General Information: Images: Almost every quarter seems to reveal some new group of exclusive figures. One of the biggest carriers of exclusive Transformers is Target, which often receives a wave of many figures focused around a theme. Late summer 2010 has brought us the "Hunt for the Decepticons" Transformers series of toys, a sequel of sorts to the "Revenge of the Fallen" movie. As part of their exclusives line for this summer, Target has released several deluxe scale two packs featuring movie characters. The "Hunter Rumble" features redecos of both Sideswipe and Interrogator Barricade. This review will focus on the changes made to these figures for this release. For Barricade, check out my Barricade review from 2007 for a detailed rundown of the mold. For Sideswipe, check out the reviews of Sideswipe and Strike Mission Sideswipe for more details on the figure.
Images:
Paint applications are done up in several colors including black, white, blue, silver, yellow and red. The black color is mostly found on the top of his chest, painting the top of the hood. You'll also find black striping on the sides of the arms. White paint is used on the chest section, forming the words "Police" in both Chinese and English. The silver color is the least used, mostly found on his mouth area on the robot head. The blue and yellow colors are used together, forming a checkerboard pattern you'll find on his arms (more on this later in the vehicle mode). Red is used here and there. You'll find it on his arms under his hands as well as on the ends of his weapon accessories. Blue paint is also found on the legs, where it is used to paint sections that angle downward, drawing emphasis to those parts sticking out. It isn't hard to look at this color scheme and think "Good gravy, it's a wacky explosion of color!" but for the most part I can see why the designers went this route. The yellow and blue colors from the vehicle mode definitely inform this one, and I think part of the idea was to move as far away from previous releases as possible while still keeping the theme of a police vehicle. In that respect, this figure absolutely succeeds in color palette, but that doesn't necesarily make it something very collector will appreciate on a visual level. Barricade's articulation points all still feel tight, which frankly is not something I expected. This is roughly the fifth time this figure has been released in a new deco (this number includes international releases). After so many uses, some tooling has been known to wear down and result in inferior products. In this case however, everything functions well. His parts are tight and his extending arm still works like a charm. The new addition to Barricade's arsenal are base don a scene from the first movie. When Sam Witwicky is cornered by Barricase in vehicle mode, the Decepticon extended probes out from the front of the car to examine the human. It is these probes which serve as the basis for the cannons mounted on his back and coming out across the hood past his eyes. They attach by clipping to the sections behind the robot head. These probes look fantastic, with etched lines running along the length of the handle and then the ends have claws on them with a circle in the center (a sensor presumably). That center section is painted red, looking like energy is glowing from the piece. It's also worth nothing that his spring loaded left arm "punch" still works well, I just found snapping the forearm back into place to be a bit tricky if you didn't press it into place. I was pleasantly surprised by how tight the parts on this figure are and even more surprised that the spring loaded mechanism isn't super sensitive to the point of uselessness at this late date. Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
Vehicle Mode: Much of the detailing in this mode was visible in robot mode, but it now comes together. On the hood, the black base comes together to form a cohesive piece, with white text on top. The sides of the vehicle have the boldest pattern, a checkerboard pattern of blue and yellow details. Before you think this is some deranged, outrageous design, the yellow and blue checkerboard pattern is actually an established, real life police vehicle pattern that is found in countries that include China and the UK. After seeing Barricade take on several US based police car forms, it is kind of cool to see one from another country. Black paint is used for the edges of sections like the cabin cover and the words "Police" (in English and Chinese) on the sides. Black is also used to paint a large Decepticon symbol on the top of the car. Red is used for the rear lights, but the front headlights are cast in clear plastic. I won't lie and say that I find this color pattern unusually bright for a Transformer, and doubly so for the character of Barricade. However, I also see where the designers drew their inspiration and after looking up some similar police car patterns online it is rather faithful to those cars. I definitely dig the color scheme, but more in the "unexpected Generation 2" sort of way than a conventional Transformer color scheme. I did not get to review Interrogator Barricade when it first came out, so I should take a few moments to comment on the new accessory included with this version of Barricade. For this release, the Frenzy mini-figure was removed, and in its place are two probes that look like arms with eyes at the end of them. These are based on the probes shown in the first "Transformers" movie when Barricade faces down Sam Witwicky. In this mode, you can swing the cage in front of the grille down and expand the arms out so they stick out from the front of the car, simulating the appearance of the vehicle from the aforementioned scene. It looks fantastic and I really dig the accessory. That said, I do regret that the Frenzy figure had to be removed completely since I feel it was more of a value add than this accessory. Still, considering how many times it has been used I can understand folks wanting something different with this toy. Images:
Paint applications are done in silver, metallic blue, black and red. The silver paint is used on parts like the waist, chest and thighs, offering color continuity with the primary color on the figure. Metallic blue is found on smaller bits such as the shoulders and knee armor. While some parts are already cast in black plastic, others are painted black. Most notably the middle section of the body starting at the underside of the chest leading to the legs. Red paint is the least used color, found on the rear vehicle mode lights on the chest and this time painting the inside barrels on the four cylinders behind the head. I'll reiterate that there's nothing wrong with this color scheme. Indeed, the black offers a very striking contrast against the silver and grey plastic used on most of the figure. I just wish a color scheme that was more different from the source figure was used instead. All of the joints on this figure are still tight and the gear system that lets his blades swing forward and back in concert still operate without a hitch. Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
Vehicle Mode: Where the designers did try to make a lot of difference are the paint decos. The paint decos include black, blue, metallic silver, red and silver paint. The silver paint is the most extensively used color, mostly due in part to the need to color the translucent blue plastic on the top of the vehicle. Unfortunately, this is also whdere I was very disappointed in the quality of the paint job. Towards the front, on either side of the windshield silver paint is used to paint bars that curve down to the hood section. While the right side looks fine, the left side stripe has a smudge and actual signs of a fingerprint. Now, I'm not saying that this is going to be the case for every single release of this redeco, but it points to a lack of quality control that is unfortunate and weakens what is already not a very strong redeco. The best details are found on the hood of the car where blue and black are used to form fascinating patterns with a combination of triangles, L shapes and more. It's a very "tech" looking pattern that adds some nice detailing to the car. Metallic blue is used on the doors, on the lower section of each door. The red paint of course is found on the rear lights of the vehicle. These details are done very well and are a welcome sight considering the aforementioned smudge.
Final Thoughts:
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Robot Mode:
Robot Mode:
