Barricade

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.