Transformers Movie Toy Review: Barricade

As I've written before in a previous review, the Transformers movie is coming out on the 4^th of July of this year. Prior to the release, many action figures are scheduled to be released of various Transformers. This Transformers figure is called Barricade. He is available anywhere Transformers action figures are sold, although he was only $7.98 at Wal-Mart, $2 below retail price. Barricade is a police car that of course turns into a giant robot. He is one of the bad guys, the Decepticons for those of you who don't know anything about Transformers. And he looks the part; his face portrays just how evil and menacing he is!

He has very little paint application because he's mostly composed of black plastic. What little paint application there is appears to be applied well. All of the lines are crisp and the writing legible. In car form, he is very detailed right down to the things that would actually be on a real police car. For example, on both sides of the rear of the car is the script that says "to punish and enslave" instead of the usual "to serve and protect." He also has a little police shield on one side that has the Decepticon logo on it that says "Police" and "1865." I thought that was a little strange, out of all the years they could have chosen, why did the designer choose 1865? Well, that is the year that the American Civil War ended. Did they do that on purpose? Was it supposed to hold some hidden meaning? I suppose that's for you to decide.

Barricade's design is very good. It harkens back to Generation One of Transformers figures. One reason is because the hood of the car becomes the chest in robot mode. The only thing that's lacking compared to Generation One is that Barricade does not have shoulder mounted cannons, a common feature on classic Transformers. As for proportion, despite the fact that he has a very large upper body, he doesn't appear to be visually out of proportion. Barricade can be put into just about any pose you could hope to put a Transformers figure into because he has really good articulation. The only place where he lacks movement is in the head and the waist. He also has some additional movement in his left arm. There is a little button on that arm, where when you press it, his left arm extends and punches forward from the elbow.

Barricade doesn't come with any weapons or anything, which is a downside. The only thing he comes with is a miniature "drone" Transformers figure called Frenzy. He pops out of Barricade's chest, which is the grill of the car, when Barricade is in robot form. This is yet one more thing that goes back to Transformers Generation Oone, where they had miniature figures that popped out of larger Transformers chests, such as with the classic Soundwave figure. Frenzy doesn't have many joints, so the only parts that move are his shoulders, hips and head.

Another downside is that Barricade's arms are large and a little heavy, and one of his shoulder joints on the one that I bought is a little loose, so one of his arms doesn't really want to stay in place if you raise it above his head. This may just be this particular figure, and not a problem with other figures. It is something to look out for. Another slight problem is that his feet are a little too small. As I said above, he is not visually out of proportion; he just doesn't stand very easily. It's a little hard to get him balanced initially, but once you do, he stands okay. I haven't had any problems really with him wanting to fall over.

I would definitely recommend buying this figure. Despite the flaws that he has, I like him and given the chance, I would buy him all over again. I give him 5 out of 5, especially since he comes with the miniature Transformer Frenzy.