G.I. Joe Classified 01; Roadblock: Why was he first?

At least when it comes to the box numbering. To compare the toyline to Transformers, I can understand the leader not being first in the numbering. Throughout War for Cybertron and Studio Series, the numbering has been in the order of size class, smallest class to biggest in wave order. Even then, Core Class Optimus Prime in WFC: Kingdom is WFC-K1. Here though, they're all the same size in terms of packaging; they're all sold at the same price, so why wasn't Duke or Snake Eyes first? Maybe this could be my lack of in-depth knowledge showing that, in reality, Roadblock is the most beloved character in G.I. Joe. It would certainly explain why he's had three toys so far, two of which I will not be covering in this review as one isn't out yet, and the other is a (for me at least to get it brought in) overpriced exclusive repaint. So we're sticking to the original release; here is Classified Roadblock.

Drawing inspiration from (I believe) his 1986 version, just with some more sci-fi touch-ups, the overall sculpting on Roadblock is solid. However, I don't think it's as solid of a representation as something like Duke or Cobra Commander were. "Close, but not quite there" is probably the best way to describe the figure if you're looking for a faithful version of Roadblock, as some of the modernization changes are detrimental to the feel of the character. The biggest one of those? The weapon. I'm of two minds for this. While I agree that something that many prefers to be more current day military-themed like the Joes shouldn't have something like this, I'd be lying if I said the idea of someone lugging around a giant two-handed Railgun wasn't awesome. This is a cool looking weapon, with many excellent paint applications and even sporting accessories like a removable magazine (which I think is undersized for something this big, but it's not a deal-breaker). Does it work as a weapon for Roadblock, though? Not really. It keeps to the theme of his original gun, a two-handed heavy machine gun. Still, I wouldn't say this is a good substitution, as a Rail gun is a sci-fi version of a rocket launcher. Due to the size of this accessory, though, his only other accessory, a knife, looks ridiculously small in his hands. 

Sculpting wise for the figure, he's a solid action figure, but aside from the uniform, there's not much here that says it's Roadblock. At least, not the 80's Roadblock. There's a mix of styles here with things like the facial hair being inspired by the Roadblock from G.I. Joe Renegades, and the tattoo potentially being a nod to Dwayne Johnson, the actor who played Roadblock in G.I. Joe Retaliation, but his tattoos look nothing like the lion head that's on this toy. I'm not a fan of how the designers handled the vest. It's a piece put on over the chest, which does make the vest itself look good. Still, because it's a solid rubber piece, it makes the ab crunch that most figures have useless, something that I've noticed on many other Classified figures that have a similar vest as a part of their design. It's something that I wish was a paint application on the torso rather than a separate piece. The vest, though, is the only real issue I have with the figure as a whole because on its own, it's a nice figure and fits in well with the Classified team. Is it a good Roadblock figure, though? That's more debatable.

 
The more I look at this guy, the more I'm reminded of how Hasbro handles the more "mass market appeal" sides of Transformers, the toylines tied into shows like the Unicron Trilogy, Animated, Prime, and Cyberverse (among others). Character designs for these versions are somewhat amalgamations of different representations of said characters in visual design, personality, and other character design aspects. If you're looking for a faithful recreation of a Roadblock toy from the '80s, this isn't it. Even with the different two versions available, you're going to be looking for a while. This toy does a solid job capturing the character's spirit over the years, combining different versions to make something new. Still, because of all those inspirations, I can't help but ask for something more. I think versions of characters based on the other cartoons and the movies done in this style could be interesting to see if this line does take off to a point where stock can reliably get to stores and not disappear in under a minute. Again, not bad, but I doubt he fits the description to what many collectors of the line are looking for.