"To punish and enslave" is a phrase Barricade takes to heart, as does the devotion he has towards his small rivalry with Bumblebee and his bad cop persona. I think that even if Barricade didn't get as much focus outside of the promo materials, he was a remarkable addition to the Transformers universe and never fails to put a smile on my face. Who even needs Prowl when this guy already took the spotlight? I thought I'd be happy with the Studio Series one for how good and accurate it is, but when my friend Ernie got me this on my birthday, I was more than happy to take it and add the fourth Masterpiece figure to my display. So let's take a look at Masterpiece Movie Barricade!
Here is Barricade in vehicle mode. As always, it's the classic black Saleen Mustang he's taken form of in MV1 and Dark of the Moon, and it's still just as beautiful as ever! The proportions are correct, the paint apps are nicely applied, and the added touches like the ram bar, siren, and spoiler complete the look of this car. You have POLICE written on the doors and spoiler, the Decepticon badge, 643, 911, and To Punish and Enslave written on the back. And details like the siren as well as the headlights being in translucent plastic give him that proper look of a 1:24 scale car.
The sides do have some unusual cracks from the transformation, and it does ruin the decals as well as the door, but it's far better than with Universe Ironhide. Sadly, his weapon doesn't store anywhere but at least has a stand for it to not feel left out.
For a comparison with Bumblebee, you can see just how nice the two look in their car modes, even if their interiors trade seats and dashboards for robot parts to make the robot modes look less compromised. With Barricade's rims being black, it makes me with Bumblebee's rims were silver as well as a slightly darker tone to the yellow. Either way, these two look great!
Transforming Barricade is pretty much what I'd expect him to be, and handling the Studio Series version gave me an idea of how this guy should work even if it came after this guy. I like how the sides of the car work so as to give him the alien arms, the chest deforming itself is the best it's ever been done without looking too wide or too small, and I even like how the claws are formed. The robot mode is very accurate to the movie, with the distinct silhouette captured beautifully on this guy. The design is correct, the proportions are accurate, and even things that aren't normally present like the rear windshield halves on the inner forearms as well as the roof don't stick out too sorely. The way the door swivels down also gives the arms a better flow than had they been left up, and the paint apps actually look better here than on the stock photos. At first, I thought the metallic blue gave me too many Allspark Power vibes from the stock photos, but they actually look very nice here and don't ruin the ominous look of the guy.
Head sculpt is also accurately done as it should be from the movie, with the shape and the colors added nicely. The gold and silver are balanced nicely, without one entirely replacing the other. The red eyes could be a wee bit brighter, and the mouth actually looks better than I originally expected, as the stock photos made it look like lipstick. His articulation is also very nice, with two points at the neck (one for the ball-joint and the other for the hinge), a jaw that opens and closes, shoulders that are on ratchets moving front and back as well as in and out, somewhat limited bicep swivels, deep elbow bends, and fingers that articulate. The waist swivels albeit limitedly, the hips move front and back on swivels while they move in and out on ratchets. The thighs swivel, the knees bend, and the ankles hinge as well as pivot.
His sole accessory can be used simply by half-transforming his left arm and tabbing it in where the wheel normally tabs. The weapon mode itself is pretty good, and here I must compare him to the Human Alliance version...while that figure prioritized the play features and also beats this one with Frenzy, the Masterpiece one is actually much nice to look at with his proper proportions as well as having some more girth to his arms. Not saying the HA version is bad but it worked for the time. Amusingly, he had a jaw first.
And here he is with Bumblebee once again! These two looked great, and it always felt striking to have two different styles of robot modes, with Bumblebee having the traditional hood chest and door wings look to him with the awesome dialed to the max compared to Barricade's more alien design giving him a less traditional look. Mad respect to the designers to make the Autobots feel more human than the Decepticons without dumbing it down like they would with Bumblebee (the movie not the character).
I absolutely love posing these two as well, as it gives them all of the display options that represents their brief yet iconic rivalry, especially when you have Sam Witwicky thrown in the mix. Sure, Bee's not in his classic Camaro form but I'm still happy.
And while Barricade may have lost this fight, he does win in this review as being yet another impressive Masterpiece figure to add to the collection. He's accurate to the movie, nicely put-together, and overall impressive Transformer to display. And don't worry, his head is on a ball joint so the decapitation won't end the toy's life. He's at $79.99 but definitely get him while you still can.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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