Hauler

2012-08-07T20:39:41Z

118.209.183.128: /* Notes */ seems unnecessary

{{factions|autobot}}
:''Hauler is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:LoadHauler-Card.jpg|right|300px|thumb|ALL CONSTRUCTION VEHICLES MUST BE BRIGHT GREEN FOREVER AND EVER.]]
Back on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], '''Hauler''' was a [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicon]] involved in the building of the [[Crystal City]]. When his teammates were [[Robo-Smasher|reprogrammed]] as [[Decepticon|Decepticons]], Hauler turned to the [[Autobot]]s, joining their ranks. This choice would eventually put him on board the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]] for its doomed voyage that ended on [[Earth]]. When he awoke with the rest of the crew in 1984, he resumed his primary function: the discovery and procurement of energy sources. This task sends him far and wide across the planet, and his tendency towards capricious self-expression often results in him coming back with different colors and parts.

His crane mode can lift 60 tons, and in robot mode, he can launch his hands from their wrist-sockets. The hands can fly through the air under his remote-control guidance, allowing him to perform tasks normally beyond his reach.<ref>RoadHauler's on-package bio (see TFU.info link in the toys section)</ref>

==Fiction==
===Generation 1 cartoon continuity===
====e-HOBBY bio====
[[Image:Megatronffod.jpg|left|200px|thumb|In [[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4]], ''eight'' Constructicons were shown creating Megatron. Hauler might be one of the extra two unidentified Constructicons.]]

Hauler was a member of the team of Constructicons that constructed [[Crystal City]]. He joined the Autobots after the rest of his teammates were lost in an attack by [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]]. He was part of [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]]'s crew that crashed on [[Earth]] and lay dormant for four million years. He woke up with the others. After aiding in recovering Hound, Hauler then set out on his full-time mission to scour the Earth for new sources of energy, frequently changing his color scheme and optional equipment.

====''The Transformers'' cartoon====
[[Image:Hauler01-sm.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Shut up and lift the guy with the toy.]]

Hauler joined [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] and [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] in recovering [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] from the bottom of a ravine. He never spoke or transformed to robot mode. {{storylink|More than Meets the Eye, Part 1}}
{{-}}

===''Wings Universe''===
[[Image:BattleLines5-Hauler.jpg|left|thumb|200px|I'm in robot mode and in my toy's colors? Oh my lord!]]
Nine million years ago, Hauler was a member of the construction team that built [[Crystal City]]. It was during this project that he introduced [[Hook (G1)|Hook]], [[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]], [[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]], [[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]], [[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]], and [[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] to [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]. Hauler grew suspicious of his colleagues when they returned to the construction site one day with seemingly drastic personalities. Following the destruction of Crystal City, Hauler felt the six Constructicons were to blame, which led him to join the Autobots. {{storylink|Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 42|Hauler's profile}}

Hauler was present alongside several other Autobots within [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] when Megatron and his Decepticons smashed through the walls. The wall-smashing was made possible by his Robo-Smashed former friends, who had combined for the first time into Devastator. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 5}} At [[Dion]]'s suggestion, Hauler joined his fellow Autobots in shooting at Devastator's knees. This successfully disassembled the combiner, facilitating the Autobots' victory. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 6}}

During the third Cybertronian wars, Hauler and [[Erector (G1)|Erector]] were among the Autobots who ambushed the Constructicons at [[Elevation Recostalus]], neutralizing the Decepticon team. {{storylink|Transformers I.Q.#issue 45|Transformers I.Q. last issue review}} Five million years later, as he helped equip the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]] for its voyage, Hauler convinced [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] to bring the [[Sky Spy]] on board. {{storylink|Battle Lines, Part 6}}
{{--}}

==Origins==
In 1984, it appears that [[Hasbro]] intended to release the [[Diaclone]] "Crane" figure as part of the first year of the Transformers toyline as a character named "Hauler". Packing cases for the 1984 [[Autobot Cars]] contained twelve figures, but only eleven toys were released (with an extra [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] filling the empty slot), suggesting that Hauler was to be the twelfth. For unknown reasons, these plans were halted, and the figure was held back and eventually released in 1985 as [[Grapple]]. However, this change came too late to remove Hauler's solitary cartoon appearance, in "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]". Following this episode, the character (who never spoke, and never transformed) promptly disappeared from the cartoon, and was never seen or referred to again. When the episode was dubbed for release in Japan, Hauler was not even referred to by name, and most fans assumed him to be Grapple.

Nearly twenty years later, when Grapple's mold-partner, [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]], was reissued as part of ''[[The Transformers Collection]]'' series, [[e-HOBBY]] decided to release an exclusive [[redeco]] of the Grapple figure. Someone at e-HOBBY, looking for a character that this toy could represent, found out about Hauler in [[Hirofumi Ichikawa]]'s glossary info in the ''[[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers 2010 (franchise)|Transformers 2010]]'' DVD box set and decided to turn the Grapple redeco into this Hauler character, now dubbed "RoadHauler".<ref name="ichikawaasm">[http://www.alteredstatesmag.com/features/articles/hi_dai-oh.php Interview with Hirofumi Ichikawa at Altered States Magazine]</ref> Ichikawa himself was then asked to write a [[bio]] for "RoadHauler", in which he explained the character's perpetual absence. Since Hauler as he appeared in the cartoon would not have actually been a ''redeco'' of Grapple (as they were both orange), it was decided to render RoadHauler in the classic purple-and-green of the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]]. The character's bio then established that he was a former member of that team (presumably in reference to the scene in "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4]]" that erroneously depicted the Constructicons with two extra members), and justified his different coloration in the cartoon by explaining that he often changed his color scheme.

Not as complicated a history as [[Prowl II|some characters]], but there you go.

==Toys==
===Generation 1===
[[Image:G1toy_hauler.jpg|300px|thumb|It's not easy being green. Especially when you're supposed to be orange.]]
*'''RoadHauler''' (Autobot, 2003)
**''Japanese ID number'': '''88'''
**''Accessories'': Left & right fists, 3 missiles, "Beam Gun"

: One of the first original-deco toys released as part of the [[e-HOBBY]] [[exclusive]] series, RoadHauler is a [[redeco]] of the Autobot [[Grapple]], transforming into a Mitsubishi Fuso hook-crane truck. Both of his forearms contain a spring-loaded missile launcher so he can fire his own fists, or the included silver missiles. (As a Japanese release, this feature is fully functional, as they have different [[for safety reasons|safety standards for projectiles]] in Japan.) He was sold only as part of a set with his fellow "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]" cameo-character [[Sunstorm (G1)|Sunstorm]].

: Pre-orders for the set closed on [[May 15]], 2003. The toys shipped out in July.

: A [[retool]]ing of this mold was used to make Generation 1 [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] and [[Artfire (Headmasters)|Artfire]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2003/Cybertron/LoadHauler/loadhauler.htm More information on RoadHauler at TFU.info]''
{{--}}
==Notes==
*There is some conjecture over the Romanization of his name, as many fans call him "Load Hauler". However, when the e-Hobby website featured the toy, it spelled the name "RoadHauler".<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20050322161037/http://www.e-hobby.co.jp/cgi-bin/omc?&port=33301&req=PRODUCT&code=ho_sun Archived version of e-Hobby page for RoadHauler]</ref> ''[[The Transformers: Binaltech & TF Collection Complete Guide]]'' reinforces this spelling, calling him "ROADHAULER" in all caps, as it does with all names.<ref>[http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b288/monzo/Roadhauler01b.jpg The ''Transformers Binaltech & TF Collection Complete Guide'' Romanization of his name.]</ref>
*Hauler's profile in [[Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 42|Club magazine #42]] says he's called "Load Hauler" by some. It also calls his Cybertronian alternative mode a "binary load lifter", a reference to the film Star Wars.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''RoadHauler''' (ロードホーラー ''Rōdohōrā'')
*''Russian:'' '''Bol'shegruz''' (Большегруз, "Heavy Trucks")

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://s90690880.onlinehome.us/jhiaxus/uscartoon/hauler.htm Hauler at Obscure Transformers Website]

[[Category:Constructicons]]
[[Category:E-Hobby]]
[[Category:Generation 1 Autobots]]
[[Category:Wings Universe Autobots]]

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Hauler