The Japanese Diaclone 4WD Hilux Wrecker Type would later become best known as the Autobot Hoist from the Transformers line. This is one of the first incarnations of the mould, which is a slight retool of the previously released Diaclone 4WD Hilux (Diaclone release of what would later become TF Trailbreaker).

It was released in Japan first in blue as part of the Blue Wrecker/Grey Honda City S 2-set around October 1982, and there is some evidence to suggest that it was later released individually in blue also, just as the grey Honda City S was individually packed. The red version of the Wrecker was released after the giftset around January 1983. Both the red and blue Japanese Diaclone Hilux Wreckers would have been released in the following packaging:

Even though it is labelled as “No.8” in the Diaclone Car Robot line, it wasn’t actually the eighth release. Having studied the product numbers and suggested release dates for these Diaclone cars, they actually point to this as being the tenth release (not counting giftsets or colour variants released in the same packaging).

The Wrecker was released during a time when the Diaclone Car Robots all had character boxart on the packaging instead of just a photo of the toy in robot mode. Apart from being red, there a few other subtle differences between the Diaclone boxart and the TF Hoist boxart. We’ll get back to those a little later.

Usually with the Diaclone car robots, any colour variation on the same mould would be released in the same box as the first release (unless there was a mould change, like a new head etc), and the colour of the boxart would indicate what colour the figure was released in first. Now the Wrecker came out in blue first and therefore the Wrecker/Honda City S 2-set had its own Wrecker boxart. What I’m getting at is that the individually packed Wrecker was released in red first, then in blue (if at all).

The box back has a nice picture of the red Wrecker towing the famous Blue Diaclone Fairlady Z (Bluestreak). Also on the box back you can see the previously released Diaclone car robots. Car robots No.9 and 10, Honda City R (Skids) + Fire Engine (Inferno) respectively probably hit production before this No.8 Wrecker but they are not featured on the boxback. It wasn’t labelled No.8 for nothing; it probably WAS intended to see release before the No.9 and No.10.

The bottom of the box has a nice techy sort of pic/drawing of the toy, but I stupidly neglected to scan that when I had this in my possession…anyway, moving on to the contents:

Standard Diaclone car robot contents. Diaclone driver, sprued weapons and accessories, sticker sheet, catalog and instructions. On the box flap you can see the mini-form which was used to enter the campaign car competitions (gold Bluestreak, Jazz etc). All the Diaclone car robots came with styro inserts of course. The later Japanese TF release of Hoist had the same styro configuration but the space for the Diaclone driver was filled in. Incidentally, the driver is the same as that of the previously released Diaclone Trailbreaker (No.5).

In this condition, this toy is very impressive, especially in red. The shiny chrome grill, the large chunky wheels, the blue translucent windows…they all make for a striking appearance. The hood section is all diecast and adds quite a heft and weight to the figure. In the above pic, the rear assembly has been unfolded and can easily tow any of the Diaclone/TF cars as shown in the pic on the back of the box. Alternatively, the rear assembly can remain unfolded and the wings can be added for the other vehicle mode look:

The robot mode is equally impressive, and I especially like the black knees and wing configuration, however he does seem quite top heavy and can sometimes be tricky to pose, plus, the way the legs clip on to the underside of the hood will, over time, cause the chrome to wear.

Going back to the differences between the Diaclone and the later Transformers Hoist, I also took a few comparison shots using a Mexican TF Hoist in its packaging. Now this may cause some confusion because the Mexican Hoist was different from the US/Japanese Hoists but in general, it should do for the comparison.

First thing to notice, the Transformers Hoist is green. The only place where the pre-TF Diaclone Wrecker was released in green is Italy, under the GiG TraSformer line. Another difference, the Diaclone has the words “WRECKER” written along the side, the TF doesn’t. However, to complicate matters further, the first Japanese Transformers releases of the green Hoist also had the “WRECKER” lettering, but that was later remedied.

Looking at the character art on the two box fronts, other than the glaring colour differences, you might notice that the Diaclone art has a human’s head visible in the front windshield, but that was removed from the TF art. This was because the whole concept of the Diaclone line revolved around large transforming mecha controlled by human pilots. Transformers had no pilots, they were sentient robots, and hence the little fella inside was removed for the TF release. You might want to refer back to the very first pic at the top of this article for a clearer scan of the Diaclone character art.

The other major difference in boxart is slightly more difficult to explain. If you look at the right hand of the robot (which isn’t actually a hand but a gun), the Diaclone art has the gun pointing towards the ground, but the TF Hoist has it pointing slightly upwards. This exact difference exists between the MC-13 Microman Megatron art and the TF Megatron art, as well as between Diaclone and TF Tracks. It could be that if the TF Hoist had its gun pointing downwards, too much of the actual toy through the cellophane window would have been obscured by the boxart, therefore the art was changed. I’m not at all sure on that though.

Onto some vehicle comparison shots:

You may notice that the yellow/black stripes on the side are thinner on the green TF Hoist, but that is only the case with the Mexican Hoist. US and Japanese green TF Hoists have the same size stickers as the Diaclone Wrecker. Now, the robot mode comparison pictures throw up a couple of interesting points as well:

First off, the robot’s head. Yeah, the TF’s head looks different but this is again a quirk of the Mexican Hoist release. Instead of a green Hoist head, it had a green Trailbreaker head! IGA, the producers of Mexican TFs, took the cheap option and recycled Trailbreaker’s head mould instead of using the different Hoist head mould. Again, US and Japanese release green TF Hoists have the same head as the Diaclone.

The second pic shows the difference in colour between the Diaclone’s rear assembly and the TFs rear assembly. Fortunately, or unfortunately (depending on whether you’re a dealer with an incomplete Diaclone or a collector looking for a 100% authentic Diaclone) this means that if you have a Japanese Diaclone Wrecker missing those vital wings, they can’t be replaced with TF Hoist wings, they’re a noticeably different colour.

The following picture shows a slight mould difference around the upper screw on the robot’s shoulder, but I won’t go into the mould differences in too much detail:

I had bought this red Diaclone Wrecker for a friend and when he came to pick it up, I was really sorry to see it go. It was the first time I had ‘owned’ this mould and due to the colour and presentation of this particular release, I was thoroughly impressed by it. The transformation between modes is simple yet interesting enough to keep you entertained, the missiles and fists fire really far, the driver with the magnetic feet is always a neat feature and of course the fact that it’s such a striking colour variant compared to the recognisable green TF makes this quite a sweet piece. For the sake of completeness, I have included a pic of the toy’s copyright. Standard “TAKARA JAPAN” stamping signifies original Japanese Diaclone. Later 1984 Japanese Diaclone releases had date stampings too, but not this Wrecker.

The full release order for this mould is as follows: 1982 Japanese Diaclone blue Wrecker in 2-set with grey Honda City S, 1983 Japanese red Diaclone Wrecker (individual), 1983 Japanese blue Diaclone Wrecker (individual…maybe), 1984 green Italian GiG Diaclone Wrecker without driver but with “WRECKER” text, 1985 US Transformers green Hoist (no “WRECKER”), 1985 Japanese Transformers green 46 Hoist (w/ “WRECKER, then w/out), 1986 Mexican IGA green Transformers Hoist with green Trailbreaker head (no “WRECKER”), and recently of course the EHobby limited reissue of Takara’s 46 Hoist and Hasbro’s Commemorative Series V US reissue of Hoist.

And to finish off, a pic of the red Wrecker with a few other red Diaclone/TF mates.

All the best
Maz