Tuesday 24 February 2009

Battle Convoy!



Vintage blurb reel! Stop-motion Japanese ad detailing Optimus Prime's previous life as Battle Convoy, from Takara's Diaclone line. Unusually, for G1 fans anyway, this shill short focuses on the trailer playset; a toy detail utterly neglected in most subsequent Transformers media. In the animated TV series, the haul kibble would usually float off into the ether when the Prime cab sprung into action. As with most vid-blurbs of this period, the item is presented as an in-text character going about their robot business, rather than a child prop. Gotta love the blistering heat haze fogging the opening desert shots, and the toy's radioactive awesomeness overloading the scale powerlines! Interesting to note that Battle Convoy is seen adventuring about an arid landscape, given Hasbro's later election to stage their rebranded Transformers line around an extinct volcano in Oregon.

No comments: