TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:
Alternate Mode:
Box Art:
Technical Specifications:
STR
INT
SPD
END
RNK
CRG
FPR
SKL

Sir Auros' review of: Roadblock

Name: Roadblock
Function: Front-line Defense
Sub-Group: Autorollers
First cartoon appearance: N/a
"Get out of my way...NOW!"

Always angry. Extremely combative. Enjoys pushing other Decepticons around, but only if they're weaker than himself. Recon missions are his specialty. Clears battle perimiters of fallen Autobot wreckage in minutes with heavy-duty front end "super shovel." Has no fear of engaging an enemy. Uses spinning saw blade to slice through armor like a machete through birthday cake. Fire powerful "penetrator" missiles that bore through double-thick, armor-plated shielding to assure Autobot destruction.

Sheesh, I should just skip the toys and review some of the techspec information for some of these toys. Between the machete cutting through birthday cake image and the "penetrator" missiles, I could really have a field day. I purchased Road Block at a clearance store in the later days of G2 and was able to get the figure for quite a bargain at the time. Of the two released Autorollers, I prefer Roadblock to Dirtbag, but the truth is that the gimmick is sad and because of it, the figure lacks in quality in both robot and vehicle mode. The gimmick for these figures was that you could flick a switch and then as you rolled them over a surface, they would transform. The gimmick was pretty lame and would require manual transformation for some parts in time. There are a few redeeming factors though that keep me from just trying to sell Roadblock and Dirtbag...and I lost several of the missiles anyway.

Vehicle Mode:
Roadblock's vehicle mode is a big, Constructicon-colored bulldozer of some sort and it succeeds in being the kind of bulldozer kids enjoy. It rolls, it's big, and it can be thrown at little brothers to inflict head injuries. There's not a whole lot that distinguishes Roadblocks vehicle mode from an actual piece of construction equipment other than the color and I feel that's something of a success for a G2 figure to show practically no indication of the hidden robot mode in vehicle form.

Robot Mode:
Due to the method of transformation the Autorollers use, the figures lose out on a lot of articulation leaving the robot modes fairly bland. To counter this, the designers incorporated missile launchers on one arm and some sort of other weapon on the other for both figures to increase interactivity. This works very well on Roadblock as he has a pretty nifty sawblade on the left arm and a rocket launcher on the other. The arms can be moved and used as weapons and the head can be turned 360 degrees, but that's about as interactive and articulated as this figure gets. The legs are just one half-heartedly sculpted lump and don't ammount to anything other than a base for the torso to sit on. There are no insignias or stickers of any kind in this form either so even in robot mode the figure retains the same green and gray colorscheme with nothing to distinguish it as a Decepticon other than resembling a constructicon.

Transformation: 4 Since it's "automatic," there's not a lot of challenge, but it's not even designed well enough to be entirely automatic because you have to transform the arms yourself.
Durability: 9 I can't imagine breaking this toy. It's made of such strong plastic and so dense, I believe it could survive a nuclear war. The missiles are very easy to lose though since there isn't any good place to store them.
Fun: 6 I found this toy fun when I was a kid, but it just doesn't stand up to its peers in G2 or any other era.
Price: 8 I haven't seen them on ebay often, but I've never seen one go for more than $5 by itself.
Overall: 6 It was ok when I was a kid, but I don't see a reason to search out this toy now.