Review #54: Generations Deluxe
Trailbreaker and Hoist -- Mold Mates
(Plus add-on kit from X2 Toys)
In the G1 toy line, the characters of Trailbreaker and Hoist shared a mold, with some modification between the two. Today we look at modern versions of these toys, and again they share a mold. There's also an upgrade kit that services both of these toys, but first we will be looking at just the original toys themselves. The only exception to that is that the upgrade kit included some stickers, and I was hardly going to peel them off just to take a few photographs.
Moving on, both of these toys were released in 2013 as part of the Generations toy line. The first to be released was Trailbreaker, sold under the new moniker of Trailcutter. In vehicle mode they take the form of pick up trucks, with some obvious different accessories. Trailbreaker receives a canopy bed cover, while Hoist has a towing arm. Overall, not a bad update to their G1 versions, but also not without some issues. |
It is my understanding that their appearances here are more based on their appearances in IDW comic books rather then how they looked in the G1 cartoon and toy line, but I've never been much of a reader of Transformers comics. (I didn't even read the ones that were packaged with these toys!) And I've also never been of the opinion that "Classics" style toys had to be slavishly faithful to G1. "Classics" often have their own aesthetic, and that's cool! But still, something about Trailbreaker's vehicle mode just didn't sit quite right with me. I think it just seemed somewhat lazy to me that the silver bits on top (the two guns and the force field projector) were still exposed and didn't fold away. It didn't bother me enough to cause me to not buy the toy, mind you, but I'd be lying if I said I completely loved the design.
On Hoist, the exposed force field projector is actually not bothersome. Since his vehicle mode is a tow truck, it is not unreasonable to look at that detail on his vehicle mode and take it as a light bar. Hoist's towing arm is articulated in three spots: at the base, in the middle, and at the hook. As long as you can fit the hook under the front end of another vehicle, Hoist is more then capable of actually towing another Transformer.
These guys are covered in 5mm holes, with two on either side, one on top of the force field projector, and a few more on the truck beds. The ones on the truck beds are used in attaching their respective accessories, and are typically the only ones I'd use in vehicle mode. But the presence of the other holes could definitely add play value for people (such as those kids that are allegedly the target market for toys) who wish to make use of them. Trailbreaker's bed cover features an additional two holes, as well.
On Hoist, the exposed force field projector is actually not bothersome. Since his vehicle mode is a tow truck, it is not unreasonable to look at that detail on his vehicle mode and take it as a light bar. Hoist's towing arm is articulated in three spots: at the base, in the middle, and at the hook. As long as you can fit the hook under the front end of another vehicle, Hoist is more then capable of actually towing another Transformer.
These guys are covered in 5mm holes, with two on either side, one on top of the force field projector, and a few more on the truck beds. The ones on the truck beds are used in attaching their respective accessories, and are typically the only ones I'd use in vehicle mode. But the presence of the other holes could definitely add play value for people (such as those kids that are allegedly the target market for toys) who wish to make use of them. Trailbreaker's bed cover features an additional two holes, as well.
I will save most talk of the add on kit for later, but I shall mention the stickers at this point. The stickers do two things. First, they add the red tail light detail seen on the rear of each of these vehicles. Secondly, they augment the striping detail on the sides of both of these vehicles. Both Trailbreaker and Hoist did originally contain such detail painted on. The stickers cover the painted on detail with identical detail in slightly more vibrant coloring, and then extend such detail further. For example, on Hoist the black and yellow striping was originally only on his door. (And his crane arm.) And on Trailbreaker, the striping didn't originally extend past his rear wheels or up onto his bed cover.
Moving onto robot mode.
Moving onto robot mode.
Well, they look enough like Trailbreaker and Hoist that they get the job done... but again, even though I'm not typically demanding absolute fidelity to G1 in my "Classics" style figures, something about these guys feel off. More on that in a bit, though. First, let us focus on what they do have going for them.
Each has an accessory made from whatever was attached to their respective vehicle modes. Trailbreaker has a combination shield / gun thingy which can open up to reveal a handle for mounting it in his hand, or which can remain folded if you wish to attach it to the hole in either of his forearms. It can also attach to his back if you wish to have the guns pointed up over his back, emulating his G1 toy look, but the only way to do this is to fold back his force field projector and plug the shield into the hole on that, which then spoils the look of the projector. Not the most ideal of solutions.
Hoist, meanwhile, has a gun made from folding up his towing arm. It's actually a cool gun. I like it!
Each one has his own head sculpt. Not too unusual these days, but as someone who remembers when this was rarely the case and recolors typically ended up with heads that were wrong for their characters, I still like to give props when we do get a new head.
Each has an accessory made from whatever was attached to their respective vehicle modes. Trailbreaker has a combination shield / gun thingy which can open up to reveal a handle for mounting it in his hand, or which can remain folded if you wish to attach it to the hole in either of his forearms. It can also attach to his back if you wish to have the guns pointed up over his back, emulating his G1 toy look, but the only way to do this is to fold back his force field projector and plug the shield into the hole on that, which then spoils the look of the projector. Not the most ideal of solutions.
Hoist, meanwhile, has a gun made from folding up his towing arm. It's actually a cool gun. I like it!
Each one has his own head sculpt. Not too unusual these days, but as someone who remembers when this was rarely the case and recolors typically ended up with heads that were wrong for their characters, I still like to give props when we do get a new head.
The shoulders are a bit weird on these figures. The way they attach when transforming is by fitting a little slot in them over the vehicle mode's side mirrors. But there is no friction in this attachment at all, to the point where one can hardly call it an attachment, and it is more just a rough guide on where the shoulders should be. That being said, friction in the involved transformation joints typically hold the shoulder mount close enough to where it should be that this isn't too much of an issue. Still, it'd have been nice if the shoulders did securely tab into place.
Speaking of shoulders, this is likely just a QC issue limited to my copy of the toy, but on my Hoist one of the ball joints for shoulder articulation is extremely loose. Typically, I'd tighten it up with some clear nail polish or something, but in this case the polish did not wish to adhere well to the plastic of the joint, and even if left to dry over night it would completely rub off as soon as I tried to move the joint in question. Currently, I have some masking tape around the ball in the joint, and it seems to do the trick without being too visually obvious. Still, this does detract from things a wee bit.
As for the articulation in general, it is about what I would expect from a toy of this size class. The heads swivel. The shoulders are on ball joints with a wide range of movement. There's an upper arm swivel. The elbows bend, but disappointingly can't even quite manage 90°. (I don't need super ultra poseable elbows in a Deluxe class toy, but I should think a minimum of a 90° bend isn't too much to ask!) The waist swivels, the hips are ball joints, there's an upper leg swivel, and the knees bend.
There's nothing resembling an ankle tilt, but if you want either of these flat footed while the legs are spread slightly, you can simulate one a bit. If you untab the lower leg from how it attaches during transformation to robot mode, it can bend inwards a bit and have more then enough friction to hold itself in place. Bending too much along this joint can make the stance look awkward, but using this joint just a little bit can make for some nice, natural looking stances.
That mostly takes care of their robot modes. But I will say again, while I'm not usually a slave to G1 with my "Classics" style figures, I do wish that there was a way to attach the shield directly to Trailbreaker's back, without folding back the force field projector. And Hoist sure feels like he's missing something, too. I can't quite place it... Maybe something wing-ish? And I'm feeling the color orange for some reason... Anyway, let's see what the upgrade kit for these two figures has to offer, shall we?
Speaking of shoulders, this is likely just a QC issue limited to my copy of the toy, but on my Hoist one of the ball joints for shoulder articulation is extremely loose. Typically, I'd tighten it up with some clear nail polish or something, but in this case the polish did not wish to adhere well to the plastic of the joint, and even if left to dry over night it would completely rub off as soon as I tried to move the joint in question. Currently, I have some masking tape around the ball in the joint, and it seems to do the trick without being too visually obvious. Still, this does detract from things a wee bit.
As for the articulation in general, it is about what I would expect from a toy of this size class. The heads swivel. The shoulders are on ball joints with a wide range of movement. There's an upper arm swivel. The elbows bend, but disappointingly can't even quite manage 90°. (I don't need super ultra poseable elbows in a Deluxe class toy, but I should think a minimum of a 90° bend isn't too much to ask!) The waist swivels, the hips are ball joints, there's an upper leg swivel, and the knees bend.
There's nothing resembling an ankle tilt, but if you want either of these flat footed while the legs are spread slightly, you can simulate one a bit. If you untab the lower leg from how it attaches during transformation to robot mode, it can bend inwards a bit and have more then enough friction to hold itself in place. Bending too much along this joint can make the stance look awkward, but using this joint just a little bit can make for some nice, natural looking stances.
That mostly takes care of their robot modes. But I will say again, while I'm not usually a slave to G1 with my "Classics" style figures, I do wish that there was a way to attach the shield directly to Trailbreaker's back, without folding back the force field projector. And Hoist sure feels like he's missing something, too. I can't quite place it... Maybe something wing-ish? And I'm feeling the color orange for some reason... Anyway, let's see what the upgrade kit for these two figures has to offer, shall we?
Now that's what I'm talking about! Trailbreaker gets his backpack attached correctly, and Hoist gets his wings! And on top of that, they get wrist mounted silver pointy weapon thingies! (This was a not uncommon feature amongst G1 toys that included, as part of the transformation, removable fists.) So, these guys are perfect now, right?
Right?
Well... better, maybe. But not perfect. While the add-on kit fixes some problems, it may add some others.
Hoist's new problems aren't too bad in robot mode. Oh no, he gets a bit of back kibble. There are certainly many toys with much worse cases of this without add-ons!
Trailbreaker... well, it is cool that he has his wrist mounted silver pointy weapon thingy, but especially with what was his weapon before now having a much better home on his back, it is a shame that this set couldn't have given him a new hand gun. Oh wait, it did! The funny thing is, however, that the piece that is the new gun does double duty as the adapter that allows his backpack to attach to his back rather then to a folded back force field projector. So you are forced to choose how you wish to utilize that piece, when in reality I'd rather be able to simultaneously employ the functionality of both options. Still, a minor annoyance. At least Trailbreaker does still have his wrist mounted silver pointy weapon thingy.
Articulation of the base figures is unchanged with the add-ons. The only additional articulation of note is that Hoist's wings are on ball joints, and can be angled a bit differently should you choose. There is one specific angle, however, upon which they seem to sit the best and which happens to (in my opinion, at least) also be the angle at which they look the most correct.
Right?
Well... better, maybe. But not perfect. While the add-on kit fixes some problems, it may add some others.
Hoist's new problems aren't too bad in robot mode. Oh no, he gets a bit of back kibble. There are certainly many toys with much worse cases of this without add-ons!
Trailbreaker... well, it is cool that he has his wrist mounted silver pointy weapon thingy, but especially with what was his weapon before now having a much better home on his back, it is a shame that this set couldn't have given him a new hand gun. Oh wait, it did! The funny thing is, however, that the piece that is the new gun does double duty as the adapter that allows his backpack to attach to his back rather then to a folded back force field projector. So you are forced to choose how you wish to utilize that piece, when in reality I'd rather be able to simultaneously employ the functionality of both options. Still, a minor annoyance. At least Trailbreaker does still have his wrist mounted silver pointy weapon thingy.
Articulation of the base figures is unchanged with the add-ons. The only additional articulation of note is that Hoist's wings are on ball joints, and can be angled a bit differently should you choose. There is one specific angle, however, upon which they seem to sit the best and which happens to (in my opinion, at least) also be the angle at which they look the most correct.
So, how about in vehicle mode? Does everything store away nicely there? Yes! Trailbreaker's accessories attach via the two 5mm holes on top of the bed cover, and even with the silver pointy weapon thingy just hanging off of his back end, it doesn't look too obtrusive. Hoist's accessories all fold up and attach together, and are then connected via the connection which was previously for his towing arm. Folded up, it actually makes his vehicle look a lot more like his G1 version! And then there is a new connection for his towing arm within all of this.
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Alas, this is where the biggest problem with this set becomes apparent. Looking at Hoist from the side, or even from a three quarters front angle, nothing looks too off. In fact, he looks darn good! But... If you look at him from any other angle, it quickly becomes apparent that the new attachment for his towing arm is off centered, which just looks really bad! This is such a disappointment to me.
The upgrade kit is all sold as one unit for both Trailbreaker and Hoist, so if you only have one or the other and you are interested in getting this for it, you may wind up with some extra parts. I have seen photos floating around showing that everything in the kit can be attached to one figure or the other, but frankly doing so makes for a final result that looks ridiculous.
So really, in the end, it can be summed up this way: The base figures have some issues which, granted, are matters of opinion. If you don't share these opinions, then great! The base figures will work well for you. If you do share these opinions, you have the option of getting the X2 Toys upgrade set, which is for the most part a very nice set! But it does have issues of its own, particularly with Hoist's vehicle mode. So you need to decide what exactly you want out of your Trailbreaker and Hoist, and buy according to your wants.
To the left, both figures with their upgrades are presented with a standard DVD case to provide a sense of their scale. As a final note, it is worth saying that they are a bit smaller then Deluxe Class figures from earlier lines, especially in vehicle mode. But they still look pretty good when displayed with their fellows on a shelf. |
I would recommend both of these toys and the upgrade kit for them, but the recommendation does come with the proviso that depending on your personal desires, there may be some issues here and there.
Review added 16 July 2014 by Yotsuya. Comments are welcomed! |
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