Return of Optimus Prime (franchise)

Return of Convoy was the fifth Japanese-exclusive Transformers franchise, released in 1991. Following on from Transformers: Zone in 1990.

The franchise featured the following two components:


 * A toyline, consisting of most of the toys released in Hasbro markets in 1987, with several additional new figures.
 * A manga with a different title named The Battlestars.

It's notable that this franchise doesn't own its animation, so does the next franchise Operation Combination.

Story
Battlestars continued the storyline of the animated continuity, picking up where Zone left off, but was never actually animated. Instead, the story was told through a single issue of manga (which was a mail-away offer, no less) and story pages.

The Battlestars storyline revolved around the return of Optimus Prime as Star Convoy and his battle against Dark Nova and the resurrected Super Megatron.

Battlestars, story-wise, takes place at the same time as Operation Combination.