Roadblock

Height: 14.5cm to top of head in Robot Mode; 8cm to top of body, 13.5cm front-to-back in Vehicle Mode. Powerlinx mode varies depending on partner Autobot.

Articulation: 18 joints in all: Double-jointed neck; 4 joints in each arm- double-jointed shoulder, hinged elbow, post-elbow swivel; 4 joints in each leg- double-jointed hip, upper thigh swivel, hinged knee. Various other joints associated with other modes.

Accessories: Crane/Missile Launcher.

Colors: Molded orange, brown, blue, and clear red plastic. Painted orange, blue, red, silver, metallic light blue (helmet) and yellow(eyes.)

Release Data: Released February 2004 with an MSRP of $9.99. Still widely available as of this writing (March 11th, 2005)

Gallery: 11 images.

Author: RAC

The Figure

It's a fact at least as old as the Transformers line: recolors happen. Some have been pointless, not to mention ugly, but quite a few recent recolors have brought out details in the molds that weren't readily available before. Some have been made into new characters, like the gigantic Omega Sentinel, and some are remolded slightly in the process to add value and character to the toy.

Depending on who you believe, Roadblock fits most or all of those criteria. He has several remolded features, notably his head and his weapon. According to the Transformers: Energon animated series, he is the same character as Inferno, now as a crane truck rather than a fire engine. However, Hasbro's profile of Roadblock makes no mention of his ever having been Inferno, and makes him sound very similar in character to Inferno's First-Generation moldmate Grapple. I prefer to think of him in this way, personally, since it would mean I have toys of two separate characters.

Robot Mode

Roadblock's head is pretty much his most distinguishing trait in relation to Inferno. Where Inferno had a pair of "blinders" to obscure his face in Vehicle mode, Roadblock's helmet is hinged, and presses down over his eyes. It's more convincing than Inferno's mechanism, or even Ironhide's very similar helmet gimmick- the shape stands out a bit less in vehicle mode. The head has some swivel, limited a bit by the shape of the torso, and the joints that move the head for the other modes can be used to add some tilt. The face is pretty nicely sculpted, and is fairly distinct from Inferno's.

His arms are pretty simple, but fairly effective: the shoulders feature a front-to-back swivel, and a hinge for side-to-side movement. There's also an elbow joint and a post-elbow swivel. Not a bad arm at all, pretty flexible. His Spark Crystal is on his left shoulder, as before, and there's some nice detail on the front of his shoulder to go with it. On the front of each shoulder is also a Mini-Con point- unfortunately, it's hard to do anything with forward-facing Mini-Con points.

The torso has no jointing to speak of, it's pretty much just there to hold the figure together. It looks good, though- especially noteable is the silver paint, which has been applied to both the clear red part of the torso and the part which it's connected to. This was a very clever way to get around the problem of matching a molded color to a painted one, which is on of the few flaws I can find with Inferno's deco. Roadblock's bumper is also a good bit larger than Inferno's was.

The legs are fairly nice, with an upper-thigh swivel, and fairly mobile hip joints. The panels that swivel down for Robot mode have been remolded, and has some sculpted detail that resembles a missile pod- a nice touch. The angle of Roadblock's torso does interfere with the hips a bit- it seems as though the torso was intended to be slanted downwards slightly, otherwise Roadblock and Inferno can't look forward. There's also a problem pretty common to Transformers: no ankles. Without ankles, any leg articulation at all leads to a balancing act. It's rather hard to get any kind of dynamic pose out of him.

Paint and Detailing

As I mentioned, Roadblock's torso is especially nicely done in terms of matching the clear plastic part to rest of the torso. The blue highlights on the shoulders and legs also look good. It's a good example of how to recolor a figure- he's not just colored orange where Inferno was red.

Articulation gets 7/10

Sculpt and Deco gets 8/10

Vehicle Mode

As I mentioned before, Roadblock is a crane truck, just as Grapple was. Roadblock is definitely not based on any real model of crane that I know of, but his Vehicle Mode is still recognizeable for what it's supposed to be. As I mentioned before, his head, when closed, looks far more like it belongs on the vehicle than Inferno's does. It still looks somewhat off, but the effect isn't as severe as other Transformers with similar head placement. The Mini-Con points are far more practical here, as they're on the sides rather than the front, and that's the configuration most Mini-Cons seem to have been designed for. It's an attractive Vehicle Mode overall, and it rolls smoothly too.

Vehicle Mode gets 8/10

Powerlinx Modes

-Upper Body

Roadblock makes for a pretty decent upper body. I attribute this largely to the fact that his arms are actual arms, as opposed to legs trying to look the part. All of his Robot Mode arm articulation is kept here. His legs swing above his head, and a pair of extensions fold out of the backs to become cannons. There are standard-sized sockets on the sides for additional Energon weaponry and the like. It's one of the better upper bodies in Energon.

-Lower Body

Roadblock doesn't fare quite as well when acting as legs for his fellow Autobots. The legs look alright, and the feet are plenty large enough to be stable. However, since the arms and legs combine to make the new legs for Powerlinx mode, he no longer has much articulation, if any at all. In short, he makes for an attractive, stable, and immobile set of legs.

He has a minimum of leftover parts hanging off his body, though, which is a plus. Being dark brown as the upper legs and arms are, his head isn't quite as noticeable as Inferno's was in the recommended position, but I usually put it behind him, rather than underneath.

Powerlinx Modes get 7/10

Accessories

-Crane/Missile Launcher

This is very similar to Inferno's Water Cannon, only longer: it consists of a missile launcher with a control booth, both mounted to a rectangular plate. The missile launcher has a hinged hook underneath so it can serve as a crane. Unlike Grapple, however, the crane arm doesn't extend, so in vehicle mode it only reaches the front of the cab- not terribly useful, I'd think. It does have a nice feature, in that the crane will rotate if you turn the control booth on the plate. It's also easier to get a grip on than the water tank on Inferno's cannon.

The plate and all its contents come off the back of the Vehicle Mode, and can be held in a couple ways in Robot Mode: either in Roadblock's hands, or attached to the sockets in his forearms. The right forearm is probably the best spot for my money. Also, if the entire assembly is too unwieldy a weapon for you, the crane arm can be detached, and has its own peg for use as a hand weapon. Nice touch. And finally, the missile flies about three feet when launched- pretty standard for modern toys.

Accessories get 7/10

Closing Remarks:

Roadblock is a good remold, featuring a redone head, thighs, leg panels, front bumper, and weapon. He does bear some resemblence to G1 Grapple, as is only fitting, but his color scheme is more diverse, with its silver torso and uses of brown and blue. Whether you see him as a new character or as a new version of Inferno, there's enough new here, and enough strong points to stand on its own as a good toy. And he plays fairly well with others, making quite a nice upper body for Powerlinking with the other Autobots at this price point.

I paid the MSRP of $9.99 for Roadblock, and I'm pretty happy with him- the only thing I could really ask for is better leg articulation. If you only get one version of this figure I'd have to recommend him over Inferno due to his decoration and better head design. He is Very Good.

-RAC 3/11/2005