Barricade
Review by Atom
Yeah, I went a little Transformers crazy this summer and ended up picking up many more of the toys than I ever thought I would. Turns out Hasbro has been knocking out some really cool toys this summer with this toy line and all of my previous purchases have been excellent. Sadly Barricade has a few flaws that really kill it as a collectible for me.
While the figure looks great in both car and robot mode, they really cheeped out on the ankle joints. They are plastic ball sockets that have no tension in them so if you do not pose him “just right” he falls over. Seriously you can’t even stand him straight up without him falling over on his face. Second, the head is rubber and doesn’t turn, again limiting the poseability of the toy.
They do include a little Frenzy figure that fits into the grill of the car. He can be removed in either car or robot mode. THIS is a nice touch.
Then they added a spring-loaded launch action for his left arm inhibiting its playability. The switch that activates this is very twitchy so while posing him you will more than likely launch this feature. It’s silly and gimmicky and it doesn’t really add anything to the playability of the toy.
Barricade does, however, make an excellent Mustang toy. Parts fit nice and tight and transformation is fairly straightforward.
The detail is really decent, with the “To Punish and Enslave” decal and Decepticon logo very clear and readable. Wheels are plastic and not rubber.
As much as I liked the character in the movie and as good as the robot looks it is just not a very good collectible. Kids, however, may have no problem with these things. I, however, can not recommend it as previous toys from the line have really set the bar high. Come on Hasbro I know you can do better than this.
Video review below.
Comments
4 comments postedI agree with all your points, Atom. Sculpted well, but not very poesable. (BTW, why is it that Barricade and Jazz warrant glow-from-behind eyes, but both ver. of Bumblebee just get painted?)
The shoulders are what did it in for me, in addition to the ankles. Oh, BTW, you pointed out that the shoulder armor are ball-and-sockets, but you forgot to rotate them around like they are in the movie. And you forgot to flip the two foot spikes up.
...
I did find, however, that it is possible to tighten the ankle joint... to a point. If you look at the fender armor behind his heels and the trunk armor on the back of his calves, they overlap somewhat. However, if you continue to rotate them back just a tiny bit more, then the fender will overlap the trunk armor, and the ankle will snap into place. You will lose the ability to twist the ankle, but you will gain stability when he stands/poses.
But the instructions don't tell you this...
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CollectionDX Staff
Oh- did I mention that I just got back from a two week vacation to Europe...?
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CollectionDX Staff
I got this a while back, it istotally worth the 10 bucks, on mine, the door windows/wings are too tight to budge. I just leave them down, for if i push any harder, im almost positive they will break.
TFormers.com just posted a new image of him. It's small, but looks more articulate than the first figure from 2007. It also appears to come with a human figure!
There is no indication from the one photo if he will come with Frenzy or not, but the wheel on his left arm can sprout spikes just like in the movie. The right arm seems to follow with the tradition of other HA sets, and can seat the human figure in a chair with a specialized weapon there.
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CollectionDX Staff