Transformers 40th Anniversary Beast Wars II Lio Convoy Is Up For Pre-Order

Takara Tomy recently reissued the Lio Convoy with sculpt and paint upgrades as part of the Transformers 40th anniversary celebrations. The new figure is designed to “better look like the anime Beast Wars II”. It converts between robot mode and lion mode, and comes with two weapons – the Lion Claw melee weapon and the Lion Typhoon shoulder-mounted attack. 

This special edition release is now available to pre-order in the U.S. here at Entertainment Earth priced at $49.99 (free U.S. shipping on orders $59+). It’s expected to arrive in March 2025, but you won’t be charged until it’s on the way to your doorstep. 

If you’re unfamiliar, Beast Wars: Transformers, the flagship animated series for the Beast Wars brand, debuted in 1996 and ended in 1999, running for three seasons and 52 episodes. Beast Machines, Beast Wars II, and Beast Wars Neo also took place in a continuity where, rather than transforming into cars, trucks, planes, and other heavy machinery, the familiar Transformers characters turned into animals. In Beast Wars II: Super Life-Form Transformers, Lio Convoy is the leader of the Maximals in the fight to protect the planet Gaia from Galvatron and the Predacons.

Transformers One Release Date

Directed by Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4) with a screenplay from Andrew Barrer (Ant-Man and the Wasp), Gabriel Ferrari (No Exit), and Steve Desmond (Knock at the Cabin) for Paramount Animation with animation by Industrial Light & Magic, Transformers One releases on September 20th. The film features the main cast of Chris Hemsworth as Orion Pax / Optimus Prime, Brian Tyree Henry as D-16 / Megatron, Scarlett Johansson as Elita-1, Keegan-Michael Key as B-127 / Bumblebee, Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime, Laurence Fishburne as Autobot Alpha Trion, and Steve Buscemi as Starscream. 

Lorenzo di Bonaventura is set as producer for Di Vonaventura Pictures, live-action Transformers film director Michael Bay is on board as producer as well with Tom DeSanto, Don Murphy, Mark Vahradian, and Aaron Dem. As for what to expect from the new Transformer One animated film, the synopsis for it teases it as such:

“TRANSFORMERS ONE is the untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, better known as sworn enemies, but once were friends bonded like brothers who changed the fate of Cybertron forever. In the first-ever fully CG-animated Transformers movie, TRANSFORMERS ONE features a star-studded voice cast, including Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, with Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm.”