Review 10-005 - TF2 Movie Hoist Vs Mixmaster
Review 10-005 - TF2 Movie Hoist Vs Mixmaster
Review 10-005a - Hoist
Series - TF2 Movie (non-cast)
Sub-line -
Size - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - redeco
Wave - Store-exclusive, US ToysRUs
Released here - No
Approximate Retail Price - US$30-35 for the pair
Approximate Size - 15cm
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Tow Truck
Main Features/Gimmicks - Firing missile launcher
Main Colours - Dark green, grey, orange/gold.
Main Accessories - Missile and launcher
My Difficulty rating (out of 5) - 2.5 (trouble gettting all the panels aligned in vehicle mode, but easier to convert to robot mode)
Stability - A bit unbalanced in robot mode, but big feet help. Truck mode is quite solid, if you can get all the panels locking together.
Poseability/articulation - Just the right amount of articulation in robot mode to make it playable without interferring in conversion or stability.
Playability - Fairly good, but like most movie toys that are Deluxe or larger, play is stalled when you spend several minutes converting the darn thing (never a problem in Gen1, or even Beast Wars). And if you don't have all the panels interlocking in alt-mode, it won't sit flat on the ground with all four wheels.
My Thoughts - Hoist is the better of the two in this set, to me. It is the least difficult, so is a lot more fun (they're toys, so the primary purpose is to play - the puzzle factor should remain as the gimmick, not dominate it's purpose). Robot mode feels a bit 'flat', and neither toy in this set has an alt-mode that has much play-value (like a military vehicle or a sports car). The towing hook is a nice feature, as it can tow other car TFs if it has somewhere to hook onto. I don't like the way the roof lights stick up so high, it almost looks like a design flaw.
For a review of the original Hoist - http://www.cliffbee.com/reviews/longarm.php
Review 10-005a - Mixmaster
Series - TF2 Movie
Sub-line -
Size - Voyager
New/remould/redeco - redeco with new head (not sure why, as it appears to be the same character)
Wave - Store-exclusive, US ToysRUs
Released here - No
Approximate Retail Price - US$30-35 for the pair
Approximate Size - truck-20cm, robot-15cm
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-mode - Cement Truck
Main Features/Gimmicks - Firing missile launcher and Battle mode. Claims to have a Mech-Alive feature, but I can't find it.
Main Colours - Lime green, grey, purple, black.
Main Accessories - Missile
My Difficulty rating (out of 5) - 4 (converting to alt-mode, but the robot mode appears to be a lot easier)
Stability - Locks together nicely in Truck mode, but the other two modes are a mess of limbs and kibble. And the barrel parts keep popping off!!
Poseability/articulation - Some would say more articulation makes a better, playable toy, but in this case, the articulation is what ruins this figure. There is just too much, making it impossible to convert to truck mode without instructions, plus a lot of adjustment of joints just to stand it up in robot mode. I also think it ruins the look of the figure, as the arms are just a mess of joints, making it look worse than kibble. Plus, as joints get loose over the life of the toys, more joints makes it more difficult to pose, or even stand, the figures.
Playability - Ironically, the Battle-mode, the mode I think looks the worst, is probably the most useful mode to play with in a play-battle with other toys. The back-pack kibble in robot mode spoils having a 'gimmick' of extra-long arms to melee attack opposing toys. And the Truck mode doesn't give you much in the way of offensive capabilities.
My Thoughts - Don't know if the robot mode was ruined by trying to engineer a 3rd, battle-mode, or if the battle-mode was an after-thought that was found after play-testing the figure. I'm hoping that it was the former, as I'd hate to think that the mutated mess of a robot mode was intentional. Then again, this toy would just have been replicating a form/concept that Michael Bay would have created/approved, that looked like a 'gorilla' (over-long arms) in robot mode, and had to have a third weapons mode.
This was one of the hardest Transformers toys I have ever had to work out. I've only ever had to resort to instructions 3 times in the past, and this was almost my fourth if I didn't have the original Movie Mixmaster lying around in Truck mode (I've never gotten around to converting that one either - something these toy reviews should change). The problem of having TFs toys with heaps of joints is that the combination of permutations is magnified almost exponentially, to the point of spending hours on combinations and still not getting the joints all in the right places without getting a hint from 'one that was prepared earlier'. I haven't yet converted it back to robot mode, nor tried the 'Battle-Mode', but haven't had much fun so far, so am not rushing to convert this one back (and when it is, it will probably be the last time I touch it before it goes on the display shelf). The Gen1 homage is nice, but only when it is in vehicle mode (and really, do we need every construction vehicle to be redecoed lime & purple?)
For a review of the original Mixmaster - http://www.cliffbee.com/reviews/rotfmixmaster.php
Overall Recommendation Rating for the set (out of 10) - 5 (only buy it if cheap, or if you want the Gen1 homages)
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Originally Posted by lcz128
