When fans look back at the history of Junkions, Wreck-Gar almost always gets attention by Hasbro. He was in Animated and received a lot of new toys as a G1 character, so it was cool whenever we got figures of the other Junkions like with Reveal the Shield and SS86. But sometimes, Hasbro could do more than just tweak Wreck-Gar slightly. Junkheap is cool, but we can be even more creative with these designs and the underrated race of robots. So let's get straight to Scraphook!
Here is Scraphook in his tow truck mode, which is a Mad Max-influenced design that makes it feel more so made for intense towing throughout the worst of times, like a post-apocalyptic desert. The front of the truck, the spiked ridges, the engine block, and the windshield guard all suit that aesthetic and the Junkions pretty well. Even the back has that design trait carried through with the exhaust pipes and the metal patch on the doors. This goes from being a standard, family-owned Tow Truck to the aforementioned Mad Max truck meant for emergency towing. It's like if Mater was on the run from alien invaders that took over the Earth!
In general, the design makes for a badass alt mode that you probably wouldn't expect if it was a tow truck, but with this and Battletrap shaping up 2023, things are shaping up to be great.
Transformation is pretty unusual for truckformers, as the front becomes the legs while the back becomes the upper body, with everything almost folding inside out so we get the red torso that stands out among the beige, orange, and brown of the robot mode. Some parts of the conversion do suck, such as the forearms coming off because of how they're attached without pins, and the biceps are tighter than normal. Bad design choice on Hasbro's part, but the parts that were meant to detach are the hook, spare tire, and the exhaust pipes. The resulting robot mode looks like a mix between a Junkion and Impactor. Resembling a parallelogram with those shoulders, he is a mix of blocky and jagged with those design traits mixed together, which I feel works well for a new character like him. And even though he has an entirely different design and altmode from the Junkions, he has similar design traits like the colors and the wheel shield a la Wreck-Gar.
Head sculpt is interesting when you first think of how it resembles Impactor and another Transformer, and the beard combined with the mohawk and especially the eye patch make for a unique design for the character. His articulation consists of a neck swivel, shoulders that move front and back on 5mm posts, in and out on hinges; biceps swivel, elbows bend, wrists swivel, and the waist swivels. The hips move front and back, in and out, lower legs swivel on 5mm pegs, knees bend, and the ankles hinge as well as pivot. Those engine block halves on his shins can actually become blasters.
A reuse of the mold popped up a few waves later as Axelgrease, a Decepticon that is vaguely like Animated Lockdown. And yes, this is a Decepticon who is a Junkion and not Nancy. Amusing how in Hasbro's quest to milk tf out of everything G1, the first female Junkion toy is an OC.
For a size comparison, here he is with his Junkion leader, Wreck-Gar. He may be shorter than his boss, but it makes sense since Wreck-Gar is meant to be a taller character after all. I bet you can use Scraphook as an accessory for Wreck-Gar in vehicle mode.
Now why did I mention 5mm posts and accessories, you might ask? Well, disassembling him is not part of the transformation, but this guy can perform a similar Weaponizer gimmick with the Evo-Fusion gimmick, which is something he doesn't have to do compared to the Weaponizers, Modulators, and Fossilizers of the WFC trilogy!
And here we have him combined with Hot Shot, as the legs become winglets, the arms become foot add-ons, and the back attaches even if it had nowhere to go. Overall, Scraphook is a great way to make new Junkions without having to constantly reuse SS86 Wreck-Gar constantly, so if you want to get this guy, I recommend it!
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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