I think out of the four Joes in wave one, Roadblock’s design gave me the most pause at release. I don’t know why, but an homage to version two of Roadblock was not even a possibility in my mind, so it was a bit of a shock… not to mention the massive laser gun1 I think I really wanted a new take on version one, but I was trying to keep my mind open until I got the figure in hand. Let’s take a look!
I really like the art work on the front and side of Roadblock’s box, especially the little scene of him dishing out some damage on a group of alley vipers. It does kind of make me wish he came with some swappable fists for Snake-Punching action.
Roadblock comes with a massive sci-fi looking rail gun with a removeable clip and a knife. The knife is a cool addition and has good detail for a small accessory, but man does it seem tiny in Roadblock’s massive mitts.
The gun handle stretches out his right hand a little too much to hold the knife securely, but it works well in the left. It also stays in his vest holster pretty securely. I like the effect of having removeable weapons has on the overall look of the characters as they look geared up for battle.
The gun is big honking chunk of plastic with a lot of very nice techno detail in the sculpting and some translucent plastic along the barrel. The nice effect of this translucent plastic is if the light hits the figure just right, the barrel glows with energy.
The gun does split apart in the middle, though I think that’s probably for manufacturing reasons more than an in universe design. I do really like the concept of the removeable clip and it adds a fun bit of business to the weapon, however I think I would have loved it if Roadblock had more clips on his person somewhere like on the vest or the belt. It seems to stay in the gun very securely too, so I’m not worried about losing it.
I was initially pretty down on this weapon, but it has totally grown on me as I’ve posed and played with Roadblock wielding the thing. I did buy an old Rambo gun from eBay in preparation for Roadblock’s arrival, but now I’m not sure I need it (though I do like the look of Deathlok’s mini-gun with him).
In addition to the fists I mentioned earlier, I do wish Roadblock came with a helmet. He doesn’t have a backpack, but you can attach Duke’s pack to his back.
Sculpting on Roadblock is great and he’s got an amazing build with some of the nicest muscle sculpting I’ve seen in a while on his arms. I also really like the way the pants have a realistic texture to them.
Roadblock is taller and bulkier than his line counterparts which adds a nice variety of scale to this line right out of the gate. I like that he’s clearly a bigger guy, but it’s not overly exaggerated or inhumanly large. His proportions feel mostly realistic, just slightly heightened.
The toros is completely covered with the non-removable vest. I think it’s thin enough to be convincing, though a little bulky around the neck. I did hope it would be removeable and have a tank top under the vest, but Robo had to cut his off remove it.
The head is one part I struggle with. I like that he looks like a regular person, but in some light the glossiness of some parts of the plastic makes him look a little chubby-cheeked. I notice more inside than I did when I had him outside. I think the face printing didn’t quite nail the beard in places on my figure as there is sculpted mustache that doesn’t quite have black paint on like the rest of the beard.
Otherwise paint is really good. There is a lot of clean work on that vest, though I could have gone for a few more detail punches on the belt. The tattoo is pretty convincing too.
Articulation is very good on this figure with:
- Swivel/hinge shoulders, wrists, hips and ankles
- Ball and socket head, lower neck, and waist
- Double hinged elbows and knees
- Swivel thighs and boots
- Ab and neck hinge
- Drop-down hips
The vest is soft plastic, but does hinder ab movement a bit, though I found that the ball-jointed waist compensated for that nicely and I was able to get almost all the poses I wanted out of him.
The combination of ball joints and hinge in the neck allows for an impressive range of movement though I noticed Roadblock doesn’t quite have the range of Duke at the ball joint at the base of the neck, probably since his neck is pretty thick.
This figure totally won me over. All of my quibbles about the design fell away as I was taking these pics. Like Duke, Roadblock is total hand candy and when I put the whole team together I feel a cohesion that I like and the new embellishments are growing on me.
