The encore series has always been a great way to get G1 figures without paying loads of money. Hoist does not disappoint. Of course i would recommend a original but the encore puts up a good fight. bot mode A very good remake from the body all the way down to the missiles and wings. Alt mode A solid alt mode with no loose parts and has a clean transformation. The box is the same as Ironhide/jazz and includes the normal sticker sheet and card. If the g1 version is out of your price range i would say get this and Trailbreaker(who is also a great figure). full gallery will be up later tonight or tomorrow.
Thanks for this Tamo, been up in the air about which one of the two I want. I hate Trailbreaker's head, but I don't like Hoist's colors. DILEMMA!
I've got the Hasbro reissue Hoist, so this wouldn't be high on my list of purchases since I've already got a relatively new one. I do notice that the Encore version has blue eyes, whereas the original had yellow. I notice they had given Trailbreaker blue optics as well, when the original red were my preference. I wonder if there were any other changes? Are any of the stickers from the original paint aps on this version? Hoist is a good figure. I'm always intrigued by how small some of these G1 figures are, having gotten used to the larger modern deluxe size.
For more pictures, click on the image above Remarks: Hoist is an extensive retool of Trailbreaker, so look for the full review there. Just some words on the differences. Apart from the difference in colour - green and orange where Trailbreaker was mostly black - Hoist also features a different head in robot mode (though the Mexican version simply had Trailbreaker's head repainted) and a different rear assembly in vehicle mode. Where Trailbreaker had a camper compartment on the back of his truck mode, Hoist is reconfigured as a towing truck, sporting an orange plastic towing assembly, which can actually be ussed to tow other cars (such as Trailbreaker, see picture above). The orange towing assembly isn't the most stable thing in the world, consisting of several parts that are connected but very loosely, but it still works overall and looks nice in both modes. The figure itself is quite good for its time, posability is above-average and it just looks pretty good overall. No real complaints except the abundance of extra parts one can easily lose. Hoist had but one really significant appearance in the G1 cartoon series in the episode "The Master Builders", where he and Grapple were fooled by the Constructicons into building the Solar Power Tower, which could draw massive amounts of energy from sunlight. Hoist and Grapple ended up buried for their troubles and were punished by having to clean up the rubble of the destroyed tower. Hoist also appeared in numerous other episodes in Season 2, but only in the background. Same goes for his comic book appearances. Overall Hoist is a pretty good figure, just like Trailbreaker. Not one of the all-time classics and not the most prolific character in Transformers history, either, but a good, solid figure. So all old-school Transformers fans should use the chance given by the Encore series to grab one. Rating: B+ Please note: I've been advised that I forgot Hoist's second significant appearance in the episode "Hoist goes to Hollywood". Guess I blocked out that horrible episode. Wonder why? Anyway, thanks to Sam for mentioning it.
I must add my 2 cents worth as I just purchased this recently. On mine, my Hoist has some apparent quality issues: trouble getting the orange towing part to stay on, and the plastic on the towing assembly seems a bit warped as does the plastic on his left arm panel, so the panel and the towing assembly never seem to line up flush against each other, resulting in a sloppy vehicle mode. Other than that, I love this mould as it looks exactly like the G1 cartoon's proportions (or should I say the cartoon Hoist reflects the toy very well). While Hoist and Trailbreaker share the same mould in toy form, Trailbreaker, however does not look like his cartoon version (which is much sleeker, compared to the toy which is fat. Hoist in the cartoon is fat, so it works). Love the tampo-printing of key graphics and blue eyes to make it look like the cartoon. Optional stickers not required to make it look like the cartoon, but you can apply them to make them look like the original G1 toy. Also, one of my tires was lop-sided, which made the truck roll wierd. He's going on the shelf anyway, so no worries. But hopefullyl the quality issue on mine was an isolated event.