Transformers 2007 Premium Series Barricade review

We got another Premium Series review already?! Well, after reviewing Jazz a while back, why not go for another Decepticon this time around? Once again, it's a character I previously had a version of back in 2008 as part of a clearance sale with the Allspark Power repaints exclusive to Target. He, along with Bumblebee and Brawl, were ones I had, but since gave them away after losing pieces and putting them in a parts lot when I used to do trade-ins at a toy shop. As we get closer to the 20th anniversary of the first Transformers movie, I thought it would be great to revisit the older molds and see how well they hold up today. You know who Barricade is by now, so let's get en route to the review!

Here we have Barricade in his Saleen Mustang mode, decked out in police livery with a Decepticon twist. Sadly, my copy suffers from the badge on this photographed side appearing smeary. Thankfully, the rest of the paint apps are both kept intact after all these years. Obviously, a lot of older Movie figures tend to focus more on the altmodes like Alternators did, but to its credit, when you're a badass evil cop car, it's always important to never compromise unless you're TLK. What interests me is that the POLICE text on the doors and spoiler is vac metal printing, which may or may not be accurate, but it rocks like hell! The frost detailing for the windows is odd since it's not something you'd normally see in the movie, and only he and Ironhide have this oddity. Probably because there isn't much you can do to distinguish the two TFs in the movie who have prominently black alternate modes (and if TFWiki tries to twist the context of what I said, then I will release their own kind of Epstein files). Personally, I would have gone with a much darker black tint for said windows or put the toy in bot mode.

The front of the car can open to reveal that the grille is removable...

...and unfolding that piece reveals the little robot known as Frenzy! Yes, the same partner that Hasbro refuses to include with their Studio Series and MPM Barricades. This and the Human Alliance only manage to include the crazy radio dude. Sadly, this figure is the same as the original release, and that's questionable since a silver coat of paint and movie-accurate blue eyes would be nice.

Transformation is very simple for the time period: the arms form almost a third of the alt mode, while the torso transforms as you'd expect from the time period, and the legs simply extend while the feet go down with the spikes pointing up. While the shoulders are normally left alone, having them ball jointed means you can position them however you like, and I rotated them to make the arms appear more interesting visually. Robot mode is closer to how the Unicron Trilogy's latter two shows depicted their Transformers in terms of not refining their proportions; what I mean is that the simpler recreation of the CG model makes him far less accurate than later toys could. The torso is far from able to deform like in the film and looks more like how some G1 Transformers have their chests look, while the arms are flat and very panely thanks to the hands entirely staying molded in the forearms. What does annoy me is that the rear windshield halves on the back of the legs are painted in a metallic blue, which doesn't match the frost on the front windshield and the door windows. I'd have stuck with all windows painted in that bluish deco. Apart from that, Barricade manages to do fine enough at resembling the design he had in the movie, though the blue should still be purple.

Head sculpt is better painted, with the silver for most of the face as well as the gold exclusively for the mouth area. That said, the silver on the top makes him look like Guy Fieri, but at least he has lightpiping. Articulation, sadly, is very limited for a 2007 Deluxe, as the shoulders and elbows are on ball joints while the elbows and double-digitigrade knees are on ratchets. The lack of neck articulation is especially weird for a toy of this size considering most figures at least have a swivel for the head. As for his gimmick, he has a punch attack accessible with a button on the left arm instead of an Automorph gimmick.

The first ever use of the mold has metallic purple details, no paint apps for the hood, windows, the 911 markings, and 643 markings behind the doors. His face is more gold than it should be, though Frenzy is unchanged going from regular to Premium Series.

Later on, a Recon repaint gives him a security officer deco that makes him more like an Autobot, though given this is the same Decepticon who pretends to be a cop, it's only natural he'd fool innocent humans. Frenzy is now blue instead of grey, which is certainly accurate for the G1 fans who follow the Marvel Comics or old toys.

This is the Allspark repaint that I once had because I could never get my hands on the original at the time. It gives him baby blue on the arms, crotch, thighs, and lower legs, with the face also receiving that. It looks very gaudy, but it feels like something a G2 toy would have done. Frenzy is colored red as one would want him to be if they're hooked on the Sunbow cartoon or the Skybound comics.

The ROTF release is back in the old deco, but instead of Frenzy, he has interrogation arms (henceforth the name Interrogator Barricade) that he once used to confront Sam Witwicky prior to transforming. Weirdly, we went with this older deco, but then again, this is likely from the economy requiring Hasbro to use fewer paint apps

And finally, we have the Hunters Rumble repaint based on Hong Kong police cars. The deco is very gaudy in bot mode, but this does feel even more like a G2 repaint than anything. He came with a repaint of Sideswipe with blue accents and added paint apps on the altmode.

For a size comparison, here he is in between the Masterpiece Movie version and the Studio Series. I used to have the DOTM Deluxe but gave it away when Studio Series popped up, while I never had the Human Alliance version. While Barricade's like Jazz, where the figure is okay on its own, I will give it the benefit of the doubt when it comes to translating a complex robot design into a toy made after the days of Cybertron and Classics. They already got the general shape mostly right, but the only thing holding it back is the articulation. It's still a cool addition to any collection, just mostly for the sake of showcasing history and appreciating a time when Transformers used to be affordable and still retain the right balance of fun play features and good articulation + presentation, unlike most toys made for today's kids that are victims of penny-pinching and heavier favoritism to the adult collectors. I mean, I feel happy sticking with Generations (for the most part), but it sucks knowing the TFs made mostly for kids are getting more attention from older fans starving for new media constantly rather than the target audience who's more into smartphones and tablets. To punish and enslave, indeed...

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

McFarlane DC Multiverse Sinestro & Braniac review

Comic books are no strangers to the concept of evil space aliens, and DC has plenty of them to go around. Thaal Sinestro was once a well-respected member of the Green Lantern Corps until he was exiled for ruling his home planet as a tyrant. From there, he founded the Sinestro Corps, using the yellow power of fear in his pursuit for revenge against his former student, Hal Jordan. Meanwhile, Brainiac is a supervillain even smarter than Lex Luthor, using a computerized brain within him to gain the ultimate level of knowledge; any other living being be damned. While he can outsmart Superman, he is unable to see beyond logic at times, which is proven to be a disadvantage of his at times. While both characters have had a few figures from the McFarlane line, these are the most classic versions of the characters we have gotten. Let's see if they're worth adding to your collection.

Here we have Sinestro in-hand, who reuses the same style of textured Lantern body buck I believe was first used on the Plastic-Man BAF-wave version of John Stewart. It's been used mostly on other Lantern characters, and even a different take on Hal Jordan Green Lantern with a classic suit despite there being a Digital version using the Blue Beetle body buck. The blue and black costume combo may not be what some would expect from a Yellow Lantern, but it's mostly from the time when DC had yet to establish which colors go with specific emotions. The suit he wears here was later retconned into a civilian outfit, which makes the texturing more fitting than the Lantern suit. That being said, while I appreciate that the paintwork isn't fuzzy or faint on the black when applied onto the blue upper body and shoulders, I think the points may not be as fully symmetrical as I would hope. Proportions are fine,n though the shoulders do appear a little big compared to the torso. Either that or it's how high the head sits in top. Thankfully, the belt, despite being painted on, isn't sloppily applied.

Head sculpt is looks pretty good, and I love that they didn't make the skin color too dull or oversaturated. The eyebrow deco at the outer side could be better painted if you look up close, though. At least the head appears to be new rather than reused. As expected, the articulation is the same as with almost every McFarlane DC Multiverse figure since the beginning. The effect part set up is new to my knowledge, so it can be either with the part covering the left arm where the Lantern ring is worn, or it can be accompanied with a swoosh effect part where he can punch or be in mid-motion with a glowing attack.

Like most Lantern Corps figures, he comes with a lantern that holds his power, this time cast in clear yellow plastic. Almost looks like a pitcher full of lemonade from the distance, but it can be piss if you're that nasty...and suddenly, I'm reminded of when ForrestFire101 had Hal Jordan say he stays hydrated so his urine stays clear given yellow is his weakness. Annoyingly, the handle is a bit more flexible than I'm comfortable with, and getting it in his hand isn't that easy given the trigger finger grip of said hand combined with the necessity of flexing the hand somewhat for it to go in. Even then, it doesn't feel that secure given how much it likes to flop around. Next to his former student, he appears to be slightly taller than Hal Jordan. The scale seems right to me given the villain himself is a few inches taller than his rival in-universe. For what it's worth, I find Sinestro to be a fairly good purchase. Some alternate hands would be appreciative, but at least he has accessories unlike his fellow Legion of Doom member in this same wave...

As for Brainiac, he is a reuse of the Blue Beetle body mold, and is in his classic yet goofy design from his Silver Age debut. This includes hot pink, black underwear, and bare legs with as much skin showing as on classic Dick Grayson Robin. If Superman really wanted to defeat him, giving him an atomic wedgie or bullying his outfit would have scarred Brainiac, yet that wouldn't be following the "Punkrocker Code of Hopecore Conduct" now would it? The colors seem to be at least accurate in terms of the right shades associated with the classic comic art, and at least he comes with a new collar and belt, the former thankfully not being reused from someone like Plastic-Man. That said, other than the color scheme, not much else to say about him compared to his later redesigns.

His head sculpt has a lot going for it; while I love the deco around the bald cranium's cybernetic headpiece, but something about the face makes him look more realistic than normal. I guess they wanted to match the comic cover where he shrank Superman and his friends, the same one where he appeared slightly more detailed in terms of facial structure. Maybe it's the alien nature of his head combined with the eyebrow thickness that makes him appear realistic, but it fits the uncanny nature of him. Articulation is same, but having no accessories is beyond lame. It's one thing if this was Azbat, who was at least a decently intricate sculpt and was able to carry himself without accessories, but this could have come with a shrink ray device or some other kind of weapon associated with him! Maybe a handful of shrunken characters based on that same comic cover I mentioned would be great, especially knowing we have a tiny Superman from the old Page Punchers line that came with Godzilla! As it stands, he ponders why McFarlane shafted his value for money compared to everyone else.

It is cool that this comic cover is used, complete with the text bubbles with lengthy dialogue synonymous with this era of comic writing, but seeing how Brainiac used a defense layer to keep Supes from punching him, I bet Todd used this as an excuse for people to not be mad at the lack of accessories. Other than that, I am grateful to have the McFarlane weapon accessory pack, but I know not everyone has that set. I hate to say this, but screw them for making this figure feel like a filler release meant purely for completing a Legion of Doom display than making it worthwhile by itself!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Sinestro)

⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Brainiac)

Transformers Titans Return Sky Shadow review

Once known as Black Shadow in Japanese continuity, Sky Shadow is one of those Takara characters that represents how much their handling of G1 Decepticons contrasts with that of the Sunbow cast or even the Marvel continuity's own villains. He's more like a gangster with skills almost comparable to a bounty hunter, and some of his other allies tend to fear being next to him should the possibility of betrayal strike. He has a partner in crime known as Blue Bacchus, and despite their notoriety as a group, there is a chance Black Shadow would pull a Starscream and kill him behind his back with none of the incompetence of the Seeker. Apart from having a Japanese retool of Thunderwing for the Victory line and a Generations Deluxe also sharing a mold with that Matrix stealer, let's see if being a pre-tool of Overlord benefits him more than ever. It's yet another Titans Return review, and keep in mind that while he is known as Black Shadow, I'll mostly stick with the name Sky Shadow since it's the name I normally call him.

Here we have Sky Shadow in his vehicle mode, or rather, vehicle modes. Remember when I said that he was a pre-tool of OL? That black tank was part of the design, and it was only a holdover from when we would get the figure it was actually meant to be. That said, it at least color matches the jet mostly associated with the bot mode, though it does.kivble management better since that jet has the entire arms visible, even if they're shortened and have the hands folded away. The cockpits open on both figures as one would expect, and while the tank does have wheels, its turret does not rotate. Still, for mid-2010s Leader alt modes, they are decently chunky, and I appreciate that we kind of have landing gear for the fairly faithful jet mode. Also, keep in mind that this is one of the few toys in my collection with replacement stickers not found from the stock version of this toy, as it was second hand by, you guessed it, my friend Ernie.

If you want to have the jet carry the tank component, you can clip the turret into the exposed section and have it carry the land-based vehicle around. I believe this is a loose tease for the Big Powered retool we would later get, but here, it looks like Animated Blitzwing.

This is a fan mode I came up with to distinguish Sky Shadow from Overlord even more: leaving the tank legs attached so they form Jetfire-like boosters. I should make it look less tank-like, so this is attempt number 1, FYI.

His base mode is more of a halfway point between turning into a robot, and here, it vaguely looks like what Fort Max's Spaceship Bruce was, only with a hint of a rocket ship on the back. If you want, you can flip out some tabs so the base can connect to Trypticon. Base connectivity is a common thing for these toys back before the WFC Trilogy continues that.

Transformation is almost like what Siege Skytread would later have, mostly with the leg transformation, though the cockpit stays on the back instead of forming the chest. It's very basic, and at 18 steps, it's three more than Combiner Wars Megatron. At least the robot mode looks accurate to the character model, even with the tank legs since being mostly black blending in. It's not as noticeable as even more blatantly distinct designs like Sideswipe and Sunstreaker having the same legs for the Universe Deluxes despite having different torsos. The color scheme already looks good, and the shoulder cannons, despite pointing up at all times, at least add to the silhouette as if he was some dark, brooding tower. Almost feels like something associated with Batman, though maybe not in a gangster way so probably belongs to another character worth associating with more appropriately. 

Head sculpt works like all Leaders from this line: the Titan Master turns into the head on its own, then it is covered mostly within the helmet. You don't need to remove the head if you want to treat this like a regular TF.

Articulation consists of a neck swivel, slight up and down movement, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement on two joints (one at the shoulders, another within the armpits), bicep swivels, hinged elbows, universal hips thigh swivels, hinged knees, and ankle pivots. He has two guns, one of them being the front of his jey half and can also double as a shield on his forearm.

His first retool was the character it was intended for: Overlord. The upper body is entirely new to match the character model, and it includes the door gimmick on the chest where two Titan or Prime Masters can store inside. The colors of this version match the old toy, one that was also released in some European and Australian markets! Would have been cool if he was released in the US, makes me wonder if he would have been a new form of Megatron or not.

Naturally, the Takara version would be recolored and retooled to better match the Masterforce series, with a new helmet and a chest gimmick with built-in Godmaster engines implemented instead of space for the Titan Masters. Speaking of, he has a second one meant to represent Giga, who has a slightly more female face that some claim matches the IDW lips. Yeah, I should mention that he is intentionally mistransformed to be in better scale with Super Ginrai, and having that figure with me, you will see why this was done.

Finally, Dai Atlas is an even heavier retool of the figure than Overlord was, with a the ability to serve as a quad-changer (kind of) by making his tank mode permanently attached to his body while using a multi-hinge spine to integrate both modes in one unit. He can still do the base mode, but his wings can form a wonky shield and can combine with Sonic Bomber and Roadfire into Big Powered.

Here we have Sky Shadow next to Super Ginrai, proving that the mistransformation was intentional for the sake of making the Overlord retool taller than the Autobot leader of the year. SS was more of a Victory character, but what's stopping him from being involved in a size comparison like this? So do I recommend him? Keep in mind that there are leaks for next year's Age of Evolution line that will feature a new Thunderwing at the Commander Class scale, and while many would want to wait and see if Takara or Hasbro will do a heavy retool for a new Black Shadow that better matches the Victory series, I'd argue that the inevitable price hikes will make things harder to stomach. They've already done this with the whole selection of size classes last year, and Deluxes are said to be $30, so if you're interested in finding a good deal, then get the Titans Return version instead. He's going to work fine if you leave the tank legs attached and mistransformed intentionally. Besides, there hasn't been either a Blue Bacchus or a Crossblades from either company, so why not just stick with this instead? I plan to do that so he can be distinct from Thunderwing!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

McFarlane DC Multiverse Poison Ivy & Wonder Woman review

It's that time again for another girls' night out, and doing the rounds this time are the duality of female DC characters: the hot yet deadly Poison Ivy and the glorious Wonder Woman. We've seen WW plenty of times before, so why don't we give a bit of background on the Batman villain herself? Originally known as Dr. Pamela Isley, she was originally a plant expert who was later turned into an eco-terrorist as she tried to fight in the name of Mother Nature, so kind of like the global warming crowd but far less cringe than them! She is usually depicted as one of the more prominent foes of The Dark Knight, but she has reluctantly helped him out from time to time if need be. Of late, likely thanks to appealing to not making "environmentally-friendly" crowds look bad while also tying in with Harley Quinn's history with the Joker, they're now depicted as a lesbian couple that probably have something like "be gay, do crime" written in their promo art (though tbf, Marvel tried doing that with Mystique and some other X-Men character). Anyways, let's see how these two turned out!

Here we have Poison Ivy in-hand, reusing the Batman & Robin version of the character we got while back. Honestly, that doesn't bother me all that much since it's not like the costume is that dramatically different. I will say that the Uma Thurman version is better painted overall, between a wash in the torso to accentuate the toxic leaves and the fade to black as we reach her boots. That said, I assume this was done to distinguish the two without going for a mere headswap. And while the torso looks kind of under detailed in terms of deco, they at least used a different shade of green for the sleeves and leggings so the ivy wouldn't blend in that easily. The skin is naturalistic as one would hope, and you have good anatomy for the figure overall (especially for those who are looking at her cleavage). And hey, she has a set of hands for probably holding the strands of ivy she comes with.

Head sculpt is better than the initial images made it out to be, but what I can appreciate is that they slightly painted the hair so it isn't the neon plastic color the B&R version had. She also looks like an evil Jessica Rabbit if you think about their similarities. While the articulation is the same as usual, she had the same alternate hands found from the B&R version as well as the strands of ivy to wrap around her arms or legs. That's it. No deadly plants in vases, no alternate faces, just those two little things and that's it. How is that worth $35??? Just as horribly cheap for an overpriced release as the Max Shreck figure that came with nothing but an alternate head! This has as much value as a regular release that comes with one pair of hands only, and the only reason McFarlane made her a collector release was so they can lock a more desirable character behind a slightly higher price tag, knowing the hunger for this character. As for the Platinum version, she has green skin with even more of it showing than the flesh tone version, as there are no sleeves or leggings on her. Would love to see that treatment on the regular version. That is meant to match the more modern appearance she's had since Hush, iirc. As for the hair, it is more orangey but not as neon as the Uma Thurman version.

Speaking of Hush, here she is for a size comparison between Batman from the sequel comic and my modified Godzilla 2-pack Superman. I bet you can get those strands of ivy on Supes to recreate the time he was under her influence, even if that isn't the actual version of Hush Superman.

As for Wonder Woman, we mostly get the same figure from the Collector Edition, and while the reds and blues may be closer to its Platinum releases you still have gold instead of yellow, and we have a brand new head sculpt based on her 80s appearances with hair comparable to the Sensational She-Hulk. And looking closer, the gold and skin tone apparently to be slightly lighter on the newer version. The accessories as well as the alternate hands are the same from what we got previously, do you could let the Vault reissue use the new one's axe and shield if you so desire. As for her Platinum release, it is based on the New 52 series, and while everything is almost accurate, the hair is not even close to how it appeared in that run (it's closer to the regular version but with a silver tiara); knowing McFarlane, retooling wasn't on the menu for Platinums in general, so maybe his should have been reserved for a different look that can still rock the 80s hair? At least they know she sometimes has the bikini bottom in the New 52 (though pants are also worn on the occasion).

Overall, while Wonder Woman is just as recommended as she was in the past prior to the original release's scalper epidemic, Poison Ivy is in no way worthy of the Collector Edition tag. What difference does the value make between the original Batman & Robin release that came with a part of Mr Freeze versus an extra pair of hands and some strands of ivy? This review is kind of short given we already looked at one figure whereas the other has little to offer, but I'll say this: get the Vault Wonder Woman to accompany this new one and wait for Ivy to go on sale.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Wonder Woman)

⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Poison Ivy)