Overload (Armada)

It is his function to come to the aid of Convoy as his right hand man. The ultimate form is "Magna Jet Convoy," the combination of Convoy, Jet Fire and Ultra Magnus, installing himself on Convoy's shoulders as the weapon "Matrix Cannon" - a mass of firearms and the highest firepower out of all the Cybertrons.

The above is the Japanese character card bio, as with many of the Unicron Battles figures, Overload did not come with a bio.

Released in 2003 Overload was the final anticipated figure who could combine with the super base Optimus Prime. In the cartoon series, Overload hardly appeared and when he did it was either in the trailer mode or as the weapon mode. Early prototype photographs looked promising however there is no disguising that this has no articulation.

Despite any shortcomings this is one of my favourite figures from the Armada line. The Mini-Con Rollout serves a different purpose, in vehicle mode it pulls the missile trailer and when Overload transforms, Rollout becomes the robot chest and head as well as having its own robot and weapon form.

When pushing Rollout in place to form Overloads head it makes the classic transformation sound, I'm sure this was the first figure to incorporate this feature.

Overload transforms between robot mode and a missile trailer but also combines with Optimus Prime in a weapon mode as well as being able to combine with Optimus Primes base mode. Overload can also carry Jetfire and Rollout can pull Optimus Primes trailer.

Other releases using the Overload mould:-


MC-14 Ultra Magnus (2003)

Source: eBay

Takaras version featured different paint applications.

MC-XX Magna Convoy (2003)

A Toys R Us exclusive giftset which came with a translucent plastic version of Ultra Magnus.

MC-14 Ultra Magnus Ice version / Special Ultra Magnus (2003)

Source: fan2fan.jp

A lucky draw exclusive which was available through Japans TV Magazine and was only limited to 100 pieces.

Energon Ultra Magnus (2003)

There are different packaged versions of this repaint. The American version had incorrect box photographs showing the Street Speed Team Mini-Cons rather than the packaged Space Team Mini-Cons. This was originally going to come with the Street Speed Team but this was changed last minute though a few samples have emerged. In Europe Hasbro corrected the box and now showed the correct Mini-Cons.

In Japan this was released in 2004 as an exclusive USA Edition figure through Toy's Dream Project. The box is identical to the American release though it has additional stickers on the box, and one stuck over the Street Speed Team showing instead the Space Team.

The intended release

Energon Overload & Optimus Prime (2004)

Source: eBay

A Costco store exclusive featuring a questionable colour scheme. 

OTFCC Exclusive Sentinel Maximus (2004)

Source: eBay

The 2004 Official Transformers Collectors Club convention limited to 1600 pieces. This is a repaint with a remoulded head. Due to issues, the figure was not actually available at the convention and the toy itself featured no transformation sound effect. The character is a fusion of Beast Machines Primal Prime and Ape-Linq which was a Botcon exclusive in 2000 (Mega Optimus Primal redeco).