Review #RX-3: "Classics" Style Hook
(TFC Toys Dr. Crank)
TFC Hercules part 3 of 8
And now I present to you the third part of Rated X's Hercules review, taking a look at their Hook expy, Dr. Crank! I shall definitely have some thoughts of my own on this one, so look for that at the end.
TFC Dr. Crank (presented here with Reprolabels) is a good modern representation of G1 Hook. This is a voyager sized figure. The crane mode is nice. It has eight wheels that allow it to roll on a flat surface.
The crane arm has two moving extensions which allow it to reach extreme lengths of over a foot long. It comes with a detachable hook that can be strung on. (I don’t know how to properly do it.) It also comes with a small purple peg that attaches to the back of the crane where the string would wind up on the spool. It allows you to reel in the string like a fishing pole. (string not included) The two guns the figure comes with also peg on to the alt mode. I love this alt mode since Hook was my favorite G1 Constructicon figure as a kid. |
The robot mode looks just as cool as the alt mode in my opinion. He resembles G1 Hook pretty well. The Reprolabels help a lot. The head is a nice homage to the original G1 Hook in the cartoon. As with all the individual robot heads in this set, it has nice red light piping.
The figure is not as well articulated as some of the others in the Hercules set. The head is not on a ball joint but can rotate 360 degrees. The shoulder joints can move up to the side. The upper arm has swivel. The elbow joints can bend, but there is no wrist swivel. Unlike some other figures in the Hercules set, Dr. Crank does not has waist swivel due to his transformation. The middle part of the truck becomes his torso just like the original G1 figure. The legs are connected by ratchet joints at the hips and are nice and tight. They can bend forward, backwards, and to the side. The knees can bend. The feet are just like the original G1 figure, they are the front end of the truck so don’t expect any foot articulation. However, the back of the feet do have flip out heel spurs to increase stability when posing. On my particular figure, one of the heel spurs was extremely tight and wouldn’t flip out. I fixed it by loosing up the screw that holds it in place. I guess the people who assembled him tightened the screw too tight. Easy fix. |
As with all the Hercules figures, Dr. Crank comes with a small purple gun which combines with the other members guns to form Hercules gun. A translucent red version of the same gun is also included which combines with the other members red guns to form a second gun for Hercules.
You can also attach the crane above Dr. Cranks shoulder to resemble a cannon or Hasbro style battering ram. I would never display him like this, I just keep the crane on his back, G1 style. The crane on his back helps the figure stay standing better when posing since the figure doesn’t actually have much for feet.
You can keep the purple peg and hook attached to the crane in robot mode and have the figure hold both guns if parts storage is your desire. But the purple peg doesn’t hold too tight and could easily fall off and get lost. I keep mine safe in a baggie with all the other parts that I don’t use. Would a crane have a string winding handle in real life ? Your choice I guess.
You can also attach the crane above Dr. Cranks shoulder to resemble a cannon or Hasbro style battering ram. I would never display him like this, I just keep the crane on his back, G1 style. The crane on his back helps the figure stay standing better when posing since the figure doesn’t actually have much for feet.
You can keep the purple peg and hook attached to the crane in robot mode and have the figure hold both guns if parts storage is your desire. But the purple peg doesn’t hold too tight and could easily fall off and get lost. I keep mine safe in a baggie with all the other parts that I don’t use. Would a crane have a string winding handle in real life ? Your choice I guess.
Overall, Dr. Crank is a great figure. If you’re into a more cartoon accurate G1 look, this is definitely the way to go over the Maketoys version for the robot mode. Sure he’s bigger than most of your Hasbro figures, but you’re probably buying him and his team members to display as Hercules in combiner mode. With that being said, mass shifting was a big part of the G1 cartoon, and Hercules will scale with deluxe Hasbro figures nicely. I’m happy to have this guy in my collection.
Howdy, folks! Yotsuya back again, for my post-review two cents. Heck, I have a bit more to say this time, so let us call it three cents! Before I get deeply into it, though, if you'd like a refresher on my thoughts regarding the Maketoys version of this character, you can find them as one half of this review here.
So yeah, I mentioned at the beginning that I definitely had a few things to say about this figure. First of all, keep in mind that I've never seen this (or any of the Hercules figures) in person, so anything I say is based strictly on opinions formed from reading reviews other people (including Rated X, here) have written.
That being said... Dr. Crank is definitely a decent Hook, and... deep breath, I can't believe I'm saying this... I will agree that in some ways, he beats the Maketoys version, hands down.
For one... it definitely hides the gestalt mode's head a hell of a lot better. Of course, that's not too difficult, seeing as the Maketoys version didn't really hide the head so much as ask you to pretend not to notice it. "Pay no attention to the large black lump on the top of his vehicle mode. And that is totally just a normal, inconspicuous foot in his robot mode! Nothing to see here!" Yeah, right.
Then we come to the crane arm. Here my opinions do tend towards the Maketoys version. It is cool, for example, that the crane arm on the TFC version can extend twice, but I think when it isn't extended it just looks really thick and inelegant. Also, in my opinion he just looks really stupid with his hook pegged onto the side of the front of his crane arm, instead of dangling down from it as one might expect.
As far as the crane arm in Robot mode, if Maketoys hadn't made alterations to the mold since the original yellow version and the crane arm was still permanently affixed to his arm, then it would be no contest in favor of TFC here. But since Maketoys did make that change before producing the green version... well, that is no longer a strike against him!
Going back to the vehicle mode, however, you may remember Rated X mentioning that, while he hadn't done it himself, the crane arm was designed so that you could thread some string through it. Well, I did a bit of digging and found this photo elsewhere on the internet:
So yeah, I mentioned at the beginning that I definitely had a few things to say about this figure. First of all, keep in mind that I've never seen this (or any of the Hercules figures) in person, so anything I say is based strictly on opinions formed from reading reviews other people (including Rated X, here) have written.
That being said... Dr. Crank is definitely a decent Hook, and... deep breath, I can't believe I'm saying this... I will agree that in some ways, he beats the Maketoys version, hands down.
For one... it definitely hides the gestalt mode's head a hell of a lot better. Of course, that's not too difficult, seeing as the Maketoys version didn't really hide the head so much as ask you to pretend not to notice it. "Pay no attention to the large black lump on the top of his vehicle mode. And that is totally just a normal, inconspicuous foot in his robot mode! Nothing to see here!" Yeah, right.
Then we come to the crane arm. Here my opinions do tend towards the Maketoys version. It is cool, for example, that the crane arm on the TFC version can extend twice, but I think when it isn't extended it just looks really thick and inelegant. Also, in my opinion he just looks really stupid with his hook pegged onto the side of the front of his crane arm, instead of dangling down from it as one might expect.
As far as the crane arm in Robot mode, if Maketoys hadn't made alterations to the mold since the original yellow version and the crane arm was still permanently affixed to his arm, then it would be no contest in favor of TFC here. But since Maketoys did make that change before producing the green version... well, that is no longer a strike against him!
Going back to the vehicle mode, however, you may remember Rated X mentioning that, while he hadn't done it himself, the crane arm was designed so that you could thread some string through it. Well, I did a bit of digging and found this photo elsewhere on the internet:
Holy crap, that looks awesome! Rated X, you need to figure out how to do this to your figure!
As an individual figure, with the better hidden gestalt head and if you do manage to thread string through the crane arm, then I am surprised to say that I would definitely favor Dr. Crank. He is the better figure! (This doesn't mean I suddenly hate my Maketoys version. He's still a decent Hook. Just not as great as this one!) Keep in mind, though, that I said that was "as an individual figure." Unless for some strange reason all you care about is Hook, you need your Constructicons to be able to look good together as a cohesive team, and to be able to form their gestalt of Devastator. So far, Dr. Crank is the only individual figure that Rated X has swayed my opinion on. We still have three more to look at, and then there is the all important gestalt mode to consider. Will my overall preference for Maketoys remain firm? |
Stay tuned, faithful readers...
Review added 24 July 2014 by Rated X. (Prelude and post-script comments by Yotsuya.) Comments are welcomed! Opinions in the body of the review and the photographs presented along with them (not including the extra photo presented at the very end) are from Rated X. Used on this website with permission. Hey! Someone backed my Kickstarter project for $1.00! Woo hoo! I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting even that much... But now that I have one backer... any other takers? $1.00 down, $41.00 more to go! Let's do this!
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