optimus Prime (Convoy) With Die-Cast Construction (It's a Lost Art)
Transformers Missing Link
Item No.: No. G0831 Manufacturer:Takara-Tomy, Takara-Tomy Includes:Roller, trailer, axe, Ion blaster, stickers, Matrix of Leadership, removable chamber, repair drone, rockets on a sprue, tires, hose, nozzles Action Feature:Transforms from robot to truck Retail:$119.99 Availability: March 2024 Other: He's Actual Size
The day I received mine in the mail, it seems that C-01 Optimus Prime (Convoy) from Missing Link is sold out or pre-sold out. It's available on eBay and some wholesale distribution partners have some (or have some on the way), but that's it unless Takara-Tomy reissues it. There are two versions - C-01 is modeled after the original toy with similar gear including the trailer. C-02 is an Anime version, with a cartoony head and (less) deco, no trailer, and fewer accessories.
As fans get older, nostalgia buttons are hard to push. When G.I. Joe turned 40, the 12-inch line had its last mass-market hurrah. The 3 3/4-inch line was effectively dead for its 40th. Star Wars was arguably going strong but sputtered out a weak mini-line of reissues across most of its brands. Masters of the Universe had a pretty decent spread, all things considered, and Transformers is in the enviable position of being a live and relevant line with new kids coming to it every year - something The Outer Space Men, Major Matt Mason, Micronauts, and many other lines did not enjoy as they went over the hill. To celebrate its birthday as a brand, Takara-Tomy did what fans have been accusing of them of doing for years: to make the original, with joints.
If you had the original from 1984, or its later reruns from Europe, its G2 variant, the 20th anniversary reissues, or any of a number of special editions redecorated to match iPods, Pepsi, EXILE, Bape, or others - there's a lot of Optimus toys and this is the first time they've substantially updated that toy while keeping the original look and die-cast metal chest and feet. This is the kind of toy you buy the fan in their 40s or 50s, who has everything or who gave it all away in high school, that could be either the final piece in a collection or a place to start all over again. And I'm not sure where I sit yet - I've got hundreds of robots that I have enjoyed, but I'm also a lot older and am wondering if some of them would be better put to work making others happy. (But not this one, I'm keeping this one.)
This kind of toy - more or less the original, but different or a tiny bit better - has really been what has delighted me in the last few years, with Masters of the Universe Origins, Star Wars: The Retro Collection, and of course ReAction Figures. Imagining what could have been, or retaining old play features, while keeping a look that's similar to the originals has been incredible. McFarlane Toys' Super Powers are also really neat. But this? This may be as good as this whole thing gets.
The toy comes packaged in a box that looks a bit like the older Japanese reissues, with new box art from Takara's original box artist Shin Ueda. It's packaged in foam, because there's a chance you're going to put it back in the box to display it and not chuck it in the dumpster. There aren't any ties or annoyances, you can just slide the truck right out (and in) like it's no big deal. The cab part, in truck mode, looks a lot like the original truck. You get a rubsign, some pre-painted details like the now fully-sculpted tail lights on the toes, pre-printed Autobot symbols on the shoulders, but nearly everything else looks like the old toy. You get not-so-rubbery tires, die-cast metal feet and window cab section, and lots of chrome highlights that absolutely pick up your fingerprints. Oh, and long smokestacks. It rolls around and looks cool - if you had it on a shelf, I assume most fans wouldn't immediately clock it as anything but an original G1 toy.
The trailer is incredibly close to the original, with rolling wheels and fold-out supports for the base mode. The repair drone is there, complete with firing rockets and an opening seat for the Diaclone figure that isn't included. The dish pops up, the claw can be posed, it's just great. What it can't do is launch Roller - a tab still exists, but serves no function, and there are no springs. I'm a little surprised they kept the spring-loaded rockets, but not the launcher The stickers look a lot like the original toy, and sadly they aren't all pre-applied. I was dragging my feet to do it because my hands can be twitchy, so I'm glad they at least applied some. It's great that it's all here, but I assume most fans will demand it and then put it in a box, with only the robot mode on display.
Roller is a lot like the original - except now you can flip over the 5mm accessory port and reveal a little blinky light on top. (It doesn't actually blink.) It's a nice option - and the two prongs on the back for the launcher are still there, even if the launcher no longer exists. It's a curious choice, but I assume they wanted to emphasize how much it looks and feels like the old toy. You even pop out and snap on the tires, which is a pretty easy thing to do here.
Transformation is exactly like the original, and it's so simple that it's painful. I've been hoping for more toys like this - not things I have to spend 20 minutes jamming together and then cutting myself on a corner or pinching myself somehow. It's perfect - fold down the cab chest, flip out the arms, flip down the legs, flip out the feet, and you're almost done. The key difference is that Takara-Tomy removed one of the flaws of the original - Missing Link has flip-out wrists, instead of removable fists that you plug in to the headlights. Impressive.
I don't know if this will be any more or less durable than the original that generations of kids played with, but it feels about as good - better, actually, now that stickers are completely optional (and hideous.) If you want to put G1-style stickers over the expertly painted and amazingly sculpted detail on the arms and legs, you can do that, you monster. The factory re-created those stickers so well that, at first, it's not obvious that they aren't the old stickers. Metallic paint and an absurd attention to detail means that you would probably be fooled seeing this guy standing on a shelf, assuming he were posed like the original. It feels legit. You won't believe the things he can do now!
The engineers crammed in loads of articulation. Swivel wrists and bending elbows were things we enjoyed in 1984, but now he has an ab crunch, multiple shoulder joints, hips that can swing forward and out, rocking toes, and a waist. You can pose it to look exactly like the original toy, or like the box art - you can even turn his neck. It's all simple stuff, but putting in non-intrusive joints to a toy you've known for 40 years is kind of mind-blowing.
The accessories do not disappoint, but they won't blow you away either. You get a gas pump and nozzle, rockets, Roller, an Lion Blaster, an Energon Axe, a removable silver chrome Matrix chamber and a Matrix of Leadership. And, of course, the trailer. It's worth noting the blaster has some improvements, like the weird non-grippable handle of the original has been replaced with a retooled 5mm grip so he can hold it without it going at a weird angle. That's a quality of life improvement. Also they resisted the urge to retool the barrel with a 3mm peg, so you can't use your various energy blasts here.
With his opening hands, he doesn't really have any problems using his gear. They did a nice job here, and short of making up new stuff to throw in the box, we got pretty much everything you could ask for short of a variant colored Roller. For those of you not of the 1980s, the original Optimus toy never came with a Matrix, chamber, or axe - those were later additions from reissues from the 2000s to make you feel bad that you just bought an original on eBay.
As of my writing this we don't know if he's a one-off or if more are coming - or what direction they may take. Will we get 12 variations of Starscream? Bumblebee, Soundwave... Megatron? It's hard to guess, other than to say that this is the one you'll want to buy. Other than the removal of the trailers launching mechanism, this is pretty much everything you could possibly hope to get out of an "Ultimate" remake of the original toy. If you want a 1:1 recreation of the original, some of those exist. I have no doubt new and improved versions of this toy will be attempted, as will Nemesis Prime or various special editions, but this is probably the one that's going to make your friends go "oooh" and "aahhhh." It does what you always imagined the orignal toy could do - and it's wonderful. I'm really curious if people are going to play with it, or if it's just going to sit on the shelf looking indistinguishable from the originals once it enters fan collections.
I am curious to see if anyone else will draw inspiration from this - Mattel tried to do "Mego with a better body" but that didn't take off. Takara-Tomy has kept its old Kenner Star Wars figures similar to - but not as good as - the originals with intentionally marred packaging and softer details on their sculpted figures. This one opts for extreme adherence to the original, with extra goodies under the hood, and I honestly think this is the way to go and other toy companies should copy this philosophy. Could you imagine getting Kenner Star Wars X-Wings with fully sculpted and painted sticker-like detailing? (Mattel did more or less this - with bigger toys and new sculpts - in Masters of the Universe Classics.) This sort of thing may well be the last frontier in appealing to the older fans as they age out of collecting, and I don't think things like a higher price point are going to keep them away from indulging provided the market doesn't get flooded. Fans will absolutely throw down a hundred bucks ever few months for this kind of kick, but as we've seen some companies do $200 or $300 drops of some higher-end figures... it's not that hard to drive them away.
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