Name: Hoist
Series: Generations
Allegiance: Autobot
Alternate Mode: Tow Truck
TOW TRUCK MODE
Height: 7cm Length: 12cm Width: 6cm (exact
A green 4x4 with yellow & black danger stripes on the door, silver headlights a black front bumper and black tyres. Hoist has transparent blue windows and a black towing arm at the back with yellow danger stripes, an orange base & orange hook. While there's less orange, this colour scheme lines up quite closely to his G1 toy. There's a radar array on his roof just in front of the towing arm and a red & silver Autobot logo stamped on the hood, rounding out a simple colour scheme which is unmistakably Hoist. For the most part this is a good colour scheme, but I wish they'd painted the taillights.
Hoist is quite a small deluxe, and it's noticeable in both modes. This truck doesn't scale well alongside most other Generations deluxes. While I'm not especially happy about this, it's a cost thing & I can't hold it against the designers. The towing arm does provide some dimension in truck mode at least. The radar array sitting on top of the vehicle is a bit off, but its visual impact is thankfully lessened by the towing arm behind it (and it kind of gets away with being a part of that mechanism). Certainly it's nowhere near as awkward on Trailbreaker, who shares the mould but with a different piece on the back. He is quite well sculpted, with headlights, grille, (unpainted) taillights, door seams & handles, a winch at the front & even a rollcage on the side windows.
There's minimal play value here. He rolls along on his tyres, while the towing arm has two hinges & the hook itself offers a third. He can tow similar sizes toys, although the hook is small, limiting what it can grasp.
A decent vehicle mode - and better than that of Trailbreaker thanks to a better integrated radar array - with unpainted taillight. This truck really represents the character well and the towing arms gives him some play value - more than most ClassicsVerse deluxes manage.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Detach and set aside the towing arm. Split the rear and pivot the halves out to the sides and back to form his legs. Fold down the doors, swing the arms out to the sides. Push in the Autobot logo on the hood, fold down the front to form his chest. Rotate the shoulders up & clip them onto his side mirrors. Rotate the forearms & fold out his fists. Flip out and rotate his head. fold down the feet & stand him up. Fold the towing arm up (with hook concealed inside) as a gun and place in either hand.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 14cm Width: 12cm
A green robot with orange knees and elbows, Hoist has silver thighs & forearms. The grille & headlights are on his chest while the silver radar array sits behind his head. His face is silver with transparent blue eyes - although there's no lightpipe so at a glance they just look black. Curiously the Autobot logo is now hidden within his chest. The colours and general layout make this robot mode distinctly Hoist, although the arm colours differ quite a bit. The head is a different sculpt to that of Trailbreaker, and more like Hoist's cartoon head than the G1 toy's. The colours themselves work well although the orange paint on his kneecaps isn't as thick as it need to be so it's washed out compared to the orange plastics used elsewhere.
As mentioned, this robot is clearly Hoist, although he no longer has the pot belly of the original toy. Hoist went on a crash diet for his new film, I guess. His torso is somewhat beefy but the bulk is higher now. The bodyshape is quite buff actually. The radar array behind his head might have been a distraction in vehicle mode but here it does a perfect job of defining Hoist and works quite well visually. As in vehicle mode it's less prominent here than on Trailbreaker - although now that's because it's less visible due to the brighter colours of Hoist.
There's quite a bit of poseability here. His head turns, although you need to lift the radar array up to get to it. The shoulders and hips are ball jointed while his elbows and knees are hinged with rotators. His waist turns while his ankles are essentially fixed. He has quite useful heelspurs and unlike many contemporary moulds Hoist's feet aren't moulded for a "relaxed" stance with legs slightly apart (which is because the bottom of his feet are the back of the vehicle mode). The gun provides some play value. It can plug into the outside of either forearm as a gun, or into either hand. It's also able to plug into the top of the radar array as an overhead weapon. It really works best as a handheld gun - and for a towing arm this thing makes for a rather convincing handgun.
A good robot mode with good colours & a distinct Hoist feel. The poseability is pretty good and the gun is clever. The orange paint on his knees is the only real flaw; his colour map closely matches G1 and while he's a fairly small deluxe this robot mode displays very well.
VARIATIONS
None that I'm aware of. As mentioned, Hoist is a retool of Trailbreaker with different weapon & head.
OVERALL
A mould that has generated some controversy due to its small size for a deluxe, but this is a strong Hoist toy - he outshines Trailbreaker in a few ways (although given how undervisited Trailbreaker has been down the years, Trailbreaker is the more notable of the two). Both modes display well, he has pretty good play value for a ClassicsVerse deluxe and while he's a little small, the engineering is good. Okay, the transformation is by the numbers but it's effective & not at all frustrating while the weapon is clever. His radar array works much better than Trailbreaker's, making this the better version of the mould. Recommend if you like ClassicsVerse toys; and over Trailbreaker if you'll only get one - 9/10
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