Earthrise Hoist

*That green and orange repair guy, remember him?*

Series: War for Cybertron: Earthrise
Year: 2020
Allegiance: Autobot
Class: Deluxe

Prelude: Remember that repair guy from the G1 cartoon? No, not Ratchet. No, not Wheeljack, either. The one who came along in season 2, the green and orange guy. The one who helped build a solar tower and went to Hollywood, trying to warn us of the evils of Michael Bay. Okay? Okay. Well, he got a figure in War for Cybertron Earthrise, too, and now it’s time to take a look at it. Let’s say go!

Robot Mode: Hoist is a Deluxe class figure and on the upper end of that scale, standing nearly as tall as many a Voyager figure and towering over his G1 counterpart by quite a bit. Which fits his appearance in the cartoon, where he was among the bigger Autobots (yet still small enough to fit inside Huffer’s vehicle mode). The resemblance to said cartoon appearance is also very good, even though cartoon Hoist was a bit bigger around the waist, if you know what I mean. Resemblance to the old toy is also quite close, except for the color of the head. Most toy versions of Hoist had a green head, but in the cartoon his head was grey, so this coloring here is definitely screen accurate.

Hoist’s articulation is as good as you’d expect for a toy from that line, meaning quite good. He can kick, he can kneel, he can strut. His sole weapon is an orange cannon / welding tool / whatever he currently needs which he can put over the fist on either arm. This harkens back to the G1 toy’s ability to shoot off the fists and replace them with various missiles or other tools. Nicely done. Hoist has some battle damage deco on his chest, but it’s rather subtle and looks good.

Bottom line for the robot mode: pretty much exactly as you’d expect. A nice toy translation of the G1 character with no obvious flaws.

Alternate Mode: The original Hoist transformed into a Toyota Hi-Lux pickup truck. The Earthrise version transforms into a vehicle that looks very much like a Toyota Hi-Lux pickup truck without having to dish out cash for that pesky license. The car is green and features an orange “towing setup” on the back, which enables it to tow other cars. The rear end of this towing ramp is designed to interlock with the ramps of other base mode Transformers from that time.

Detailing on the car is pretty good, including a silver grill in front and silver hubcaps. Very nicely done. So bottom line: a very nice car mode, no complaints.

Remarks: Hoist was among the Autobots who simply appeared at some point of the second season of the original cartoon, acting as if they’d always been there. He had starring roles in the episodes “The Master Builders” and “Hoist goes to Hollywood”, but was just another Autobot apart from that. Same in the Marvel Comics, but at least he got something of an origin there, being activated as a “backup warrior” from stored personality engrams in the Ark. Either way, though, he was not exactly among the most prolific of Autobots.

Full disclosure: by the time I wrote this review, I had already sold off this figure some time earlier. Not because it’s a bad figure, mind you. It’s not. It’s just that I have ZERO interest in the character of Hoist. If you ask me why I bought this figure in the first place, given that, well… I am not exactly sure. Probably just because I wanted a new TF or something, who knows. Anyway, please keep that in mind, should I have forgotten to mention some intricacies of this figure.

Bottom line for this toy: it’s a good representation of Hoist. So if you like Hoist, you should definitely look at him. If not, though, he is just another car Transformer. A good one, but nothing too special.

Rating: B-