Dave's Generations T30 Deluxe Rant: Hoist, TC

[Dave Van Domelen]

Dave's Generations Rant: Thrilling 30 Deluxe Wave 2

Hoist (retool of Trailcutter)
Thundercracker (redeco of FoC Starscream)

Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/DeluxeT2

The second wave is perhaps a little less thrilling, being a reship of
wave 1 plus a retool and a redeco. And the redeco doesn't even fit into the
neo-G1 theme of the other toys in the T30. Still, both molds used for this
were recommended the first time around, and it's not like either of them is
Another Bumblebee. :)

http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/DeluxeT1 - Trailcutter mold
http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Gen/DeluxeF3 - Starscream mold


CAPSULES

$12-15 price point, they continue to have pack-in comics.

Hoist: Original mold was recommended. The colors on this are good, but
I would have preferred a bit more retooling to add the wings and remove the
force field projector (which is G1-accurate in robot mode, but looks bad in
vehicle mode). Recommended, but not as much as Trailcutter. The comic is a
definite asset on this one.
Thundercracker: Original mold was recommended. This is a pretty solid
recolor with a so-so comic. Mildly recommended.


RANTS

Packaging: Same as wave 1. Each has Orion Pax and its wave-mate as the
two co-sells on the bottom.


AUTOBOT: HOIST
Altmode: SUV
Series: 02
Number: 005
Transformation Difficulty: Intermediate (2)
Previous Name Use: G1, MW, Armada, Movie1
Previous Mold Use: Gen(T30)
Function: Maintenance
Motto: "If you take care of the easy stuff, the hard stuff ain't so hard."

When an AUTOBOT is seriously damaged in the field, he goes to AUTOBOT
RATCHET, but for everyday aches and pains, HOIST is the most trusted guy
around. There's no strut or spar HOIST can't fix, and no malady so baffling
that he can't diagnose it. He supplements his vast knowledge with an easy
bedside manner that makes him well liked by his fellow AUTOBOTS and
universally acknowledged as the expert on everything from wrist rust to
scraplets.

STR 8 INT 6 SPD 3 END 7 RNK 4 COUR 8 FRB 6 SKL 9 Avg 6.375

This is the G1 Hoist techspec line.

Packaging: Two strings hold the robot in place, one string holds the
crane separately.

Comic: While something of a bottle story with only a few of the Lost
Light crew in a crashed shuttle, it does a really good job of encapsulating
the More Than Meets The Eye (MTMTE) title...at least, that portion of it that
I've seen via the other pack-in comics and some skimmed-in-the-store issues.
A fun done-in-one read that does a decent job of filling on a few bits
of backstory that aren't part of the standard TF canon. The element that'd
probably be the most jarring to someone only reading the pack-in comics and
not any of the regular series would be Bob the Insecticon, but he was
introduced shortly before I stopped regularly buying TF comics, so I was okay
with the minimal re-introduction Bob got. If you don't buy this toy, you
might at least want to check ComiXology (it's down to $1.99 there) or a comic
shop for the regular edition of this spotlight. Padilla's art is a bit iffy
in places, but James Roberts writes a strong enough script to get past that.

Color Swaps: Black becomes kelly green, red-orange becomes orange, gray
stays pretty much the same, and the clear plastic remains about the same.
The one exception is that the toes are gray.

Paint Apps: Green instead of black over the clear bits, although it's a
little thinner so it makes the side windows look more like transparent green.
Many of the masks are the same, with orange and silver on the kneecaps (but
no blue on the shin), blue on the shoulders (but no orange), and silver on
the force field projector. There's black on the brushguard, silver on the
faceplate and headlights. There's yellow and black hazard stripes on the
forearms/truck doors, the top halves of the forearms are dipped in silver.
Unlike Trailcutter, Hoist gets silver paint on the hubs of the wheels. The
visor is painted transparent yellow, although you need a pretty bright light
behind it to tell. One note, the orange paint on the kneecaps is a little
more yellow than the orange plastic, and it's a bit thin in places, not a
great look.

Mold Changes: The new head has a faceplate and is something of a halfway
point between the horned toy head and the blockier animation head, but
keeping the toy coloration. There's no real attempt to get the wings of the
original, even though they probably could've managed it (especially if they'd
reduced the plastic otherwise by removing the force field generator, which
this toy still has). Yeah, the G1 toy had the force field projector in robot
mode too, but it sticks out like a sore thumb in vehicle mode here, since
it's not removable.
The shell shield-gun piece has been replaced by a crane that folds up
into a pistol. The root and hook are orange plastic, the two sections of the
arm are black plastic with yellow hazard stripes. The transformation is
fairly elegant, with the hook folding inside the "forearm" of the crane and
the "elbow" of it becoming the barrel opening of the pistol.

Other Notes: It's interesting that the only times Hoist has gotten his
own mold was in Armada, when it wasn't remotely an homage to the G1
character. Well, the Machine Wars version was kindasorta G1-y, it had the
same personality, but departed significantly from the G1 look.
While Joist lacks Trailcutter's shield, you can fold a door down on the
non-gun-holding arm to create a hazard stripe buckler.

Overall: Still, if G1 Hoist is doomed to retools, this is a good base
mold. I would have preferred a little more retooling (remove the force field
projector, add wings), but it's still a decent job.


DECEPTICON: THUNDERCRACKER
Altmode: Cybertronian Jet Fighter
Series: 02
Number: 006
Transformation Difficulty: Intermediate (2)
Previous Name Use: Yes
Previous Mold Use: Gen(FoC)
Function: Warrior
Motto: "The ground is for the dead and the soon to be dead."

THUNDERCRACKER believes that the ability to fly is the ultimate
expression of evolution among his kind. He views all those without it as
inferior beings, doomed to crawl and struggle in the dust. He proves this to
himself over and over by taking every opportunity to attack those below him.
But his sneering superiority hide deep insecurity. He's unsure of himself as
a warrior, doubts his commitment to the DECEPTICON cause, and suffers an
almost crippling fear of someday being trapped on the ground.

STR 7 INT 7 SPD 9 END 7 RNK 5 COUR 5 FRB 8 SKL 7 Avg 7.125

Yeah, this is the G1 techspec line too.

Packaging: Four strings hold the robot in place, one holds the combined
weapon. The toes are folded back to avoid running into the blister. The
instructions still do not include how to put the combined gun between the
tail and fuselage in vehicle mode.

Comic: Thundercracker is EEEEEEEEMO. This one is set in the ancient
days, a fairly short time after the Orion Pax spotlight issue, and while
Thundercracker more or less has the same robot mode as the toy, artist Chee
doesn't seem to have even glanced at the toy's vehicle mode. The art is
pretty bad in general, as if Chee hacked it out in an afternoon and left it
to the colorist to try to make it look like something other than mediocre fan
art. Barber's story is okay, if mopey. Not really one worth picking up
separately.

Color Swaps: The clear plastic is now clear light yellow on the cockpit
and clear red (both might be painted colorless, or red paint on yellow
plastic). Otherwise, it's not a simple swap. The helmet, tail triangle,
forearms, hands, toes, hips, pelvis and inner abdomen are matte black
plastic. The inner torso hinge plates, shoulder roots, elbows, and the gears
on the guns are medium gray plastic. Everything else is a slightly darker
than medium blue plastic. It's not the faintly teal blue seen on the G1 toy,
but it's closer to that shade than the light blue usually seen in the
animation versions.

Paint Apps: Extensive silver on the cockpit area of the torso, the
backpack (so most of the top side of the fuselage is either silver painted or
gray plastic), the face. the kneecaps, and stripes on the wings. There's
neon violet paint on a few vents and stripes for the obligatory game-era
glowy bits. There's red stripes on the wings, and neon violet Decepticon
symbols with silver borders on the wing tops. The tail triangle is painted
blue in a pretty good match for the plastic, it's just a little too glossy
for a full match. The shin trapezoids are painted gloss black.

Mold Changes: None that I could find.

Other Notes: It's a pity they couldn't find the budget to retool the
shoulders so that the guns could plug into them instead of the forearms.

Overall: A pretty good redeco, a pretty mediocre-ly drawn comic,
best to wait until you can find this for the lower price that Deluxes always
seem to drop to a few months after a new line launches. Some places already
seem to be down to that.


Dave Van Domelen, "So don't DISMISS me just because -- unlike all your
pals on the Lost Light -- my personality isn't the product of a CRIPPLING
PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDER." - Hoist