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.
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.
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.
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.
Due to transformation he has double jointed knee, and a very deep elbow bend. He's a pretty poseable chubby dude.
He can get all Mafia "mechanic" with 5mm ports all over.
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.