Hoist (RB)

Hoist the Tow-Bot is an Autobot from the Rescue Bots portion of the Aligned continuity family.

Whatever you do, do not eat the free pistachio ice cream! It has turned.

Hoist was once a spaceship repair-bot and aspiring inventor. Now he's putting his engineering skills and towing abilities to new use as a potential Rescue Bot. Studying at the Rescue Bot Training Center on Earth, Hoist is learning to have more confidence in himself and work as part of a team with his fellow students Hot Shot, Medix, Wedge, and Whirl. Just make sure the mission doesn't involve dinosaurs or, by extension, Dinobots.

Fiction

2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon

But... but, he's just a kid?

Following the restoration of Cybertron from the Great War, Hoist was one of the many Autobots blacklisted by the new High Council for being a supporter of Optimus Prime. Enemy of My Enemy

Rescue Bots Academy cartoon

Voice actor: Alan Trinca (English), Dario Sansalone (Italian), Sébastien Hébrant (French), Erick Padilla (Latin American Spanish)

Hoist was selected to be a new recruit at the Rescue Bot Training Center on Earth. Shortly after Hot Shot joined the team, Heatwave had them undertake a test rescue, with Hoist and Medix extracting Tough Luck Chuck from a burning building, however the test ended in failure thanks to Hot Shot. Recruits Part I Whirl and Hoist unsuccessfully tried to find Hot Shot, who appeared to be headed back to Cybertron, however their fellow recruit later turned up with two extra alternate modes bestowed on him by Optimus Prime. The recruits went on to successfully carry out a cave rescue. Recruits Part II Hoist and the other recruits got to meet Blades when the copter-bot was brought in to help tutor Hot Shot in the art of flying, and later took part in a forest fire rescue. The Secret of Flight

After a rescue turned out to be more difficult than expected, the other recruits got Hoist to create new rescue tools for them to use, including a winch whip for himself. Hoist was discouraged when the first test of the tools was a dismal failure, but the other recruits got Boulder involved, and Hoist successfully perfected the tools. If at First... After Hot Shot was assigned to look after Tough Luck Chuck when the test robot was damaged, Wedge and Hoist found Chuck roaming the training center. Chuck managed to slip off Hoist's hook and escape through the GroundBridge, forcing the Rescue Bots to hunt for him in Milford. Tough Luck Chuck Bored by Chase's class on police codes, Hoist and the other recruits persuaded Chase to let them try to do a practice rescue, and ended up being rescued themselves by Whirl when they got stuck in the snow. Whirl'd View When the recruits didn't understand why Boulder was having them plant flowers, the Rescue Bot set them a task which taught them that all parts of nature are important, though Hoist had the misfortune of stepping in cow patties. Plan Bee

Hoist was helping Boulder by repairing the launch tubes, when Wedge started abusing the rescue alarm for a series of drills intended to get the team's response time down. As a result, the repairs didn't get done and Wedge ended up trapped in one of the launch tubes when it malfunctioned. The Bot Who Cried Rescue The recruits had to contend with a runaway rock sculpture of Hot Shot's head when he decided to carve it into a mountain alongside the likenesses of the Rescue Bots. Mount Botmore After he broke up an argument between Hot Shot and Wedge, Hoist was put in charge of a rescue exercise but had trouble getting the other recruits to follow his orders. Mission Inaudible After completing a simulated rescue, despite a glitch occurring, the recruits took part in a real rescue in Griffin Rock which was only successful because the glitch gave Medix an idea to complete it safely. Glitch

After a ride on the Sigma, the recruits assumed the four command chairs meant one of their number wouldn't graduate. The team went on to botch a volcano rescue drill after staying up all night worrying, until Heatwave told them they'd assumed wrong. Five into Four When Whirl was filming footage for a recruitment video, Hoist broke out his Heatwave and Optimus puppets for a brief show before falling through a GroundBridge portal to Outer Mongolia. He and the others later helped whip the footage into a usable state. Rescue Promo After a botched rescue had the recruits blaming each other, Heatwave assigned them to cleaning duties. Hot Shot sneaked out to do a rescue, and as a result, the rest of the recruits had to go help him when he hit trouble. Blame Game Hoist and the other recruits set up a surprise rescue mission for Medix, who didn't get the appeal of surprises. Unfortunately the mission did not go well, and the other recruits promised to stop with the surprises. Medix Surprise

The recruits got to try out some TX3000s on loan to the rescue center, and even used them during an actual rescue. The TX3000 After being proclaimed hero of the hour for a rescue, Hoist was reluctant to spend time recuperating in his stasis pod, and as a result jeopardized another rescue mission with his malfunctions. Little Bot Peep During Teen Pioneer Wes's visit to the Academy, he and Hoist spend some time in Hero Hall practicing their skills with the lasso. Driving a Wedge Boulder accompanied the recruits to the planet Parvus where they rescued the last surviving Galax. The Big, Small Rescue

When Hot Shot and Wedge decided to compete over who was qualified to get into the Heroes of Cybertron card game, Hoist acted as referee. After the competition ended in a tie, Hoist revealed he'd made custom cards for them both. Battle of the Bots Hoist and the other recruits had to round up a small rock alien that got loose in the academy. About a Rock The recruits tried to keep secret the fact a dog had followed them home after the last rescue, only to discover that the dog was actually trying to alert them to the fact they'd missed someone who needed rescuing. Dog Stray Afternoon Hoist took part in the rescue of Dr. Hart on a runaway iceberg. Lucky Ducky

Whirl tried to get Hoist and the other recruits into cheerleading, but it wasn't until they employed the skills they'd learned during a rescue that they were enthusiastic about it. Go Team, Go! When Boulder assigned the recruits the task of familiarizing themselves with smartphones, they neglected their lessons and chores, resulting in them screwing up a rescue exercise. Screen Time During a visit to the museum in Milford, Hoist and the others helped Whirl apprehend a criminal in the act of robbing the place. Fright at the Museum

When their teachers went missing on a space mission, the recruits worked together to pilot the Sigma and mount a rescue. Space Case Assigned the task of trash collection, Hoist souped up his garbage grabber to incorporate an electromagnet. He successfully used it to locate a shipwreck when the recruits' next mission was undersea trash collection. All at Sea Hoist created the Scrub-A-Dubber to clean up the academy for them while the teachers were away, however the recruits plugged so many power pods into it that it became out of control and they had to trap it in Heatwave's office. All Washed Up

Heatwave suggested that the bored students try their hands at being teachers for the day. Hoist set up a driving course for Medix to demonstrate, however a sudden downpour made it trickier than intended. Who's Teaching Who? An attempt to rescue a balloon from a tree turned into a major disaster when the recruits went in without a plan. Balloon Up A Tree During a sim exercise, Hoist was so distracted reading about dragons that Heatwave assigned the recruits a new medieval sim with a dragon in it. They first attempted to corral the dragon before realizing it was actually trying to help. The Mystery of Dragon Mountain Another sim turned into chaos thanks to Hot Shot combining it with his game, forcing the recruits to deal with giant hedgehogs. Hack Attack

Hoist and the other recruits found their rescues complicated by Medix's attempts to loosen up after they suggested he was a stick in the mud. Life of the Party Hoist was unenthusiastic when it turned out Grimlock was joining the academy as a teacher, as he was afraid of Dinobots. He kept making excuses to skip lessons, until he discovered Grimlock was deathly afraid of cats, and pledged to work through his fear. Tyrannosaurus Wrecked Despite this, Hoist asked to be let off a trip to Dino Island due to his fear of dinosaurs only to find himself stuck in the academy with a dinosaur which had come through the GroundBridge. After he bravely removed a rock stuck in its foot, it was much happier, although he still had not completely shaken his fear of dinosaurs. Dino Hard

Assigned a stealth mission by Chase, Hoist and Whirl managed to find Tough Luck Chuck hiding in a barn, but were caught by Chase after Whirl accidentally demolished the structure. Buddy Cop Another mission saw the recruits having to rescue penguins from an island the hard way after an electrical storm knocked out their tools and even their ability to transform. Escape from Penguin Island During a competitive search and rescue exercise, Hoist cheated by using an accidentally dropped map to find Chuck. He won the prize, picking an Old West sim for the recruits to do, but had to admit that he'd cheated earlier when the sim turned into another search and rescue. All that Glitters A hunt for a downed satellite resulted in the recruits hiding out backstage at Dig Fest while trying to signal Wedge. Dig Fest

The recruits took part in Halloween festivities and ended up having to deal with a house fire. Trick or Treat Medix's confusion over a television commercial meant that the recruits had to mount a hasty coverup so he wouldn't blow their secret to all of Milford. Monster Savings Heatwave assigned Hoist the task of looking after the experimental Virtual Sonic Fence, for which the recruit memorized the unlock code by remembering the tune it made. Unfortunately the tune turned out to be such an earworm it interfered with the recruits' concentration and they had to erase it from their minds. This later caused problems when they needed to use the device during a mission to Herboo, but Hoist eventually succeeded in remembering the tune in time to prevent the advance of a karknoid beetle. Tune Out A trip to survey a geyser field saw the recruits having to deal with a swarm of Scraplets. Metal Munchers

Hoist and the other recruits took part in essential maintenance as directed by Bumblebee, unlike Wedge who spent the whole time trying to impress his hero, and they were therefore fully functional for the following rescue drill. Bee Prepared When Whirl's failed attempts to do a maneuver led her to try to seek out the Wise One, the other recruits went after her and became trapped in a ravine, requiring her to rescue them using the maneuver she had been trying to perfect. Whirl's Wise-Bot Quest Hot Shot's careless actions in ejecting his junk into space had Hoist and the others following his lead, resulting an a huge junk meteor that threatened the satellite they were trying to repair. Flying Hunk-A-Junk A mission deep undersea forced the recruits to rely on each other as they rescued an automated drone from deep sea wildlife. Into the Depths

Inspired by a dog whistle, Hoist created the "talkie squawkie", a new comms device designed to not be audible to humans. Despite Heatwave insisting it needed testing before use, Hoist proceeded to test it anyway, causing problems when it turned out to drive animals crazy. Milford Goes To The Dogs The recruits struggled to complete a rescue sim until Hot Shot realized they'd been trying to stop the disaster instead of saving the people. The Ice Wave As graduation drew closer, the recruits successful competed against their teachers in a relay race carrying a pretend rescue victim. Hoist and the others were surprised and saddened when Hot Shot opted to abandon his Rescue Bot training and return to Cybertron to compete in the Cube finals. Best Bots Forever Part 1 Wanting to watch Hot Shot's Cube game, Hoist came up with the idea of boosting the holo-emitter screen using the space bridge. This resulted in the creation of a slowly growing energon bubble which engulfed the academy. It was only when Hot Shot returned that the recruits were able to burst the bubble. The recruits were able to graduate from year one of their learning. Best Bots Forever Part 2

At the start of year two, the recruits returned to the Academy to find they'd been given personal spaces—Hoist got a workshop with reinforced walls in case of explosion—and would be tested to work out who they'd be assigned as a personal mentor. Hoist felt he'd be OK no matter who he was paired with, up until Ratchet's Aptitude Analyzer picked Grimlock. Back to School He did his best to avoid Grimlock, however the pair were assigned a mission which, to Hoist's horror, involved them teaming up with Dinobots Sludge and Snarl to recover a crashed spaceship. Though hugely intimidated by the Dinobots, Hoist managed to stand up to them when their efforts to move the ship threatened a nearby human village, and worked out a way to safely accomplish the task. Sludge and Snarl were so impressed, they considered making him an honorary Dinobot. Mission Dinobot

Teamed with Grimlock again, Hoist underwent Dinobot sensitivity training and rescued some kittens from a mine. He and the other recruits later rescues some foxes from a tree in a forest fire. In Training The recruits went on a trip to Cybertron to visit Ratchet's lab, which ended up being disrupted by Medix's bat Mister Flappy. Medix Steps Up To The Bat When the recruits learned that Cody was down because he wasn't a robot like them, Hoist had the idea of building him a robotic suit. The suit worked, but Cody found it difficult to control, especially when Hoist deployed the rocket boosters while they were on a mission to catch a rogue bull. They later learned that Cody was actually just missing being able to hang out with the recruits. Robo-Cody

Heatwave tasked the recruits with acting in the play Jack and the Beanstalk, with Hoist scoring the role of the giant. It did mean he almost took a tumble when the stage threatened to collapse mid-performance. Acting Out Hoist and the others found Wedge's boredom was interfering with their study time. Wedge later surprised them by being enthusiastic about studying. Need to Know

After "borrowing" Grimlock's classic Cube, Hot Shot got Hoist to soup up its AI, resulting in an unstoppable Cube which escaped the Academy. Hoist was later disappointed to learn Hot Shot had not asked permission to borrow the Cube, and the recruits had to seek the Dinobot's help to recapture the device. Trouble Cubed When Heatwave let the recruits pick their favorite rescue to do, there was a substantial amount of disagreement over which to do. Hoist favored one with a dragon in, which the other recruits pointed out they'd already done. The spat eventually broke the simulation, plunging it to chaos until the five recruits worked together to fix the control unit. My Favorite Rescue

Hoist's discovery of an old newspaper article pointing to a possible energon cache in an old mine led him and Grimlock to team up with Snarl and Sludge again to search for it. Despite finding the energon, the three Dinobots managed to cause a cave-in and Hoist had to come up with a plan to get them all out of the mine. The Great Energon Rush After Ratchet got trapped in an ancient sim, the five recruits entered the sim as well. They successfully negotiated their way through a tower full of traps and rescued their teacher, completing the sim and opening the vault to find four Mul-T-Cogs and an ancient artifact. The Vault Of The Primes

Hoist built a Rube Goldberg device supervised by Boulder, and was hence too busy to help Whirl investigate a ghost. Wild Ghost Chase Following a soil-sampling mission on some dwarf planets, Hoist and the others found Medix had replanted the Galax in the academy garden, which it had promptly taken over, forcing them to relocate it to a more suitable home. Little Plot of Horrors Hoist attended the opening of the Museum of Future Tech Art. Museum Mystery

When the recruits had to rescue Doc Greene and Frankie from the Griffin Rock lab, Hoist was lowered in through a hole Medix created so he could extract everyone. Partners Medix's overly-harsh criticism of the other recruits made them upset at him, however his overcompensation then led them to believe they had mastered a rescue technique when they had not. Critical Condition During a visit to Mechapark, Hoist won a giant stuffed bunny he dubbed Hopster Saint Hoppington, and also got stuck on a malfunctioning Ferris wheel which required a nick-of-time save from Whirl. Fun Droids

The Sparksayer gifted Hoist with a new plasma cutter which he was able to use during a volcano rescue. Power Up And Energize Cody had the five recruits learn some ballet to improve their poise and balance during rescues. Shall We Dance? Hoist and the others helped Hot Shot overcome his one-alternate-mode-per-day limitation by tricking him into thinking a sim rescue was real. Mul-T-Change of Pace During a camping trip on Natura Island, Hoist and the others were transported to a junkyard by the island's security system, necessitating a rescue by Whirl and Chase. Five Little Rescue Bots Hoist was annoyed at Hot Shot for messing up his museum, however it later turned out that Hot Shot had been attacked by a diagnostic tool unleashed by Medix. Good Advice

After a campout, the recruits noticed Hot Shot was acting oddly and eventually worked out his comm transmitter had fallen out, resulting in them having to go back for it and rescuing a bear cub in the process. Campfire Fright Hot Shot persuaded the other recruits to test out the new Mul-T-Cogs from the vault, only for them to discover that the cogs weren't charged enough and they could no longer transform. Hot Shot successfully fully activated them at the cost of his own ability to transform, at least until Hoist and the others found they could return the favor and use their cogs to reactivate his. Small Cogs Hoist had trouble deciding on what to scan for his new alternate mode and decided to consult Grimlock. This perhaps predictably resulted in him scanning a dinosaur alternate mode. Big Wheels

While reviewing a hologram of live star activity, Hoist and Medix spotted a distress beacon, leading Heatwave to send the recruits on their first solo off-world mission. The mission took them to a deserted city where Hoist's tracking device was less than useful and he came up with the idea of following a star, which led them to find Scorch's Cube team under attack from the architecture, and they eventually discovered that the city itself was a long-lost Titan, Citadel Secundus. The Empty City After taking part in Mentor Training Day with Grimlock, Hoist teamed up with his mentor again for a "rescue-athon". First Responder

Boulder assigned the recruits the task of training Scraplets, which they attempted unsuccessfully for a while before giving up. During a subsequent mission to prevent a power plant from exploding down, it turned out Medix had managed to train the Scraplets after all, saving the day. How To Train Your Scraplet Hoist took part in a window washing rescue sim, and helped extinguish fires in Crook's Canyon. Helicopter Heroes He and the other recruits were dispatched to Australia to help Brushfire with some kangaroos, and ended up fighting fires. Brushfire He was present when Whirl arrived back at base with the stasis locked Scorch. The Ties That Bind

Hoist took part in a bus rescue exercise, and later used his dino mode to help save a tree on Dino Island from a falling butte. Bot Blog When the recruits recovered Laserbeak from a stricken ship, Hoist was hesitant about helping a Decepticon, at least until Wedge revealed that he had originally been created as a Decepticon. More Than Meets The Eye Hoist began waking up from stasis still tired, to the point that it was affecting his work. When he found the lab trashed, he and Whirl investigated and came to the conclusion that Sludge and Snarl were at fault, only for Hoist to later realize that he had been transforming to dino mode and rampaging in his sleep. Things That Go Bot In The Night

During some lessons by Perceptor, Hoist rescued people from a cable car by tightrope walking with a girder. He and the other recruits later had to rescue Medix when their fellow recruit ran into trouble trying to impress the teacher. Medix Gets Schooled He and the other recruits experienced jealousy when a group of teens began carrying out rescues in Milford and getting press. Rescue Teens

Perceptor sent the recruits to Sifrolicous-5 to discover why the planet changed color, and they found mudlubbers, who turned out to be exactly suited to the environment. Enter The Flood Hoist took part in a cow rescue, during which Whirl was injured and had to spend time recovering in a stasis pod. Wizard Of Botz Hoist practiced lifting weights in dino mode while Grimlock spotted him. The Tracker When Hot Shot was assigned the task of maintenance on Hero Hall, the other recruits were skeptical of his abilities and Hoist attempted to do the work for him. As a result, Hoist screwed up and allowed creatures to escape the simulation. Though the pair did their best to recover the creatures without anyone knowing, a dragon menacing Milford was a bit much and forced them to come clean to Heatwave. Fortunately Hoist was able to reprogram the dragon into a blimp so they could safely return it to the academy. One Of Our Dragons Is Missing

Hoist and the other recruits were taken on a field trip by Perceptor to a tropical island to study volcanoes. Dino-mite Duo They joined Heatwave in responding to a vague message from Citadel Secundus, only to find the Titan was just in need of some company. The Lonely Titan The recruits teamed up with Finn O'Reilly to follow the clues on a Holokey. They expected treasure, but instead found a hidden cache of Tox-En. X Marks The Bot Hoist, Medix and Whirl helped Hot Shot modify the racing track so they could help Wedge get used to moving at speed. Making Tracks During a mission to Krimol, Hoist ended up falling into a crevasse thanks to the dust kicks up by the other recruits. With most of his tools damaged, he had to sit and wait until the others found him. Don't Be Alarmed Heatwave had Hoist and the other recruits retrieve toxic barrels from the seabed and rescue Jerry in order to teach them to exercise more restraint in using their power up tools. Powerless

After discovering that Medix was into DJ Mechmaster's electronic music, the recruits joined him in rescuing the DJ during a charity concert in Griffin Rock, and even took part in the show masquerading as stage props. Griffin Rock Rocks! Hoist and the other recruits watched from the Academy as Chuck and Hot Shot entered the Bot Battle event at Dig Fest. Bot Battle

Despite Hoist's fears, the recruits passed their final test of year two with little trouble, and were treated to a party aboard Citadel Secundus afterwards. Unfortunately midway through the party, the Titan was hit by an asteroid which created an anti-energon field, knocking out Hoist and most of the rest of the party-goers. Space Party He and Medix were revived by Wedge with the use of shield emitters, and the trio worked to get Secundus into receive mode to prevent the Titan crashing into Earth. Crisis over, the recruits were thrown a graduation ceremony. Crash Of The Titan

Toys

Rescue Bots

Fist-bump?

• Hoist the Tow-Bot (2012)

Part of the fifth wave of the original Rescue Bots toyline, Hoist transforms from robot into a tow truck. Pulling the tow truck's hook up converts him back into a robot.

The wave with Hoist and Medix was originally a bit scarce on retail shelves (though it hit Target clearance in some places), and as such the two demanded some hefty prices on the secondary market thanks to a surge of interest in the line as a result of the cartoon). However, there must have been a warehouse find or something, as eBay sellers eventually started listing them in large numbers for roughly original retail.

This figure was redecoed and given a new head to create the tow-truck version of Optimus Prime, currently an Amazon-exclusive.

• More information on Hoist at TFU.info

Neon!

• Hoist the Tow-Bot (Rescan Series, 2016)

Part of the eleventh wave of "Rescan" figures (second wave of the 2016 assortment), Hoist is a re-working of his original toy in a smaller scale. He transforms from robot to tow truck (and back) in a single step, activated by swinging his legs down (or up), which swings out (or in) his arms and head. His tow-winch is adjustable and can in theory tow another toy in vehicle mode, but the hook sits pretty dang close to his rear bumper and prevents some toys from hooking up with him; Quickshadow and Bumblebee both work for this.

He has 5 mm post-holes on his tow-winch and both sides of his fists, though the ones on the bottoms of his fists have considerably more clearance for large "accessories" like the Rescue Bots Mini-Cons.

This figure was retooled into "Academy Rescue Team" Hoist featuring a color scheme more in line with his on-screen appearance in the Rescue Bots Academy show.

He tows the line of show accuracy. Get it? Wait come back! Why are you all leaving?

• Hoist the Tow-Bot (Flip Racer, 2017)

Part of the first wave of individually packed Flip Racers, Hoist transforms automatically from tow-truck to robot when the vehicle mode is lifted up and placed on its end.

Rescue Bots Academy

• Academy Rescue Team (2019)

The first Academy-branded Hoist is a redeco and retool of the earlier Rescan version of Hoist, now cast in colors more closely resembling his on-screen appearance in the Rescue Bots Academy show. First revealed at Toy Fair 2019,^[1] he features a new head, new vehicle mode traybed, and revised waist and legs, turning him into a 6-wheeled flatbed tow truck. Hoist comes in a set of four, similar to the previous "Griffin Rock Rescue Team", with Whirl (retool of VTOL jet version of Blades), Hot Shot (retool of Rock Rescue Team Bumblebee) and Wedge (retool of cement mixer Salvage).

• Hoist the Tow-Bot (2019)

This version of Hoist is sized similarly to the previous Megabots line, and at about 11 inches tall is in scale with the previously released helicopter-mode Whirl, car-mode Medix and payloader-mode Wedge, transforming into a tow-truck in a couple of "Easy 2 Do Conversion" steps. He features a "tow-line" gimmick in his left arm; the winch on said arm actually works and has a hook, and can be retracted on a spring by pressing the left side of his front bumper.

Like the other Academy figures at the same scale, Hoist is functionally an up-sized version of a previous toy; in this case, his own original and Rescan-sized figures.

• Command Center Hoist (2019)
  • Accessories: Command Center/trailer, RADAR Dish

First revealed via online listings, this version of Hoist comes with a tow-along trailer that turns into a repair bay with a light-up robotic welding arm and holographic diagnostic monitors. Hoist himself is a retool of the flatbed truck multipack version of Hoist, replacing the flatbed with a towing arm. The towing arm must be lowered in order to hitch up his trailer in vehicle mode.

Mini Bot Racers

• Hoist

Collect them all! This character article is a stub and is missing information on their toys & merchandise. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it.

Notes

• The original Hoist's Rescue Bots package art shows him teamed with an unnamed human partner in the shape, but not colors, of the original Charlie Burns figure. This character never materialized as a toy.
• In his Robots in Disguise cameo, Hoist is depicted as a recolor of Trailbreaker with a different head and shoulder-fins inspired by his Generation 1 counterpart.
• Hoist's Rescan series artwork is a trace-over of the original rendered in style to match the cartoon's look. It also omits the human partner and changes a handful of details to line up more with the new toy.
• Compared to the final version, Hoist's initial character model for Rescue Bots Academy featured black wrist panels instead of green, no silver shoulder hubcaps, different leg stripe placements, and silver ear disks instead of black. The coloring for his vehicle mode also resembles his original toy much more.
• If the recruits were to have an official age order, Pete Slattery would write Hoist as the second youngest.^[2]

Foreign names

• Mandarin: Huáchē (滑车, "Pulley")

References