Toy review - Earthrise Deluxe Hoist

Series - Generations
Sub-line - Earthrise
Size/class - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - new
Released here - March 2020
Approximate Retail Price - $30

In a line a lot of people claim to be "full of unnecessary redo's", a lesser known character is always a welcome in my book.

TOW TRUCK MODE:

Not much to say here except it's as a nice little truck that's pretty much spot on to the G1 toy. If my memory serves they're about the same size too.

https://i.imgur.com/BOmWZMVh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/tzQEIxHh.jpg
My only minor gripe with this figure: The robot forearms and hands just kinda chill out under there, and due to clearance issue you can't even rotate the fists around to make them less obvious.

https://i.imgur.com/c9c2tXih.jpg
If you decide to drop the wheel lift thingy there's an indentation that locks it in place along its track, and there's a wheel underneath that supports it. Very nice little touch.

https://i.imgur.com/XUEcMH7h.jpg
He's smallish Deluxe size in truck mode, but turns into a much bigger 'bot.

TRANSFORMATION:
His transformation is simple and heavily based on the original G1 design, like his best bud Grapple. But I find Hoist's engineering feels fresher; probably because he hasn't had a Masterpiece figure yet.

'BOT MODE:
Hoist just oozes G1 goodness in 'bot mode. His proportions including the mechanic's "belly" and short legs are faithfully recreated here. Head sculpt is fantastic. Zero complaint.

https://i.imgur.com/rcf5sa1h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/UnLWWu0l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/vhnFfMnl.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/E68qSLph.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/eAhepRFh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/J7hXMvJh.jpg
Due to transformation he has double jointed knee, and a very deep elbow bend. He's a pretty poseable chubby dude.

https://i.imgur.com/qKnfwVTh.jpg
He can get all Mafia "mechanic" with 5mm ports all over.

https://i.imgur.com/liicBZ4h.jpg
He's just half a head shorter than a Voyager figure (yes, let's be real here, Astrotrain is a Voyager). He feels kinda light for a deluxe though, possibly due to quite a bit of hollowness in the parts, partly transformation, partly just Hasbro being cheap. I also think that HasTak may have applied the same flexible budgeting system on these Earthrise figures as Studio Series, to allow for more variety within the same price point.

OVERALL:
Personally I think he's a lot better than the Thrilling 30 Hoist. And the top pick for me among an already very good Deluxe wave.

Great photos. You put Hasbro's photographers to shame.
I have a big soft spot for the porky mechanic, along with his mouldmate Trailbreaker.

I bought both Hoist and Grapple as an impulse buy yesterday. Hoist is awesome and so is Grapple. Very impressed by this line so far.

I never was interested in Hoist as a character or toy until Earthrise. He does look quite fun and looking forward to getting mine soon.

I think he's pretty rubbish, but I suspect everything I hate about him (mainly the wings/cape/baggy sleeves that his arms hang off) is in service of making him more G1-accurate, so there's not much point complaining!

He does look good in these photos, but in hand my main thought was "Trailbreaker deserves better than this".

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Maruten

I think he's pretty rubbish, but I suspect everything I hate about him (mainly the wings/cape/baggy sleeves that his arms hang off) is in service of making him more G1-accurate, so there's not much point complaining!

---

You should complain. Just... because.

On the real, bravo for your self-awareness.

Anyway...

I opened my Hoist tonight - I do like him though not quite as much as some do. Those arms under the truck hold him back. Another set of joints could have fixed that, but given his size I guess that didn't fit the budget.

I was expecting Hoist mismatched green parts to annoy me and otherwise ruin a great upgrade over T30 Hoist. However, in-person he looks fine, not perfect, but fine. Photographs really seem to make the mismatch look worse than it really is.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DELTAprime

I was expecting Hoist mismatched green parts to annoy me and otherwise ruin a great upgrade over T30 Hoist. However, in-person he looks fine, not perfect, but fine. Photographs really seem to make the mismatch look worse than it really is.

---

I agree. In the night-time lights last night, I couldn't even tell. It's only shown up in the daylight today, and even then it's not so bad.

Also, the camera adds 10 pounds to this guy :p

Wasn't going to pick this one up but glad I did-he's weird but has great personality in bot mode, and such size!
Truck mode is fine (although the fists and hollow front are a bit cheap and nasty), but I have 0 use for the gimmick so looks like a strange orange lump of plastic on his flatbed to me :P
Haven't even noticed the mismatched green, it's definitely 1000 times more noticeable in photos vs the real toy.

Eep, those visible hands in vehicle mode look a tad sad. :eek:

btw there are two options for "No" in the poll and no option for "Not interested." :D
https://i.ibb.co/HX9hrGs/temp.jpg

P.S.: May I please see comparison pics with G1 and Generations Hoist? Thanks in advance.

Didn't Hound have similar angled down forearms? I seem to recall it showing up elsewhere in Siege.

Finally caved and grabbed this toy. :p Overall a very good CHUG Hoist that is a vast improvement over Generations Hoist (who I actually do quite like). It's well proportioned in both robot and vehicle modes with impressive articulation. At about 15cm in height, this is also a fairly well sized Deluxe. I do like how the top rack thing is self-contained and able to be concealed in vehicle mode, and I also like how the gun conceals the hand, giving the appearance of being a gun-arm (but also giving you the option of giving Hoist both fists if you want to). I would've preferred to have the gun store beneath the bonnet. The black head and gunmetal grey faceplate look good, and offset the green body quite well (even if my G1 bias heavily prefers a green head, objectively speaking the black head looks better). I would've still preferred yellow eyes over a blue visor. I like how the toy even sees the return of Hoist's towing wheel cradle, and I do like how it can clip firmly into place when not deployed. The downside is that the cradle doesn't really work; it's only really wide enough to hold a Micromaster, but it doesn't really hitch onto the wheels and the Micromaster will be prone to just sliding off the cradle. :/ The cradle arm also has no articulation, unlike G1 Hoist.

The weathering marks on the chest/bonnet is a visual nuisance, but it doesn't look as bad when you're not looking at the chest square-on. Unfortunately the chest is painted, so I can't just scrub it off. I intend to try to get matching green paint and just paint over the marks. Or maybe ToyHax will make a sticker that can cover it. I'm not a huge fan of the whites. I know that it's for cartoon likeness, but I don't really care about that. I would've preferred silver. Same with the gun -- the orange doesn't look great. The undercarriage bulk doesn't bother me so much. Yeah, it's noticeable, but the vehicle does sit on all four wheels and it rolls, so that's fine. Not fantastic, but it's fine.

Overall, and especially when I compare it with Generations Hoist, I think that ER Hoist has way more pros than cons and is well worth the Deluxe price point (especially if you can get it for $29; don't forget that most stores do price match!). Now I'm tempted to get Trailbreaker! The one thing that bugged me the most about Generations Trailcutter and Hoist is how they have no Autobot logos visible in robot mode -- not a problem with Earthrise. :)

PICS

Vehicle mode
https://i.ibb.co/HGS6NPn/Earthrise-hoist01.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/bvp67DL/Earthrise-hoist02.jpg

Comparing towing gimmick between G1 and ER Hoist
https://i.ibb.co/85wK2sz/Earthrise-hoist03.jpg
G1 Hoist can tow any of the Diaclone Autobot Cars, and his towing cradle can turn. ER Hoist's cradle is only wide enough to accommodate a Micromaster, but it doesn't actually cradle the wheels so the vehicle is prone to sliding off. Basically G1 Hoist actually works as a tow truck whereas ER Hoist does not.

Comparing vehicle mode with G1
https://i.ibb.co/d7GnhQc/Earthrise-hoist04.jpg

Comparing vehicle mode with G1 and Generations
https://i.ibb.co/3f39cP6/Earthrise-hoist05.jpg

Robot mode
https://i.ibb.co/JjyxWpf/Earthrise-hoist06.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/93Spy4X/Earthrise-hoist07.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/nwRtRxT/Earthrise-hoist08.jpg

Comparison with G1 and Generations
https://i.ibb.co/982Yq9x/Earthrise-hoist09.jpg

"Something something something, architecture..."
https://i.ibb.co/YjVD7pX/Earthrise-hoist10.jpg

I went and painted the rack thing and weapon silver.
https://i.ibb.co/zXpCFrJ/Earthrise-hoist11.jpg

I also scrubbed off the battle damage from the forearms
https://i.ibb.co/pzVFCSn/Earthrise-hoist12.jpg

ER Hoist doesn't work as a tow truck but he does work as a Micromaster base??? :confused: Yeah, I would've preferred it to be a working tow truck.
https://i.ibb.co/vj934yq/Earthrise-ironworks21.jpg

Stuck on you. :p
https://i.ibb.co/rGTJzW0/Earthrise-ironworks22.jpg

G1 was awesome and this guy just continues the joy.
Working towing mechanism does it for me.

But that's just the thing. It doesn't work. The towing apparatus can fold in and out but the wheel cradle itself literally fails to cradle the wheel, thus making it impossible to even tow a Micromaster (the only TF that can fit it too). ER Hoist's towing apparatus is really just a ramp for Micromasters rather than a working towing gimmick as with G1 Hoist. :(
https://i.ibb.co/85wK2sz/Earthrise-hoist03.jpg
G1 Hoist's wheel cradle can actually hook/latch onto the wheels of any Diaclone Autobot Car and tow it around. It can even go around corners as the apparatus is articulated. ER Hoist's wheel cradle fails to latch and any Micromaster vehicle that you place onto it will just slide right off when Hoist is moved. A lack of articulation on the apparatus makes it incapable of turning corners, but it's a rather moot point given that it can't even tow a toy in the first place. ER Hoist is able to hold a Micromaster car onto his cradle in a static pose or shot, but it can't hold the car when Hoist is in motion, making it practically useless as a play feature. Having said that, this is still a big improvement over Generations Hoist whose hook is so weak that it couldn't possibly hold anything.