For years I would look at the Takara MP Grapple and for some reason I just couldn't pull the trigger and get him. I have Inferno and love him but something about Grapple just wasn't very inspiring to me. I am glad I found this guy instead. He is super chunky and heavy. A little wobbly in bot mode at times but he stands up fine in most positions. Color is very nice and bright enough. Kind of a faded pumpkin or squash color. The choice of faces is nice too so you get the emotion you want. I have had him a week and transformed him a few times and he seems very good quality. Tons of ratchet joints. The truck mode IMHO is the best looking of all the MP scale attempts. I like that there are not really any gaps and the painted textured back end looks fantastic. In bot mode he looks like a nice meshing of the G1 toon and the G1 toy. He even looks great next to Inferno in alt and bot mode. One thing about transforming him is that you need to get his feet right to get him into the truck mode properly. Emgo does a good job explaining this in his Hellfire review. Really the only downside with him is that it would be nice to have an alternate black head and to be able to contract/fold up his crane arm a little more. But all in all I just keep looking at him and smiling. Maketoys made something special here.

The main complaint is that his feet are very unsturdy. If not positioned properly he falls over. Also it would have been nice if the crane arm retracted all the way. With that said, everything else is pretty awesome.

Fair toy for the price. If you're looking for however Fanstoys quality, its not that level but still a good toy.

Wrestler (alias Grapple) della Maketoys non ha nulla da invidiare al più popolare Masterpiece della Takara. Non sarà 100% "G1 official", ma il modello é esteticamente ben fatto ed é in perfetta scala con i vari MP. Ottime plastiche e trasformazione abbastanza intuitiva. Molto gradite le 6 espressioni facciali intercambiabili.

I was not prepared for how big this toy is, or how HEAVY! He is loaded with die cast. Truck mode feels like lifting a cinder block. If you played with great big Tonka trucks in your sandbox as a kid, you will love this. My only complaint is that the crane itself doesn't rest flush, and if that screw hole was moved it might have been able to.

Robot mode is a beef mountain. Powerhouse proportions. Too blocky for much articulation, but he seems more the type to just stand there as a blockade. The all-over orange is broken up by just enough white, black and silver to not seem unfinished. Transforming him above the waist has no real surprises (apart from Three Separate Ratchet Joints In The Shoulders!!!), but the legs are amazing. I love the craftsmanship of things like the middle panel hinging forward, and the ankles butterfly-sliding sideways. All in all, I'm very pleasantly surprised.

I never really cared for the characters of Grapple/Hoist in our G1 US cartoon I did like Inferno, Blaster, and several other season 2 autobots/cons. But jeezalou, you would've never gotten me to think I'd end up buying two versions of this guy. NO I did not buy TAKARA'S GRAPPLE I did buy their Inferno and hated it! Personal choice, I turned him in for Backdraft and loved it upon review. A realistic firetruck a tall lean and actually designed robot mold. His mold brother Girder I soon purchased, then did the unthinkable and got Wrestle too. He's got that realworld alt mode that I crave plus a kickin butt bot mode w/ metallic faces. He's thick and tough like a Wrecker should be, if you're a kibble geek then you'll hate his back crane not vanishing like Takara's, if that's not an issue I would highly recommend this Mold by MT, or the Ocular max's mold as well, again personal choices. I don't like the overly tooned aspect of MP currently, Megatron's a step in the right direction; other than the non-glossy sheen that white washed silver tone, he's back towards MP10 style, and as is Sunstreaker. Though being brothers, he has a different face tone than Sideswipe, but still getting closer to 60% -40% real world to toon, that's MP-10-17.