Siege Barricade

Prelude: After the disappointment of Gamer Edition Barricade, I now cast my view further back to the days of War for Cybertron Siege. Hard to believe that it’s already been five years. Anyway, Siege featured another Cybertron mode Barricade among its line-up, so maybe this will be the better version of the Decepticons’ bad cop, battle damage deco notwithstanding? We shall find out. Let’s go punish and enslave!

Robot Mode: Barricade is a repaint of Siege Prowl (just like Smokescreen and Bluestreak), but this is my first experience with the mold. Barricade has what is probably most basic, classic design for a car Transformer. The hood becomes the chest, the car doors become shoulder wings, and the rear of the car becomes the legs. It’s a classic for a reason, of course, because it works very well. Barricade looks fabulous with his mostly black paintjob with the white, grey, and purple highlights. Very nicely done.

Articulation is standard for a Siege figure, meaning pretty good. Barricade has twisting wrists, ankle tilt, a twisting hip, the works. Something I wanted to mention: Barricade has very nice sculpted detailing on the insides of his car door wings. Given that you only see this when looking at the robot from the back (and not at all in car mode), it’s a very nice addition. Of course once you look at him from the back, you also see the one slight flaw of this figure: his legs are pretty much hollow shells and completely open from the back. Not a big thing, but worth mentioning.

In terms of weapons Barricade comes with two guns that he can clip into his shoulders (in two different positions, see pictures 1 and 2) or hold as handguns, either individually or combined into a single gun, which he can hold in hand or clip to his forearm (or any of the other 5mm ports on his body). You can also attach the lightbar from his police car mode (now on his back) to the gun, either as additional kibble or you can form a kind of axe from it, too (no picture of that because I think it looks stupid, to be honest).

Bottom line: not a revolutionary new robot mode, but a very nice interpretation of a classic carformer robot in great colors. Nicely done.

Alternate Mode: Ever since he became famous thanks to the 2007 Live-Action movie, Barricade’s alternate mode of choice has been a police car. And even in Siege, where he has never been to Earth, he still transforms into a police car. Okay, technical it’s a Cybertronian car that just kind of, mostly, looks like an Earth-style police car (a lot). A very streamlined one, granted, but stil clearly car with a lightbar on top.

The car looks pretty good, the black color mostly hides the seams, and the infamous Siege battle damage deco is restricted to the front fenders. The wheels look nice and detailed and apart from the visible head on the underside (something the Bumblebee Movie has shown us is canon) there is no clue that you are looking at a transformed robot. Barricade’s blasters can be attached for firepower in this mode, too.

So bottom line: a very nice car mode. No complaints worth mentioning except for not really looking all that alien.

Remarks: He started out as a G1 Micromaster, but didn’t really become famous until starring in the 2007 Live-Action Transformers movie. Since then Barricade has been a staple in the franchise. Barricade did appear in the War for Cybertron Netflix series (all three seasons), but I can’t really remember him doing anything of note except appearing in the background. It is possibly that he (or another Con looking like him) survived until the very end of the series, a feat not many others of the cast managed.

Bottom line for this Barricade figure here: despite “only” being a repaint, it’s a far, far better figure than Gamers Edition Barricade. I really like this mold and personally I prefer this version over yet another Prowl, Smokescreen, or Bluestreak. Still, if you like car Transformers, I’d advise getting at least one version of this guy.

Rating: B

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