Name: Hook
Series: Generation 1
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Surgical Engineer
Alternate Mode: Crane
CRANE MODE
Height: 4cm Length: 9cm Width: 3.5cm
A green and silver crane with purple windows and black tyres. He has a chrome silver hook, as well as silver mechanical bits in the middle of the vehicle, which are a combination of chrome plastic and metal. In fact only Hook and Scavenger have metal parts amongst the Constructicons. He's got both a front cab for the driver and a rear cab for the cab operator, both on the right hand side.
Hook has two sets of rear tyres and one set of front tyres, and all roll freely. The rear section supports the crane and its cabin can swivel 360 degrees - which is great considering it's not part of his transformation or needed to combine Devastator. The arm can lift up, and has an extending front section. Oh, and the hook itself can move back and forth to accommodate the shifting angle of the arm. You can also add Devastator's head assembly (with the head folded down) behind the driver's cabin to give him a missile launcher, or attach his handgun on the left of the cabin. There's a phantom metal peg behind his cabin in thise mode, which can spin around. It's not an eyesore but it doesn't fulfil any purpose for Hook's crane mode. It exists so Bonecrusher has somewhere to hang onto in when they combine.
In this mode, probably the best Constructicon, because of the play value allowed in the crane mechanism. The head weapon restricts this a little, but his handgun causes no problems.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Extend the front section, fold over the legs and push the front back in. Pull the arms out from the sides, flip the head up. Give him his handgun.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 10.5cm Width: 4.5cm
The green remains on his arms & lower legs in this mode, while his head is black with a silver face, his torso purple and his thighs chrome silver. He's the tallest Constructicon, perhaps why he's the leader according to the specs (in the cartoon, Scrapper is boss).
Like Long Haul, he's assymetrical, the driver's cabin is on his left foot. It looks a tad strange, but at the same time it adds to the personality of this toy, and defines his robot mode as being derived from a crane, rather than being the bottom of some generic vehicle (e.g. the Sparkabots). His head folds down, so he can look at the ground, and he can swing his arms at the shoulders, otherwise he can't move. He has big shoulderpads formed from the rear of the truck, but his arms clear these and so they add to the appearance of the toy rather than wrecking his poseability.
His only real downside in this mode is the attachment of some kibble on the sides of his upper thighs, which basically consists of two blocks there to make sure the crane mode has no "waist". They don't drag him down much, and they're the only fault I can find with Hook anyway.
VARIATIONS
There was the late G1 "European" Hook (no phantom metal peg for Devastator mode) & the yellow and orange G2 versions, but no variations of G1 Hook as such.
OVERALL
In case you've yet to work it out, Hook is my favourite Constructicon. Sure, that's partly because of his spec, but he's got a very solid vehicle mode for the size and time, and a good robot mode, with interesting bits like the shoulderpads. And he's got die-cast metal, which most Constructicons lack. Definitely worthwhile for any G1 fan and vital for any Devastator fan. I really recommend him, even as a standalone toy, 9/10
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