Armada Hoist

Robot Mode: A rather unusual-looking robot, Hoist is nevertheless a very imposing figure. His actual body is rather slimg, but he has extremely broad shoulders and the huge crane on his right arm makes him look very powerful. Of course Hoist is lacking anything resembling normal hands. With the shovel on one hand and a claw-like contraption on the other, he probably has trouble with anything requiring a delicate touch, but that isn't the kind of Bot he is anyway.

Hoist's head is a work of art. A nicely sculpted helmet frames a face that is the very definition of grumpy. Being blasted apart and rebuilt (see below) obviously didn't improve his disposition, which is just how I like it. The rest of his body is also quite nicely detailed, even though his colors aren't the best for bringing them out. His posability is also quite excellent, he can move pretty much freely. Even the arm with the big shovel can move at shoulder, elbow, and the shovel itself can extend by way of pushing in the piece on top of his shoulder.

So the bottom line is: Hoist is definitely among the best of the Armada robots. Good looks, great posability, nice detailing, all combine into a great package. Only the colors could have been a bit better.

Alternate Mode: Hoist transforms into an excavator-type vehicle. Not sure if he's modelled after an actual real-life vehicle, but whatever the case, he looks pretty good. The shovel can be made to move in this mode as well, of course, and the excavator can twist freely on his threads. Refute can powerlink on either side of the vehicle. Not really that much more I can write here. The vehicle looks good, offers some play value, and has no obvious flaws. So no complaints. A good, solid vehicle mode.

Partner: Hoist's Minicon partner is Refute, who transforms into a small orange construction-type vehicle. Not sure what exactly this type of vehicle is called (or what it does, either), but it looks okay and links up nicely with Hoist in both vehicle and robot mode. Refute's own robot mode is pretty limited in terms of posability (he can move his arms at the elbows, that's it), but his looks are nothing to sneeze at. So overall a nice Minicon, but far from the best of the series.

Remarks: After he was nearly killed by the Requiem Blaster, the former Smokescreen was rebuilt into a new robot body. The toy was called Hoist, but in the series he was still called Smokescreen, which led to some confusion among the fans. The mold of this figure was resued several times. In Universe he was repainted as Ransack, in Cybertron he got a new head and new paint as Longrack, and he was also used for the 2006 Botcon set, where he became Dinobot.

Whatever name you want to give him, though, Hoist is an excellent figure. The only thing I would change about him is his paint job. It's a tiny bit boring. But other than that: Great. One of the best Armada toys of them all and definitely worth getting.

Rating: A-

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