Packaging - 
Typical Commemorative Series packaging from recent waves. The style is taken straight our of Takara's TF/Collections releases. The color is mainly the traditional red for Autobots, with a dynamic boxart of Hoist on the front. Turning over the cover reveals the toy in vehicle mode plus his accessories, as follow:

1. Wing x 2
2. Missile x 2 (On-sprue)
3. Lifting Unit x 2 (On-sprue)
4. Fist x 2 (On-sprue)
5. Projector x 1

Hoist also came with the following paper work:

1. Instruction Sheet x 1
2. "Japanese style" bio card x 1
3. Stickers Sheet x 1

The internal flap shows advertisements for other releases in the line, while the internal packaging can be folded to form a "stage" to display Hoist. The back of the box shows a tech spec and a battle scene box art.

This is an overall commendable packaging. But the feeling is all too familiar, and, without the tons of bio cards attached like the Takara releases, the packaging does loses some appeal.

Vehicle Mode - ****
Hoist has one of the best vehicle modes in G1 Transformers history. We tend to drool over the sports cars, but it's precisely these down-to-earth vehicles that provide a nostalgic feel. Primarily green, Hoist has yellow and black stripes on the sides to provide a "working vehicle" impression. I n actual fact, as a tow truck, he also have a tow unit in the back of the truck which is luminous orange in colors. The windows are a nice shade of blue that added some coolness.

The materials of the toy consisted a large amount of die cast, thus despite being relatively small-sized, he's actually quite heavy. There are many chrome parts, noticeably on the bumper, the back and on the rims. The tires are also made of rubber, which is a superb tribute to toys of yesteryears. No more cracked plastic tyres, that's for sure.

Robot Mode - **1/2
The transformation sequence is not your typical G1 transformation. At least, it's *slightly* more complicated, but yet still easy to master once you get the hang of it. I'll leave the actual procedure to the instruction sheet though. After transforming him to robot mode, you will need to attach the fists/ missiles/ lifting units at any combination you prefer to give him "hands". Not a bad idea, since there are a lot of combination to play around. His projector also needed to be attached to the back of his head, and the wings, on his back. The tips of the wings, after being attached, will prevent the tow unit to flip down to the back of his legs.

In robot mode, Hoist stands approximately 6 inches tall. Due to the toy design, he appears to be a very "round" robot, especially on the stomach area. This greatly discounted his appearance. I'd love to see him having an actual weapon, perhaps a gun or something. However, the fists did not come with any holes for fitment of weapons. Also, the spring-mechanism on the attachment slots on his arms were removed, so we can no longer fire the accessories that are attached into the slots. This is extremely disappointing, and take away a lot of the play value.

Articulation wise, Hoist is also lacking. He has two points of articulation on his shoulders and two on his elbows. To his credit, the shoulders did provide some slight "in-out" additional movement.

Despite these flaws, Hoist is a well-sculpted toy. He has a lot of details, and his paint application was top-notched. The head sculpt, for example, is glorious. Because of that, I've to do two close-up pictures of it. Do check them out. As for the paint applications, I've seen many poor paintwork on these reissues (Takara included), but Hoist seemed to have improve in this area.

Overall - ***1/4
Hoist has an excellent vehicle mode, but this robot mode left a lot to be desired. The die cast materials are reminiscent of the glorious years of the 70s and 80s, and add points for nostalgic value. The sculpting and paintwork are consistent. His transformation sequence is not too easy, yet not too complicated to master at the same time. He also came with enough accessories to allow more play value. If only his articulation can go beyond four points, he'd have been an A+ figure. I'd go ahead and give him an A+ for the vehicle mode nonetheless, and a B for the robot mode. You work the sums for the average!