Thursday 14 July 2016

Stone Hook

Stone Hook is one of the first series of Shock Rocks, larger Rock Lords with gimmicks. Rock Shot throws a rock, Rock Roller rolls along, and Stone Hook has... a stone hook. He's a big imposing figure with a large hooked arm that leaves you in no doubt what he's about!

Stone Hook's colour scheme is mostly black, though there are some touches of yellow to liven it up, giving off very much a 'danger!' vibe. His face is simple yet effective, with a thin black visor breaking up his helmet-like head, with two odd fang-like spikes at the top.

The most obvious thing about Stone Hook is his giant hook. It's articulated with a hinge in the middle, allowing you to open and close it to better capture foes. The hook pulls out on a black string, and can be retracted by pressing a button on his back. It's nice that the button is on his back rather than the arm, making the mechanism that threads through his body and arm a bit more impressive than it would be. The hook whips back well and slots back into the wrist, though does rely on the tension of the mechanism to stay in place.
Aside from the head and hook-arm, the rest of Stone Hook is pretty average. He's a generic Rock Lord with clumpy feet and a normal other arm. Like Rock Shot, he stands a head above the other Rock Lords, and is probably a bit too plain for the size. The black body serves to disguise a lot of the details, and he does look a lot better close-up.
If Stone Hook's humanoid mode is a bit boring, the transformation is anything but. In a similar way to Sunstone, his arms and legs fold up his body into a criss-cross pattern. The feet fit around the head, and the two arms form a loop around the rock mode. It's a nice idea though it is a lot simpler than Sunstone's transformation and doesn't lock in place nearly as well.

The rock mode again suffers from being all black as it obscures the detail. The odd-shaped rock helps in this respect, as it adds some interest to the mode that wouldn't be there otherwise. Most of the yellow paint is hidden well, and it's just the legs failing to lock against the body that stops it from being a solid rock mode.

Stone Hook is probably the most average of the first series of Shock Rocks. His gimmick works well but is less exciting than the other two (but unlike Rock Shot's, it actually works all the time) and his design is workable but again, not that exciting. It feels like far less risks have been taken in his design than the other two. He does extrude a sense of menace and the big hook is nice, but the design probably plays too safe.

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