Back Road Brawl Mixmaster

Today we take a look at the Toys R Us exclusive Revenge of the Fallen Mixmaster that came in the Back Road Brawl set.


Clever name on the fender, considering Mixmaster was the left foot of the G1 Constructicon gestalt Devastator.

This Mixmaster is from the Revenge of the Fallen movie line. What makes this one special is that he is colored in the same neon green, purple and black color scheme as his G1 inspiration.

Mixmaster is very detailed in vehicle mode, and he even has movable cement truck components like chutes and ladders. Ironically, that's also his favorite board game.

I'm not a big fan of Bayformers (Transformers from the recent movies) or Shellformers (Transformers that are merely scrunched up robots inside an outer shell,) so I wouldn't have gotten Mixmaster if he didn't come with Hoist, but he looks real cool in vehicle mode and his coloration leaves no doubt to his Constructicon affiliation, so I'm glad I have him.

Like most Shellformers, his Transformation is pretty complex. He's like a robo-accordion.

3 hours later.

6 hours later.
Not a bad looking robot, all things considered. The purple and green help. He is a bit floppy, though, with those long limbs that are designed to accordion into his truck shaped outer shell.

Sadly Mixmaster still has his goofy movie face. A new head sculpt would have been cool, but he's not one of the worst looking Bayformers either, so the simple black and silver (and red piping for the eyes) work for him. The silver face paint is already showing some wear due to the tightness of the transformation and the parts rubbing together.

"I'm lonely."

This version of Mixmaster is the only Constructicon from ROTF to be detailed in his G1 colors (as far as I know,) and these deluxe versions don't combine anyways. So my Mixmaster will be flying solo forever.

Mixmaster doesn't combine with his pals, but he is billed as a triple-changer.

8 hours later.

Here he is in Battle Mode. He kind of looks like a scorpion or something.

His gun fires a missile, but unlike Hoist, he cannot fire it in cement truck mode.

All in all a cool Transformer, but very frustrating to transform. I can't see kids playing transformers and taking the fifteen minute breaks between sentences to change guys like these back and forth. Although it does get easier the more times you do it, I think playability suffers when transformations become too complex; which is one reason the earlier Transformers are superior in my opinion.

One Tow Over the Line

The birthday "haul" turns literal with this guy:

This is Hoist. He comes from the Toys R Us exclusive "Back Road Brawl" set (along with a G1 recolored Revenge of the Fallen Mixmaster - more on him later.)

Hoist is a repaint of an earlier movie based release called Longarm. I believe this figure was always intended to be Hoist, and was supposed to be released in the Transformers Classics (later Universe) lineup. But the movie toys have been surprisingly popular and long lived, so Hasbro is sticking with them for as long as they can. Sadly the Classics/Universe line has pretty much fallen into limbo.

So although it made no sense at all from a fan perspective, Hasbro released this figure originally as "Longarm" and painted him to look like a (non-transforming) tow truck that appeared (briefly) in the movie. It didn't make sense, and I (literally) didn't buy it.

Thankfully Hasbro finally wised up and wedged a G1 accurate Hoist into their movie line of toys (albeit packed in a TRU exclusive set with a Bayformer repaint. Sheesh!)

Anyways, Hoist looks exactly like he should - a nice update on his original tow truck vehicle mode, complete in green with gold accents and sporting a light bar and yellow/black "caution" tape on his side. There's no mistaking this Transformer.

Hoist's robot mode is also a great update on his original look. All the right colors in all the right places (although some chrome accents would be nice.) His hook also transforms into a gun which can launch a plastic missile. It is permanently attached to his hand, but word on the street is that if it bothers you it can be unscrewed. It doesn't bother me though, as for now I display Hoist in tow truck mode, so I don't have to worry about balance or tipping or anything. That said, his feet are nice, large and steady, so he stands very well.

UPDATE: After transforming Hoist back into truck mode I noticed that you can not only discreetly leave the missile in the gun when he's in truck mode (great to avoid lost/misplaced parts) but it even fires from underneath his front bumper! Now THAT'S a cool feature!

For me, often the thing that makes or breaks a Transformer is his face. Which is why, for the most part, I dislike Bayformers. Hoist however has a very nice and accurate update to his G1 look (which is another reason I believe the original release of Longarm was meant to be Hoist all along.) He looks tough and cool, and the "corrugated metal" of his chest really brings out his utilitarian role. There's a ton of articulation too ("ton" being a perspective using original Transformers as the ruler from which we measure these things,) so his arms and legs and head and even his torso can move into many different poses. It's amazing what they can do with ball joints these days.

I love these G1 Transformer updates, and I hope once the ROTF dust settles we'll see many more of them. There were a couple I was looking for as the Classics/Universe line ended (Ironhide, Ratchet, and Hound) and they never popped up for me, so I am glad Hoist appeared on my birthday. Although I never had him as a kid, I have fond memories of him from the comics and cartoons.