Hoist
(G1 Reissue, Toys "R" Us Exclusive)
Vehicle mode is a tow
truck. This vehicle mode is very nice for the most part, as you'd expect
from an early Generation One toy. Chrome silver, rubber wheels, transparent
windows with no robot extras visible on the inside, etc. However, one thing
I find rather odd is that the side windows are painted on the front half,
but transparent on the back half- what the...? Not only does it look bad,
but I can't find any real reason for them to do it... Also, the two orange
parts on the back that are used to "tow" other cars fall apart way way
WAY too easily. And if you take them off, then you're stuck with a robot
head sticking out of the bed of the truck. Yick. As for the color scheme,
it's not extraordinary or anything, but it's servicable- the green and
orange (with a very slight yellowish tint) go alright together, and the
stripes on the side of the vehicle mode are nice accents.
As for the robot mode...
well, let's just say that there's been lots and lots of better robot modes
in Generation One. He's short, chunky, and just plain goofy-looking with
his stubby, kneeless legs. I just don't like his design aesthetic in this
mode at ALL. His chest is huge, and since it sticks out more on the bottom
half than on the top, it makes him look like he's fat. And the problem
with the towing parts in Hoist's vehicle mode is magnified in robot mode-
since they're only connected to him by shallow little pegs, they fall off
even easier, and the top half almost always flops down to his feet (as
in the picture above). Hoist also has a lot of extra parts used in this
mode that aren't storable in his vehicle mode, and you know how I despise
that. Especially so when some of the parts- such as the little "wings"
sticking out of the top of his back- are merely for aesthetic purposes
and don't really serve any function. He also has a removable head-mounted
blaster in this mode (which is actually kinda cool), and his hands can
be replaced with either a welding nozzel or a two-barreled... gun thing.
Er, yeah.
Hoist is a pretty lackluster
transformer, even for an early Generation One toy. His vehicle mode is
pretty nice, but his robot mode is absolutely atrocious, he has a ton of
extra little nonstorable parts, and his towing parts flop all over the
place. Add that to his already steep $30 price, and I can't recommend him
to anybody except a completist.
Review by Beastbot