Thank you much for that video. Now I just gotta get dr crank and I can do this =D

 

Oh frak, that is awesome. I will be doing this with mine.

 

Has anyone had trouble connecting exgraver to Dr. C? I got mine today and try as I might I can't connect the arm to either peg.

 

Exgraver's port is a bit tight at first go.

I'd actually recommend trying to connect him to Heavy Labor's port first, since those don't swivel and try to collapse on you when applying pressure. You'll notice the little nubs inside Exgraver's port flatten out a bit, that's fine. It'll make him much easier to attach and detach, but he won't fall off.

 

Got mine and my only hate is he has no visor, for me he is the weakest figure so far.

 

Finally got mine from chimungmung. Overall I'm pretty happy. The only QC issue was a loose screw in the crane boom. Loving the scowl.

 

Popped Exgraver on Dr Crank for a few and snapped one of the small protrusions that holds the connector in place off when I removed him. Havent tried to reconnect Exgraver. Kind of scared to since that was my first attempt at combining them...

 

I found that all the ports attach and detach easier when put on and taken off at a 90 degree twist from where you would normally think to attach it... Example of what I mean:

Have structor / leg pointing completely to the side, attach, and then twist 90 degrees to face forward. Similarly with the arms, attach with the arm "swung forward 90 degrees," then lower to normal position. I think it has something to do with where the slits and bumps are on the corresponding parts - but it could also all be in my head haha, but it does seem easier for me so I thought I'd share...

 

I feel like such a   for messing up the string in Dr. Crank's crane. It keeps tangling. Oh well.

 

For more pics, click on the picture above

Prelude: Legal stuff first, as always. Dr. Crank is not an official Transformers product from Hasbro or Takara-Tomy, he hails from third party provider TFC Toys. He’s clearly meant to be an updated version of G1 Hook, but for legal reasons he can’t be called by that name.

Robot Mode: Let’s start with the resemblance this figure has to the original Hook. It’s pretty good. They don’t look identical, mind you, but if you put them side by side, the resemblance is definitely there. They have the same basic design and share several elements such as the front of the vehicle mode becoming the lower legs and the crane being on the back. Dr. Crank is twice as tall and I’d say at least three times as massive, but it’s clearly meant to be the same guy.

Dr. Crank’s design clearly places him in the Classics era, which is more than fine by me. The figure is very nicely articulated, the only thing missing is a waist joint and twisting wrists. Otherwise, though, no complaints. Dr. Crank isn’t exactly a contortionist, but he poses just fine. The detailing is also very nice, I especially like the way the chest clearly has a place for a Decepticon emblem (have to check my Reprolabels sheets for a fitting one) and the stomach being a near-perfect match for the sticker the G1 figure had there.

Let’s talk accessories. Dr. Crank carries two handguns, which he can either hold in his fists (the standard fists-with-hole) or plug into his forearms. He can also put them onto his legs or on his back for storage. One is red and one is purple, both will become part of Hercules’ combined weapon. Additionally Dr. Crank has the big crane on his back, which he can plug onto his shoulder, too. He can then either use the crane itself as a weapon (extending it gives him quite the reach) or use the two bigger guns on the crane’s sides. The two hand weapons can also plug into the sides of the crane. Finally, he has what I believe is a muzzle for the combined Hercules weapon, which serves no real purpose for Dr. Crank on his own. It can plug into the side of the crane, too.

What’s left to say about the robot mode? I like it a lot. It’s not a revelation as far as robots go, but it’s so far the best Classics-style Construction I’ve seen (him being my first TFC Hercules robot). The main draw of the figure is, of course, the combiner aspect, but even as a stand-alone figure he’s pretty good.

Alternate Mode: Seeing as the word ‘crane’ occurred numerous times in the review of the robot mode, it’s probably not a big surprise that Dr. Crank transforms into a – you guessed it – crane. Now I’m no expert in construction vehicles, so I can’t tell you what model or company this crane is, but it looks like you’d expect a crane to look and there are no obvious robot parts visible. The resemblance to G1 Hook is less pronounced than in robot mode, but still present (they’re both cranes, after all).

The crane can do all the same stuff here as in robot mode, of course. It can turn a full 360 degrees and extend quite a bit. On the side of the vehicle you can see grey flip-out pegs that are used for combining into Hercules, but can also be repurposed as stabilizers when the crane extends, such as real-world crane vehicles often use. And in case anyone wonders, yes, you can fully extend the crane without the vehicle toppling over. Both weapons and the muzzle mentioned in robot mode can be stored on the crane arm as well, so no loose parts in this mode. Bottom line: a good, solid vehicle mode.

Combiner Mode: Dr. Crank forms the head and shoulders of the Hercules combiner robot (not called Devastator for legal reasons only). There will be a separate review on Hercules once I have all the members.

Remarks: The original Constructicons hold the distinction of being the very first combining robots in Transformer history. Strangely, though, Hasbro has never really made an attempt to create an updated version of them, at least not one with the original’s look and feel. ROTF Devastator is an entirely different animal and while Energon Construction Maximus was much closer, he was still pretty far off. Now, though, TFC Toys brings us the closest thing to an updated G1 Devastator we’ll ever see (along with the one currently being made by MakeToys).

As for Dr. Crank / Hook himself, well, the G1 Constructions never had a clearly defined team leader. Most of the times it was Scrapper giving the orders (and he had the most lines in the cartoon), but Hook is the one forming the head (which is the leader’s job in every other combiner team ever made) and was named team leader in the Transformers Collectors Club “Wings of Honor” comics. He also seemed to give the orders in the G1 cartoon episode “The Secret of Omega Supreme”, so he does have some claim to the leadership position.

As a toy Dr. Crank is a good figure. The only real drawback it has is the price tag. Quite frankly, no one would pay between 80 and 100 dollars just for a Voyager-sized Classics-version of G1 Hook... if it weren’t for the fact that he combines with five more like him. So that’s the crux here: you buy him, then you buy the other five, too, otherwise it makes no sense. Which means dishing out between 400 and 600 dollars for six figures. It’s what made me hesitate a long, long time before finally succumbing. From what I’ve seen so far, I think it’s worth it (again, Dr. Crank being my first TFC figure, still waiting on the other five). But you need to decide whether you’re willing to dish out this much money. Money and combiner issues aside, Dr. Crank is just fine by himself. Not a revelation, but good. I’ll rate him again as part of Hercules when the giant is fully assembled.

Rating: B

 

Review: TFC Dr. Crank

 

It seems a good alternative place to store that massive crane boom is on the wheel when swung out to the side of his belly - it sits at the right height and make him less top heavy for shelf display. and it allows you to not have the legs blocked as they are if you have it on his back or have him risk falling over if it's on his shoulder.

It's a slight shame there's no easy or obvious way to store it on his arm.

Perhaps there is a potential shapeway solution that can do a duel function allow the crane arm to drop down Hercules back in gestalt mode and also provide a attachment for the crane arm in normal robot mode to his arm.

Or if not that then perhaps a crane arm attach in gestalt mode paired with a means of making use of the "spare" Excaizer digger arm on one of the others.

I wonder has anyone ever done a ""how-to"" video for installing the string or found the best sort of string to use that won't tangle as much ?

I was wondering if normal cord but waxed by rubbing it on a candle might be a good bet ?