Astro-Hook

Astro-Hook is a Decepticon-allied Mini-Con from the Cybertron portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

We're gonna be rolling in jawbreakers!

Astro-Hook is one of several Mini-Cons employed by the Decepticon bounty hunter Astrotrain. The eldest brother of the Sabotage Team, Astro-Hook is a Mini-Con of ideas—ideas for parting fools and their money, that is.

Say, have you ever thought about the advantages of owning a monorail?

Fiction

Timelines

Astro-Hook and the Sabotage Team were the loyal agents of Astrotrain, working with him and Starcatcher on a variety of mercenary jobs. They were hired by Cannonball of the starship Kalis' Lament to recover a Force Chip from some Autobots on Sandokan. Starcatcher and Astro-Hook didn't trust Cannonball to keep his end of the bargain, but cheered up when Astrotrain told him they wouldn't be honoring the agreement either.

Astrotrain and the Mini-Cons attempted to enter Sandokan's atmosphere undetected, but the heat from their reentry drew enemy attention...and firepower. The Astro-troops bailed out of Astrotrain, drawing fire and unleashing their own weapons as a counter-offensive. Astro-Hook's electrostatic blasts, combined with the other assaults, distracted their attacker long enough for Astrotrain to reach the planet below. The creature, known as Synthos, may have been too powerful for them to handle, and so Astrotrain manipulated the monster into agreeing to a truce.

Astro-Hook and his comrades took off after the Autobots and their Force Chip, catching up with them at a nearby cave. He fought with the Autobot leader Override until she knocked him backwards into some rocks. While Astrotrain kept the Autobots engaged outside, the Mini-Cons entered the cave and dispatched the unwary Autobots within, stealing the Force Chip. Returning to Synthos, they attempted to force him to give over the Dark Heart of Sandokan which empowered him, but another battle ensued. The Astro-troops powerlinxed with Astrotrain, but even that and the Force Chip were not enough to enable them to defeat Synthos AND the arriving Autobots. Astrotrain and his men were knocked off-line, and missed the battle's finale when Cannonball and the crew of the Kalis' Lament arrived. The Autobots outsmarted Cannonball and escaped with the Force Chip. Astrotrain, Starcatcher, and the others were only allowed to make minor repairs to themselves before Cannonball booted them off his ship as failures. The Dark Heart of Sandokan

Toys

Timelines

• Astrotrain (Multi-pack, 2007)

A redeco of the Cybertron Giant Planet Mini-Con Team member Longarm, Timelines Astro-Hook transforms into a construction vehicle with a shovel arm and crane-hook mounted on its bed.

He was only available as part of the Ultra-sized Astrotrain set (which also came with Starcatcher, Astro-Line, and Astro-Sinker), the first toy set exclusive to the Fun Publications Transformers Collectors' Club.

This toy was later repurposed as Shattered Glass Stonecruncher, and then later again as Beast Wars: Uprising Starhook.

This mold was also used to make Cradon and Reachout.

• More information on Astro-Hook at TFU.info

Notes

• The Sabotage Team trio are named in homage to Hook, Line, and Sinker, the servants of Unicron from the U.S. Marvel comic.