A photo of Takara’s Transformers Hybrid Style THS-02 Convoy.

I had a big smile on my face the moment I held this version of my favourite Transformer in my hands.

Wrap your head around this: a 10.5cm interpretation of Prime that’s transformable, impressively articulated and looks good. It’s a stunning engineering feat.

On top of that, this set includes Roller, Master of Subspace.

I believe that merits a “Phwoar,” does it not?

It’s not perfect, I’ll grant you that. The truck mode is awkward, yes. But that’s forgivable given the difficulties in attempting a Prime this tiny, this faithful, this dynamic, this ambitious, this clever.

It’s a repaint of a Beast Wars Neo figure, Guiledart. I like the colours of the repaint but aside from that, there’s little to recommend the toy. The designers somehow took two kid-cool concepts — dinosaurs and Transformers — and produced an uncool toy.

The figure looks best in beast mode but suffers from very loose forelegs due to loose-fitting joints. His beast mode gimmick is he plays dead. The panels on his side flip down to reveal ribs, his eyes roll back and his tongue sticks out a little. The end result is something that makes me stick out my own tongue with a heart-felt “Blecch!”

The transformation is an exercise in frustration since this is one of the worst revealer-type transformation designs. Transforming the figure takes time and a lot of cursing as you wrestle with parts.

It’s a real challenge to make out the robot because of all the beast mode kibble. In terms of playability, Triceradon’s robot mode is a frustrating action figure despite the generous amount of articulation since moving one part requires first moving other parts out of the way.

Not a fun toy is what I’m saying.