When news hit the Transformer fandom that a deluxe Trailcuttter (aka Trailbreaker) and Hoist was in the works, Tf fans rejoiced all over the world. With the help and addition of 3rd party companies, G1 classic collectors can now add TrailCutter to round up the 1984 ark crew. Hoist was a much needed addition to pair up with Grapple to re-live the master builder legacy during the second season of the G1 series. With that said, let's get on with the positive and the negatives. (Sorry about some of the pics, I shot this in the day light as I still don't really have a light set-up).
What I like about them:
-Hoist and Trailcutter has nice color schemes. They even got Trailcutters stripes down right.
-Joints are very tight and durable. Waist can swivel.
-Fairly easy to transform. Did not need instructions at all to figure their transformations.
-Each comes with an IDW comic from which their designs were based on.
-Trailcutter and Hoist has a lot of ports where you can stick his shield on or other weapons from other figures providing that it will fit on that port. You can mount his shield on the his forcefield emitter making it look like a head cannon.
- X2 toys are releasing add-ons that will allow Trailcutter and Hoist to look more like their G1 counterparts.
Click on link below:
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=XT10000&mode=retail
What I don't like about these figures:
- They are a little too small. They are about an inch taller in comparison to Deluxe Bumblebee and Universe Cliffjumper. Hoist is small comparing to RTS Grapple ( Reference: The Master builders). What a let down.
- Hoist's alt mode feels incomplete. His crane feels tacked on rather than being actually a part of him. The crane comes off very loosely especially on alt mode, though it turns to a gun for him to use, it feels really tacked on.
-Their autobot symbols are covered in robot mode until you raise the chest piece.
-Trailcutter does not really have a real weapon. His shield is a cool accessory. Despite having two turrets hooked on to his shield, he is lacking his arm cannon that he had in the original G1 series.
-Hoist does not have his arm cannon as well.
- $14 or more is probably a little too much for a downsizing of an Generations deluxe figure.
-I know this one shouldn't count, but I really prefer the name Trailbreaker instead, but due to copy right issues is our hero force to adopt his new name. ( He is still called Trailbreaker in the Japanese release)
-Trailcutter does not have a force field accessory. Alright I'll let this one go.
Final Thoughts: Well, I thought about purchasing the Takara versions which are about $10 more for them each. As you can see, the colors already look vibrant enough. Hoist has a really good Green color scheme, so I don't know what Takara will add on to him. I can tell Trailcutter is going to be a shinier black on the end-product release, but I don't know if I can justify the extra $10 difference for shinier paint.
If you need to fill your G1 classics, then Generations Trailcutter and Hoist are a must have. Like I said earlier, it comes with a cool comic book about their retconned origins. Trailcutter is apparently a nice guy in this IDW comic. Get em while they are still fresh in the market. Maybe someday they will release Voyager versions of them. If I have to give them a score, both are about 8.5/10.
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*Update 9/23/13* I did take a look online and saw teaser images of how the Takara Tomy versions of TrailCutter and Hoist would look like. If those are the real interpretations of the final Takara products, then Trailcutter has shinier black paint plus darker reds on the red parts. Plus his visor is actually red instead of blue. Hoist on the other hand, is more forest green resembling his G1 colors. Not to mention, his orange parts look brighter than the hasbro version. If I had to choose, I would go for Takara's Hoist, but I think they are going to be sold as a Japanese Generations set.
Neat. We finally get his updated microscope mode. You can look through the lens though it's fairly blurry. You can use his magnifier to pretend as you can zooming or zooming out while examining your headmaster or whatever you are examining. You can examine other headmasters of course I was a little pressed for time so I didn't do it this time around but you get the drill. This is neat to have besides having your typical plane, car, or train etc....
