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griffin
8th January 2010, 10:07 PM
Review 10-005 - TF2 Movie Hoist Vs Mixmaster

http://www.otca.com.au/tr10005a.jpg

Review 10-005a - Hoist
Series - TF2 Movie (non-cast)
Sub-line -
Size - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - redeco
Wave - Store-exclusive, US ToysRUs
Released here - No
Approximate Retail Price - US$30-35 for the pair
Approximate Size - 15cm
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Tow Truck
Main Features/Gimmicks - Firing missile launcher
Main Colours - Dark green, grey, orange/gold.
Main Accessories - Missile and launcher
My Difficulty rating (out of 5) - 2.5 (trouble gettting all the panels aligned in vehicle mode, but easier to convert to robot mode)
Stability - A bit unbalanced in robot mode, but big feet help. Truck mode is quite solid, if you can get all the panels locking together.
Poseability/articulation - Just the right amount of articulation in robot mode to make it playable without interferring in conversion or stability.
Playability - Fairly good, but like most movie toys that are Deluxe or larger, play is stalled when you spend several minutes converting the darn thing (never a problem in Gen1, or even Beast Wars). And if you don't have all the panels interlocking in alt-mode, it won't sit flat on the ground with all four wheels.
My Thoughts - Hoist is the better of the two in this set, to me. It is the least difficult, so is a lot more fun (they're toys, so the primary purpose is to play - the puzzle factor should remain as the gimmick, not dominate it's purpose). Robot mode feels a bit 'flat', and neither toy in this set has an alt-mode that has much play-value (like a military vehicle or a sports car). The towing hook is a nice feature, as it can tow other car TFs if it has somewhere to hook onto. I don't like the way the roof lights stick up so high, it almost looks like a design flaw.

For a review of the original Hoist - http://www.cliffbee.com/reviews/longarm.php

Review 10-005a - Mixmaster
Series - TF2 Movie
Sub-line -
Size - Voyager
New/remould/redeco - redeco with new head (not sure why, as it appears to be the same character)
Wave - Store-exclusive, US ToysRUs
Released here - No
Approximate Retail Price - US$30-35 for the pair
Approximate Size - truck-20cm, robot-15cm
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-mode - Cement Truck
Main Features/Gimmicks - Firing missile launcher and Battle mode. Claims to have a Mech-Alive feature, but I can't find it.
Main Colours - Lime green, grey, purple, black.
Main Accessories - Missile
My Difficulty rating (out of 5) - 4 (converting to alt-mode, but the robot mode appears to be a lot easier)
Stability - Locks together nicely in Truck mode, but the other two modes are a mess of limbs and kibble. And the barrel parts keep popping off!!
Poseability/articulation - Some would say more articulation makes a better, playable toy, but in this case, the articulation is what ruins this figure. There is just too much, making it impossible to convert to truck mode without instructions, plus a lot of adjustment of joints just to stand it up in robot mode. I also think it ruins the look of the figure, as the arms are just a mess of joints, making it look worse than kibble. Plus, as joints get loose over the life of the toys, more joints makes it more difficult to pose, or even stand, the figures.
Playability - Ironically, the Battle-mode, the mode I think looks the worst, is probably the most useful mode to play with in a play-battle with other toys. The back-pack kibble in robot mode spoils having a 'gimmick' of extra-long arms to melee attack opposing toys. And the Truck mode doesn't give you much in the way of offensive capabilities.
My Thoughts - Don't know if the robot mode was ruined by trying to engineer a 3rd, battle-mode, or if the battle-mode was an after-thought that was found after play-testing the figure. I'm hoping that it was the former, as I'd hate to think that the mutated mess of a robot mode was intentional. Then again, this toy would just have been replicating a form/concept that Michael Bay would have created/approved, that looked like a 'gorilla' (over-long arms) in robot mode, and had to have a third weapons mode.
This was one of the hardest Transformers toys I have ever had to work out. I've only ever had to resort to instructions 3 times in the past, and this was almost my fourth if I didn't have the original Movie Mixmaster lying around in Truck mode (I've never gotten around to converting that one either - something these toy reviews should change). The problem of having TFs toys with heaps of joints is that the combination of permutations is magnified almost exponentially, to the point of spending hours on combinations and still not getting the joints all in the right places without getting a hint from 'one that was prepared earlier'. I haven't yet converted it back to robot mode, nor tried the 'Battle-Mode', but haven't had much fun so far, so am not rushing to convert this one back (and when it is, it will probably be the last time I touch it before it goes on the display shelf). The Gen1 homage is nice, but only when it is in vehicle mode (and really, do we need every construction vehicle to be redecoed lime & purple?)

For a review of the original Mixmaster - http://www.cliffbee.com/reviews/rotfmixmaster.php

Overall Recommendation Rating for the set (out of 10) - 5 (only buy it if cheap, or if you want the Gen1 homages)

http://www.otca.com.au/tr10005b.jpg

Autocon
9th January 2010, 12:21 AM
hoist have a different head to longarm? what do the bios say? i want this set :o

kurdt_the_goat
9th January 2010, 01:30 AM
Out of interest, what 3 toys did you have to resort to the instructions for in the past?

griffin
9th January 2010, 02:35 AM
The RID Optimus/Magnus combo, for the sheer complexity of it. And the MP Megatron and Starscream figures to reduce my chances of breaking them in my usual process of converting TFs, by blind-testing joints, hinges and adjoining panels to see what parts move in the transformation.

lcz128
9th January 2010, 10:12 AM
Ah! Thanks for this review - cause it has revealed to me Hoist's Hasbro-graysilverness which I abhor... :(

^^; Helped make my mind up alrihght

kup
9th January 2010, 12:18 PM
Ah! Thanks for this review - cause it has revealed to me Hoist's Hasbro-graysilverness which I abhor... :(

^^; Helped make my mind up alrihght

Yeah, same. Overall its a very Hasbro typical cheap paint job. I will probably only get it if an opportunity arises but I will not go the extra mile for it.

dirge
9th January 2010, 08:38 PM
I like both moulds, but neither repaint is really able to hit the spot as a part of the Classics display - movie moulds just don't gel with the G1 aesthetic. So I'll happily pass over these.

kup
9th January 2010, 09:23 PM
I like both moulds, but neither repaint is really able to hit the spot as a part of the Classics display - movie moulds just don't gel with the G1 aesthetic. So I'll happily pass over these.

I think that the Longarm mold can do an excellent classics Hoist but not the way its executed here, the colors are too bland.

Vector Prime
9th January 2010, 11:00 PM
neither repaint is really able to hit the spot as a part of the Classics display - movie moulds just don't gel with the G1 aesthetic. So I'll happily pass over these.

I think that the Longarm mold can do an excellent classics Hoist but not the way its executed here, the colors are too bland.

+1 on both of these :D

BigTransformerTrev
5th December 2013, 02:32 PM
I picked up Hoist last week for $11 with free postage second hand on ebay. Got brought back to $9 when I hit them up about his missile missing :rolleyes:


I quite like this rendition of Hoist. Out of all the movie adaptions of G1 characters I think he is one of the better ones, especially in the face and legs. It's quite a nice vehicle mould as well. In fact I perfer this vehicle mode to the Generations one that I got in the past week, though in robot mode it's Generations Hoist all the way :D. But in the end both are welcome additions to my small but happy Hoist collection :)

UltraMarginal
5th December 2013, 03:33 PM
I got a second hand loose hoist ages ago, for a bit more than $9.

For me it's a good Movieverse version of hoist. I don't have any other version of the mold so that helps it feel fresh for me. I never could see it fitting in with the classics collection.

the high detail of the vehicle mode is nice if not a little frustrating to put together and get it rolling smoothly.
the Robot mode is a nice rendition of Hoist for that 'verse.

I got this back out of storage this morning to compare against G1 (reissue), classics and generations Hoist. i'll be posting some pics some time in the next 5 years.:rolleyes: