Plasticos IGA G1 "Hoistbreaker" Hoist Quickie

I recently picked up another Plasticos IGA G1 Hoist, that is a Mexican Hoist with a green Trailbreaker head! This toy is from 1986 and is a famous Transformers variant; one of the finest examples of repainting an old mould instead of using the updated parts of the retool - even if it involved not updating the head, the most character-giving part of the toy! You can read in-depth analysis of the 'Hoistbreaker' from Mexico in my Mexican G1 "Trailbreaker Head" Hoist piece for this blog and also the TF-1 article.

There's no new discoveries to mention or any new ground to tread here, I just thought it would be a nice opportunity to highlight this fantastic variant once again, seeing as I'm lucky enough to have another specimen in hand. It's interesting how every subsequent Mexican Hoist I receive seems to be of lesser condition than the last. This one is complete, but there is sticker peeling, chrome wear and even a missing roof hatch. 

By now, you probably already know what sets this Mexican version of G1 Hoist apart, but let's go over it again anyway, because it's just so damn cool. "Hoistbreaker" here has a Trailbreaker head in Hoist colours, seeing as how Plasticos IGA did not use the updated Diaclone Wrecker/Transformers Hoist head mould, but hey at least he has the vehicle parts and isn't just a 100% green Trailbreaker!

That head really is magnificent. The stickers are of lower quality than the stock Hasbro and Takara stuff from the 1980s, most notably the striped stickers that run along the length of the vehicle mode. They are thinner, have much less detailing and the printing quality has really affected the colours of the stickers. They appear faded when placed next to a Hasbro Hoist and its factory labels.

Plasticos IGA Hoist left - Hasbro Hoist right

Plasticos IGA Hoist left - Hasbro Hoist right

Notice also how the Hasbro Hoist has a consistent green shade across the painted die-cast and moulded plastic sections, whereas the IGA Hoist shows a very distinct difference. The orange plastic on the IGA Hoist is a different shade as well - meaning that if you get an incomplete one, you're going to find it very tough going to get authentic matching parts.

The head assembly doesn't quite connect as snugly or securely with the torso in robot mode compared to Hasbro Hoist, either, but that's a common lower quality trait for Mexican TFs versus their HasTak counterparts. I also find the orange plastic bits a little more fragile in feel and I'm concerned about bending or even stressing the fold-down towing section.

Plasticos IGA Hoist and Plasticos IGA CLiffjumper

As I said in my last article on Mexican Hoist, they've grown in popularity with the general awareness of variants in the community, and they have gotten more expensive and tricky to locate. I got super lucky with this one as the (experienced) eBay seller did not list it as a Mexican one, so it just goes to show that it's still possible to get them for a bargain! Just like the old days.

Excuse the older pic, but just to run through the final differences, Mexican Hoist has a raised bar across the "Japan" section of the copyright since he was not manufactured there. He is also lacking a rubsign, and if I had the roof flap, you'd see a regular paper-y Autobot sticker there instead of a rubsign like the Hasbro one has.

I say this every time I feature the Mexican G1 Hoist, but it bears repeating; if you can get your hands on this toy, do it. It's one of the more fascinating and charming of the classic G1 Transformers variants.

Related Reading:

Mexican G1 "Tralbreaker Head" Hoist
Mexican Hoist (w/ Green Trailbreaker Head)

All the best
Maz