2004 Night Force Roadblock

The 2004 Night Force set featured a nice set of molds that were recently returned from Funskool.  Flint, Beach Head, Action Man and Tunnel Rat were fresh from India and Hasbro were keen to get them into production.  The set was augmented by the 1989 Downtown mold.  These five figures all meshed quite well in terms of style and bulk.  The 6th figure in the set, though, was the odd man out.  Instead of using another mold that was also of the ball headed style, Hasbro tossed in an older, swivel headed mold.  And, it was a mold that had been used twice in the prior three years.  By the time of the Night Force set's released, collectors were tired of the 1984 Roadblock mold.  It had been released enough times.  And, the last thing collectors wanted was another version of it that was also missing the classic accessory complement that was iconic to the Roadblock character.

In 1984, Roadblock was bulky.  The figure's torso was design to showcase Roadblock's muscles and size.  In looking at him through the lens of 2004, though, the limitations of this design show through.  Hasbro got much better at figure sculpting as the line progressed and figures like Roadblock, while important stepping stones, show the age of their design.  He was out of place with the other figures in the set.  The fact that Hasbro tried to use paint to cover up the fact that the original had a lot of exposed skin also made the figure's visual just seem odd.  He lost the muscle tone that was implied by his exposed flesh.  Even in 2004, Roadblock was the least popular member of the Night Force.  And, his inclusion was the most questioned by the collecting community.

I was one of those who found little purpose in the figure.  I get it that Roadblock was a hugely popular character at the time.  But, Hasbro had just gotten back the 1992 Roadblock mold.  (We didn't know it would re-debut just a few months later in the Anti-Venom set.)  And, they had used the 1986 Roadblock mold in 1997, but never given us an actual Roadblock release using that body.  Seeing the 1984 sculpt so close on the heels of the BJ's Roadblock and the 2001 Double Blast just felt like laziness.  And, that colored the perceptions of the Night Force set.  Roadblock was enough to suck some of the joy from a set that, otherwise, featured molds collectors were clamoring for.  

Hasbro's ability to paint figures grew quite a bit between the vintage Joe line and the early 2000's.  And, Hasbro took several opportunities to showcase just how far they could push the paint applications on figures.  The Night Force is one of the best examples from a retail release of that time.  Roadblock features six different colors on his body.  And, the Night Force cross pattern shows just how intricate Hasbro could be with their paint applications.  But, one of the things that the new paint proved was that, sometimes, less is more.  The Night Force figures are so elaborate that they're too busy.  The details become distracting.  And, what could be great figures end up somewhat diminished because they simply tried to do too much.  If Roadblock had more solidly colored pants with the patterned shirt, he wouldn't seem quite so distracting.  The same is true if the Spider-Man webbing were removed from his torso and the digital cammo on his legs remained.  Hasbro outsmarted themselves on several figure sets in the 2000s where they did too much.  Then, they overcorrected and did too little.  It was rare to find figures that were just right.  But, when they did hit, Hasbro was still capable of making figures that surpassed much of the vintage line.  This Roadblock, though, just wasn't one of the figures that accomplished this.

One of the things that the reuse of the Roadblock mold proved was just how important the proper accessories were with some figures.  The 2001 Double Blast used this mold and included almost all of the original Roadblock's gear.  And, as such, he's an acceptable (but boring!) repaint.  Once Hasbro removed the helmet, pack and proper machine gun, though, the limitations of this Roadblock become apparent.  I've hated this figure for 22 years.  Yet, when I finally slapped a black version of his pack on him along with a 1985 Battle Gear helmet, the figure is actually useful and can be a nice version of Roadblock to drop into photos.  

But, you have to have your own accessory store from which to outfit the figure.  The 2004 Night Force was notoriously light on accessories and all the figures included common gear that had been recently used with other figures instead of classic accessories that were intended for the molds.  Roadblock was a typical offender.  Instead of his "Ma Deuce", Roadblock included just two rifles.  Neither fit the figure.  One was the classic 1984 Firefly sub machine gun...a weapon far too paltry for Roadblock.  The second is the 1990 Big Ben rifle.  Once upon a time, this was a great weapon that was fun to have around.  By 2004, though, it was overused, overexposed and generally hated by collectors.  It also didn't fit the character.  I can't reiterate enough just how much this 2004 Roadblock is improved with a helmet and the 1984 Roadblock machine gun, stand and backpack.  Fortunately, the weapon, pack and stand were all released in bulk during the 2000's.  So, they are an easy acquisition you can get to improve this figure.

With the added accessories, I've come to not hate this figure.  But, I also still don't have any uses for it.  I much prefer to use the 1984 figure or even Double Blast when I want this mold in a photo.  This Night Force version is nice to intermingle with other 2000's era figures.  But, Double Blast is better for that, too.  That leaves this Roadblock on the outskirts of my collection.  He's just not a guy who has a lot of purpose.  And, he's so out of place among his team that he doesn't even fit there.  So, I have the photos of him I took for this profile.  That's the extent of the usage I've gotten from him in over 20 years.  That's not much of a legacy.  If you don't have a Double Blast, though, the Night Force Roadblock isn't a terrible stand in.  But, then you have to go out and find some new accessories for him.  And, that's not really worth the effort.

The 1984 Roadblock mold was only used by Hasbro.  But, it was used a lot!  The figure debuted in 1984, got a 1988 Tiger Force repaint and then proceeded to appear in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005.  The parts (mostly the arms) were used on a multitude of other figures.  The torso even appeared on the 2006 Tommy Arashikage figure.  The 2001 repaint (which, technically, was Double Blast) was OK, but not materially different from the 1984 figure.  The 2002 Gift Set figure is an odd blue color that appears more Cobra than Joe.  (There is also an unproduced version of this figure available in red.)  The comic pack figure from 2005 is equally bad as it uses pastel yellow as the base and has a terribly sculpted new head.  Even this Night Force figure has an unproduced variant where you can find the figure in white pants.  In short, Hasbro overused the mold but still never managed to make a good repaint of this Roadblock.  Thankfully, Hasbro moved on to the 1992 Roadblock mold for their repaint mania and collectors were spared additional, bad repaints of this 1984 mold.

Despite the fact that this Roadblock, you know, sucks, dealer pricing is high.  Incomplete figures sell for $12-$15 with alarming regularity since the figure doesn't appear all that often.  Hasbro made around 20,000 Night Force sets to be sold at retail.  The sets were available both in stores and online and it took until the end of 2004 for them to really sell out.  And, large quantities of additional loose figures were available from Asia for a while.  So, the figure is out there in numbers.  But, the influx of new Joe collectors since 2018 has caused many of them to overestimate the rarity of the 2000's era figures.  The same thing happened to the 1997 and 1998 figures in 2001-2003 when a large group of collectors who had just missed the prior retail releases came online.  In time, that sorted itself out and those figures fell precipitously in price.  The same thing will happen with this Roadblock since he simply doesn't stand up to real scrutiny.  He's not the worst Roadblock.  But, that's only because Hasbro made stinkers that are even more abominable.  

2001 Double Blast - Around the Web

I'm working on 2 profiles right now.  Both are arout 85% done.  But, we got a foot of snow and had a pipe burst.  So, didn't get them done.  Did manage to get the photos, though.  So, I'm hoping to drop one on Wednesday or Thursday of this week.  I want them both to fully flesh out the full story of the figure, though.  Otherwise, I'd probably just publish as is.  

In the meantime, here's a quick Around the Web showcase of the 2001 Double Blast.  Like most of the more obscure A Real American Hero releases, he's tough to find much content on.  Some of the figures just aren't different enough from their originals to warrant usage.  If you want a realistically colored 1984 Roadblock figure for a photo, you use the 1984 Roadblock.  The only thing Double Blast offers is that he's cheaper and less prone to breakage.  But, you want a Roadblock.  You settle for a Double Blast.  

Which isn't to say he's a bad figure.  25 years ago, when he was released (yes, that's right, this figure is 25 years old!) the swarm of bland, drab figures allowed him to be swallowed in banality.  Now, though, you can find value in him.  He looks like Roadblock.  He has all of Roadblock's gear.  And, the quality has held up fairly well.  So, it's not terrible to have a Double Blast lying around for when you need something just a little different for a Roadblock photo.

2001 Double Blast Profile

2001 Double Blast by jonita_rodriguin

2001 Double Blast by idealisticcrusader

2001 Double Blast by corpscommandercody

2001 Double Blast by offc0ur5e

2001 Double Blast by thedustinmccoy

1993 Roadblock

In 1992, Hasbro did a soft reboot of the Joe line.  They didn't carry forward most of the 1991 series.  And, the 1992 lineup featured an array of top characters.  Almost all of them were excellent updates to the character while still holding some basic traits that were key to the figure's persona.  A full 75% of the basic retail line was heavy hitter characters from the line's heyday.  Among them was a new version of Roadblock.  This new design gave Roadblock the heft that was appropriate for his character.  And, created the best Roadblock figure released up until that time.  In 1993, the sculpt got a repaint.  This update incorporated some brighter colors.  But, they also really accentuated the mold and created an alternate look for Roadblock that's somewhat obscure.

The sculpting on this figure is extremely solid.  The main thing is that Roadblock is bulky.  The character is supposed to be a massive person.  And, this sculpt really gets that across.  Hasbro loved really short sleeves in the '90's.  On Roadblock, they are a design feature that allows his arms to appear larger and more muscular.  But, the real achievement is the head sculpt.  Roadblock's head is the best for the character.  It shows the determination you'd expect from Roadblock.  His furled brow shows that this a character of intensity.  And, as a final bonus, Roadblock features a golden earring.  It helps sell the head sculpt as something just slightly more interesting than what knock off toy lines would do.  The head was also used on both Star Brigade Roadblock versions.  So, it's appeared more than any other Roadblock head and earned its way to the de facto standard for the Roadblock character.

As I hunted down the scraps of the Joe line available at retail stores in the mid 1990's, there were figures who taunted me from the cardbacks of figures I was able to find.  This Roadblock was one of them.  Roadblock was a childhood favorite character from the comic.  I never liked the 1986 version.  And, my 1984 version had been devastated by broken parts and accessories.  So, a new version of the character was something to which I looked forward.  But, like many 1993 releases, Roadblock was simply gone from retail. I never saw one.  And, it was not until I was an adult collector that I was able to finally track down a 1992 version.  With it, I had a Roadblock that was befitting the character I had come to enjoy.  Roadblock quickly filled in as the missing machine gunner in my various photos.  He was the perfect match for the '90's figures that I had come to enjoy.  And, he was also a nice fit with '85 and later figures, too.

The downside to this late acquisition date is that I have no childhood memories of this figure.  Nor do I have associations of memories for when I found him at retail while I was in college.  The first version of the mold to come into my collection was during my heavy acquisition days of the early internet.  He was among a large lot of contemporary figures that just showed up in the mail one day.  The upside, though, is that this figure has always seemed "new" to me.  He was the last version of Roadblock to appear in my collection.  So, I can never really use him enough.  And, more than 25 years since his appearance in my collection, this sculpt remains my preferred Roadblock appearance.

The 1993 coloring is striking.  The dark blue shirt juxtaposed against the neon green highlights makes for a compelling color palette.  The black highlights and details help give the entire visual package some depth.  I'm not a huge fan of the light blue pants.  But, they do work well enough against the figure's dark upper half. The main thing is that the color work and are visually interesting.  This figure pops in photos and has the added benefit of being seldom used by other in the community.  So, his appearance always stands out.  Despite relatively few paint applications, Roadblock makes the most of them and features far more layered coloring than many of his 1993 contemporaries.  I suspect that the mold reuse allowed for a higher paint application budget.  So, the figure didn't get the two-tone treatment that was reserved for many brand newly sculpted parts that debuted in 1993. 

Roadblock's accessories are both good and terrible.  They're terrible because he doesn't include a heavy machine that defines his character.  It's an odd omission.  Especially, since there was a tree in use that featured the overly large 1992 Gung Ho machine gun that would have worked for Roadblock's specialty.  But, if the figure wasn't going to include his "ma deuce", then Hasbro at least chose a weapon tree with solid accessories.  Roadblock got the tree with Hit and Run's rifle and knife, Bullhorn's rifle and Shockwave's pistol.  There is the required spring loaded launcher and missiles, too.  The accessories may not make sense for Roadblock, but it's good gear that's useful for many other figures.  And, it was cast in black plastic.  Making it a solid release, all around.  

My most liked aspect of this figure, though, is how well he meshes with other 1993 releases.  Through the end of the vintage line, Hasbro was intent on producing toys that looked great when posed together.  The real reason was that it made the walls of retail figures on sale at you favorite store look good and prevented the figures from all blending together.  The result is that Roadblock looks amazing when posed with his contemporaries.  You can set him with Mega Marines, Eco Warriors, Star Brigade and even Ninja Force and the figure blends right in.  It's a line cohesion that was lost after the vintage years.  And, with toys not really mattering at retail any longer, it's unlikely we'll ever see anything like it again.  Even the various kickstarter lines fail at this and produce too many toys that look alike in terms of colors.  It's not about boldness just to be bold.  It's finding a way to make strong, bright and powerful colors work together with bland tans, blacks and greys.  In 1993, Hasbro was still doing this.  And, the line meshes perfectly well together.  That makes figures like this Roadblock even more useful since he's a perfect companion for so many of his release year brethren.

This Roadblock mold ended up with plenty of uses.  The sculpt debuted in 1992.  In 1993, some 1992 figures were released with new accessories.  So, you can find 1992 Roadblocks on 1992 or 1993 cardbacks.  Then, the coloring shifted to the paint job that's the subject of this profile in 1993.  Hasbro sent the mold to Funskool where it was released in India for many years.  The upside being that the Funskool figure included the discontinued 1992 machine gun.  Hasbro got the mold back from Funskool in 2003 and released Roadblock repaints in 2004 and 2005.  Every version of this mold is useful, fun and great for the character.  You have solidly vintage paint jobs, fun neon paint jobs and very useful, muted paint jobs.  There's something for everyone with this sculpt.

The 1993 Roadblock isn't a terribly common figure to find.  All of the 1993 repaints of 1992 molds tend to be less common than the other, new figures for the year.  It's much easier to find a 1993 Star Brigade Roadblock than it this repaint.  This leads to insane dealer pricing where some ask for up to $45 for a mint and complete figure.  These don't tend to sell, though.  Just the figure seems to sell in the $17 range.  And, the accessories aren't too hard to track down or expensive on their own.  The high price is a function of the limited supply.  And, you don't see this figure being used all that often.  So, it's not popularity driving his pricetag.  I'm torn as to whether the 1992 or 1993 figure is better.  But, that's mostly moot since the 2004 Anti Venom and 2005 HAS repaints are superior to both the vintage colorings.  But, this 1993 is the most fun version of this Roadblock sculpt.  And, that's worth something.

1986 Roadblock Around The Web

I'm not a fan of the 1986 Roadblock.  I've been disappointed in it since I was a kid back in 1986.  He was a figure I anticipated upon seeing him on the cardback.  But, once I saw him in person, I lost all interest in the figure.  But, I'm very much an outlier in those sentiments.  Many people love this look for Roadblock...to the point where it's the default version of the character for some collectors.  This has lead to a nice bit of content on the figure that's out there.  So, check the links below to see some cool 1986 Roadblock stuff.

1986 Roadblock Profile

1986 Roadblock by Nekoman

1986 Roadblock at the Attica Gazette

1986 Roadblock by elevatmetoahigherhumanform

1986 Roadblock by slipstream80

1986 Roadblock by darkstarvintage

1986 Roadblock at JoeADay.com

1986 Roadblock by tituslester32

1986 Roadblock by evilface

1986 Roadblock by joerizzo2025

1986 Roadblock by viper wilson

1986 Roadblock by HCC788

1986 Roadblock by offc0ur5e

1986 Roadblock by toker_collection

1994 Star Brigade Roadblock - Around The Web

The 1994 Star Brigade Roadblock was one of the first profiles I ever wrote.  He was an immediate addition to the site because he was such a hidden gem.  From the minute I first saw him, I had to have one.  And, then, more and more.  There was something about the bright orange space suit that simply called to me.  I bought one, sung its praises, voted for it as the best figure in the line and watched as everyone ignored the figure's existence.

Slowly, though, that changed.  And, now, this is a $100 figure.  That's, frankly, dumb.  But, the market is crazy and people are paying out the wazoo for figures that take a while to find.  With the figure's newfound popularity, though, I also expected to find a lot more content on the figure than I did.  Turns out, most of the posts about him are simply humble brags from people adding him to their collection instead of actual content.  

I was able to find a few photos and write ups on Roadblock, though.  Space photos are hard to do.  So, that filters out a lot of content on the Star Brigade figures.  And, collectors mostly ignored the theme until around 2016 or so when Star Brigade started to no longer be considered taboo.

1994 Star Brigade Roadblock Profile

1994 Star Brigade Carded Set

1994 Star Brigade Roadblock by corpscommandercody

1994 Star Brigade Roadblock by Nekoman

1994 Star Brigade Roadblock by gen_liederkranz

1994 Star Brigade Roadblock at JoeADay.com

1994 Star Brigade Roadblock at 3DJoes.com

1994 Star Brigade Roadblock by corpscommandercody

Roadblock at Half The Battle

1986 Roadblock

 Hasbro started repainting figures right away in 1983.  Grand Slam, Grunt and the Cobra Trooper all got the repaint treatment.  But, in those cases, the figure used was the same as the original release.  In 1984, Hasbro scupted a new head for the Hooded Cobra Commander figure.  In 1985, though, Hasbro released a new Snake Eyes...marking the first time that an existing character got an entirely new look at retail.  This continued in 1986 when a new Roadblock debuted.  From the small pictures on the back of cards, this Roadblock looked like a great update.  He was big and strong and carried his trademark heavy machine gun.  But, then, I found the figure at retail.  Quickly, all excitement for Roadblock drained away and I pawned him off on one of my brothers so that the figure still came home, but I was able to get someone much better.

The reason for this sudden deflation was that this Roadblock just isn't all that visually exciting.  He features heavy use of light grey, white, green and red.  In short, it's a combo that's tough to love.  He has super short sleeves that were meant to show off his massive arms.  But, they make the figure look silly.  The tactical vest that the figure is supposed to be wearing really didn't translate well into the finished figure.  While this Roadblock has more girth to coincide with his massive physique, the whole package just seems off.  It's not a look befitting a machine gunner and it's definitely a downgrade from his 1984 look.  And, when you compare this figure to Rock and Roll's 1989 upgrade, it's night and day.

As such, this Roadblock got little use during my childhood.  The 1984 figure, even with broken accessories, managed to stay more relevant.  The fact that the 1986 weapons didn't work with the 1984 figure, though, was just another nail in the 1986 figure's coffin.  My only real memory of this Roadblock is with a cheap molded plastic military dump truck that we had.  The thing was big and could hold a lot of figures.  So, it got use.  As it had no weapons, though, its play value was limited.  So, I punched a hole in the top of the dump bed that went over the drivers and put Roadblock's machine gun in this new slot.  Here, it helped keep Cobra at bay while the Joes unloaded troops or gear to the battlefield.  But, even in this instance, it was rarely Roadblock who manned this weapon.  It would have been used by the team in the truck and Roadblock was almost never among them.

The colors on Roadblock are interesting.  Prior to his release, these colors were pretty much unknown to the Joe line.  But, Attica Gazette pointed out an interesting connection between Roadblock and the 1986 Cross Country figure.  Basically, they use the same color scheme.  The greens are the same.  They feature heavily on greys.  And, both figures feature black and red highlights.  It's odd that two figures from the same year are so similar in appearance.  Maybe Hasbro just needed to use up the green plastic they ordered.  Or, maybe the color scheme tested well among the focus groups.  However, the similarity in their color schemes can not be coincidence and was surely a conscious choice by the design team.  

Overall, my opinion of this figure is heavily influenced by my childhood feelings about the release.  The disappointment from 1986 still colors my views of this Roadblock even 35 years later.   Many other collectors, though, love this look for Roadblock.  It is bigger and more formidable than the 1984 figure.  And, that's something that many collectors really enjoy.  As such, you saw this look for Roadblock return in the anniversary figure series in the late 2000's.  And, it has reared its head again in the 2020 Classified series.  It's definitely an iconic look for Roadblock.  The fact that I don't really like it puts me squarely in the minority of collectors.  But, my tastes in figures have always skewed somewhat against the grain.

Roadblock just included two pieces of gear.  For 1986, this light assortment was not unusual.  Eight carded figures released this year include two or less accessories.  For many figures, though, the smaller allotment was fine as the gear was excellent.  For Roadblock, though, the gear was lackluster.  This time around, Roadblock got a taller tripod that allowed for better posing with the figure.  His machine gun is large and bulky...in line with the character.  While the detailing on the weapon is solid, the accessory is still overly large and doesn't look all that good.  The weapon has a bipod sculpted, but it doesn't work.  Seeing as how working bipods were long established in the Joe line, it seems like an oversight.  Roadblock was among the first Joe figures to include silver accessories but this isn't enough to really make them stand out.  After the excellent set of gear that was included with the 1984 Roadblock, the 1986 complement just seemd weak.  There are people who love the gear.  But, as a kid in 1986, I was disappointed as I didn't feel the weapons lived up to the Roadblock character.

The 1986 Roadblock didn't get a ton of use...in a way.  In other ways, it did.  Hasbro released this Roadblock in 1986 and 1987.  In Japan, Takara repackaged 1984 Hasbro Roadblocks onto cards that used the 1986 Roadblock artwork...a weird juxtaposition.  The mold then disappeared until 1997.  That year, the body was used (with a 1986 Hawk head) for Rock and Roll.  That release isn't a great figure.  But, it was also the last time that Roadblock's chest was used.  Hasbro repurposed the 1984 Roadblock mold in 2001, 2002 and 2004.  They then switched to the 1992 Roadblock mold.  Despite the 1986 Roadblock's legs and waist becoming a staple of Comic Pack figures in 2004 and 2005, Hasbro never actually repainted the entire 1986 figure.  And, that's a shame.  Molds that had limitations the first time around really should have gotten a second chance.  This mold would have been amazing in the 2004 Night Force set or repainted to look like the 1984.  But, it was not to be.  And, this 1986 figure is the only coloring of this mold for Roadblock that's available.

The 2020 surge in G.I. Joe pricing (and collectible pricing in general) has affected this Roadblock.  You see massive amounts of mint and complete figures selling between $22 and $26.  But, this Roadblock is a super common figure.  And, his oversized accessories were rarely lost and are also overly easy to find.  A little patience will still yield you a mint and complete version of this figure for around $10.  That's still probably more than this Roadblock is worth.  But, it's a fair price in today's market for a classic release year version of one of the most popular characters in Joe history.  

2001 Double Blast

In early 1984, I found my first three new G.I. Joe figures of the year.  I bought myself Firefly because even back then Firefly was awesome.  My youngest brother got the Baroness.  And, my younger brother got Roadblock.  Roadblock was an amazing figure at the time.  And, while he was somewhat engulfed by the sea of awesomeness that was the 1984 series, he stood apart as something that blended with the prior years of figures while also bringing something new to the Joe line.  He was introduced with Duke in the comic book and quickly became a major player.  In time, though, my Roadblock's accessories broke and he became less and less a part of my daily play routine.  As I got older, limitations of the mold started to be more obvious.  But, as a nostalgic favorite, Roadblock held up pretty well.

Due to his oversized personality in both the comics and cartoon, Roadblock became a fan favorite.  When it came time for G.I. Joe to return to retail in 1997, Hasbro showcased a repainted 1984 Roadblock as one of the proposed Joe figures.  But, 1997 came and went with no Roadblock appearance.  The 1986 Roadblock body appeared on other characters.  But, Roadblock was a no show.  The same was true in 1998.  Then, when Joe returned to retail in 2000, Roadblock was again absent.  By then, we'd seen two Fireflies, multiple releases of the Baroness mold and even some new characters without a Roadblock.  In mid 2001, the version 1 Roadblock mold finally returned to retail.  It came, though, with a twist.  Roadblock was gone and the iconic figure was rebranded as Double Blast.

The reasoning behind Double Blast was copyright loss.  At least, that was the story.  Double Blast featured a file name for a prominent G.I. Joe collector of the era who was well connected with the folks in Hasbro who also created Sure Fire and Big Brawler.  In 2002, though, the Roadblock name was back, though that figure also featured the collector homage file name.  And, it was not until 2003 that Roadblock with the Marvin F. Hinton name returned.  The issue, though, was that this homage figure did not feature a new head.  So, it became rather difficult to use both Roadblock and Double Blast together.  So, the notion of Double Blast died out as collectors adopted this figure as just another Roadblock repaint.  

Double Blast uses the exact mold of the 1984 Roadblock.  So, the lack of size from the original figure carries over.  And, for a man who is supposed to be massive, this Roadblock is rather scrawny.  But, as a kid, you didn't worry about such things.  And, my entire view of the original Roadblock mold is shaped by the opinions of it that I forged as a ten year old.  The figure's arms, though, would become the bane of early 2000's Joe collectors as Hasbro reused them on, seemingly, every single figure they could.  But, in 2001, it was nice to see the full figure return to retail.  He looked a bit out of place among the figures with larger physiques who were later releases.  But, the mold's strength is tied to its release year and Double Blast fits in well with all Joes made of 1984 and earlier molds.

Double Blast's gear, ostensibly, is the same as Roadblocks.  You get the Browning .50 cal machine gun, but in black.  Subsequent to 2001, this weapon would become ubiquitous.  But, this was the first appearance in this dark color.  You get the tripod on which Double Blast can mount the weapon.  A facsimile of Roadblock's original helmet is included.  With it, the massive cranium of the Roadblock figure is less of an issue.  (As far as I can remember, too, this was the final appearance of any helmet based on the original 1982 design.)  Roadblock's backpack is included.  Now in an olive green color, the backpack mold was modified.  First, the peg on which the tripod was hung for easy storage is gone.  No longer can Roadblock realistically carry all his gear.  The second change is that the ammo pack that was removable from the bottom of the pack has been either glued or fused into place.  So, the pack is now a single piece.  This isn't a huge deal as the ammo pack didn't really work and was a fairly obscure feature of early Joe figures.  

The figure's colors, though, are drab and boring.  The original Roadblock featured green and brown, but it was more dramatic and pleasing to the eye.  Double Blast used the dark, drab olive and browns that were all too common in the A Real American Hero Collection figures from 2000 and 2001.  So, the figure disappeared in a sea of sameness of the retail offerings of that era.  Now, it's less problematic.  But, given a choice, I'm going to pick the original Roadblock over this figure every time.  The only upside to this figure is the softer plastic which makes broken thumbs and crotches far less common.  But, it also allows the hands to stretch out and not hold weapons all that effectively.  Double Blast also features the marbelized plastic for the legs.  As such, no two Double Blasts will be identical and you'll find different mixes of colors on different figures.  That's, probably, the only thing really interesting about this figure.

And, that leads to the fact that there's really no purpose for this figure.  Roadblock is a better character.  The vintage Roadblocks are fairly available and are far superior to Double Blast.  Due to the similarities, you can't use the two characters together.  You could take a 1986 or 1992 Roadblock mold derivative and use it in companion with Double Blast.  But, why?  Rock and Roll is a better companion and far more interesting character.  There's no reason for this character to exist.  But, I have to admit that it was better to get this version of the original Roadblock mold with all his gear and the wrong code name than not getting him at all.  (The same is not true of the other homage figures.)  At, in 2001, original Roadblocks were somewhat pricey.  So, collectors of the era were offered a cheap alternative to a mandatory figure in everyone's collection.

Wave III of the A Real American Hero Collection, of which Double Blast is a part, didn't ship for long.  It debuted in the summer of 2001: right as retailers were mightily struggling with massive pegwarmers from Wave II.  (Mostly Big Ben and Whiteout.  But, even the Rock Viper/Major Bludd pack was available everywhere.)  Wave IV would end up at discount, close out and bargain bin retailers.  But, Wave III did not.  While few collectors missed it at retail, the actual release window was short.  Fortunately, the dominant army builder of the wave, the Laser Viper, was carried over into Wave IV.  (The Fast Blast Viper was seen as a specialty Viper by collectors of the time and few people bothered with more than a couple of them.)  But, as Wave IV shipped so quickly after Wave III, the Double Blast wave never really had time to permeate the Joe ethos of the era.  The members of the wave were quickly forgotten and you rarely saw them in photos or dio stories of the day.  

I saw this figure as a Roadblock hack job.  And, as Roadblock had been a childhood favorite, I had no use for Double Blast.  Looking back at photos of the time, he rarely appears.  And, I was always trying to find ways to incorporate new releases into photos during that time frame.  All of the Wave III Joes, though, are relatively scarce.  The wave never resonated with me as the figures were barely rehashes of the vintage figures.  Had Double Blast adopted something like a Sky Patrol or Eco Warriors motif, he would have at least been interesting.  But, Hasbro was falsely lead to believe that collectors only wanted "realistic military" at the time.  And, that was a big reason why the A Real American Hero Collection ultimately failed and was replaced by the JvC era which brought back a far greater panoply of colors and re-invigorated G.I. Joe at retail.

It is my perception that this Roadblock was done to death.  But, truthfully, it saw two vintage uses: in 1984 and in 1988 for the Tiger Force version.  Double Blast debuted in 2001.  The character was then finally changed to Roadblock in the 2002 BJ's Gift set.  He appeared again in the 2004 Night Force set.  After that, Hasbro got the 1992 Roadblock mold back from Funskool and used it for the character with a break in 2005 when the body was used for a terrible Comic Pack figure that featured a new head.  That doesn't seem like much.  But, both the BJ's Roadblock and the Night Force Roadblock have alternate, unproduced variations.  On top of that, Roadblock parts were cannibalized for many other figures including the 2001 Leatherneck, 2004 Flint and even the 2006 Tommy Arashikage.  The arms appeared on too many figures for me to bother to look up.  All of these uses in a short time oversaturated the mold and it lost much of its vintage luster.  But, if you want a good Roadblock, this is about your only non-vintage option as all subsequent releases were missing gear and had limiting paint jobs.

In the weird G.I. Joe world of 2020, carded Double Blast and Crossfire packages sell for about $15.  Yet, at the same time, dealers sell a metric butt-load of mint and complete with filecard Double Blasts for the same price.  Left to the open market, he's about an $8 figure.  So, you're far better off buying and opening up a carded sample to get the figure.  (Crossfire sucks.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.  He's one of the worst releases of the repaint era.)  As a Roadblock clone, this figure is relatively worthless.  But, as a new version of Roadblock done in softer plastic, it works perfectly.  And, the price isn't too high where the figure no longer makes sense.  Double Blast is definitely a release that, were I not collecting and buying Joes at retail during his release window, I would not own.  He's not interesting enough to track down for anything other than completion.  But, boring figures can still be nice figures and I do find this version of Double Blast useful to have around for background filler and other mundane uses.

Rarities - 2004 Light Blue Anti-Venom Roadblock

For whatever reason, the 2000's Toys R Us G.I. Joe exclusives had many unproduced variants.  It may have just been inattention to early details that lead to the changes.  Or, it might have been that collectors had occasion to learn about these figures just due to the Asian action figure sellers who were able to get a hold of them.  But, massive quantities of these unproduced figures were made available to collectors and thousands upon thousands of the figures were moved from Asia into collections...many to never be seen again.

The 2004 Anti Venom set went through a few iterations.  First, there was a dark blue version of the set.  Then, a lighter blue set appeared.  Finally, we got the tan version at retail.  The retail figures are held in high regard and tend to fetch decent prices today.  I was never a fan of the dark blue figures: mostly because the blue was too Cobra.  The light blue set, though, was better since the color kind of work for law enforcement type figures like Mutt and Barricade.  For Roadblock, though, the light blue pants are out of place and the production figure is substantially better.

In the mid 2000's, you could buy these figures on Ebay, on a website, or just by emailing the seller.  Depending on what the most recent Ebay auctions ended at, you could get these figures anywhere from $10 to $20.  The light blue Anti Venom unproduced figures were among the more common sets and you could get Duke and Charbroil for 1/2 the price of this Roadblock.  Obviously, this isn't the case today and this figure will fetch a substantial premium.  But, there are a lot of them out...probably almost as many as the convention set character figures.  You just don't see them as often as you used to.

Below is a photo of the retail Anti Venom Roadblock, the unproduced light blue version and the production HAS figure which used the same paint masks as the Anti Venom set, but changed the plastic color on the pants.  You'll notice that in addition to the light blue pants, the unproduced Roadblock also has a slightly darker shirt.  Other than that, the figures are very much the same.  Personally, I think the HAS figure is the best use of this mold with the Anti Venom production figure being second.  But, the unproduced figure gives collectors something more to seek out.

2004 Anti Venom Roadblock

Larry Hama loved Roadblock.  He was introduced in the comic with superhero level flair.  He then remained a mainstay of the comic plot for the remaining decade of Joe media.  As if this weren't enough, Roadblock was a staple of cartoon, too.  He was that rare character who crossed over into both mediums and was appreciated by fans of each.  He was also a favorite of Hasbro.  Just as his iconic 1984 mold disappeared from retail shelves, Hasbro released a newly sculpted 1986 figure.  This figure hung around until 1988 when the Tiger Force repaint of the 1984 was released.  Roadblock then, though, went on a bit of a hiatus and did not appear again until 1992.

Roadblock's return to retail in 1992, though, was extremely well done.  The new mold brought some heft to the character that had been missing in 1984 and only slightly improved in 1986.  For the generations of kids who had grown up in the '80's, this 1992 sculpt was a missed redo of a favorite character.  And, as collectors started to come of age, the 1992 Roadblock was one of the very few figures from that decade that were sought after.  Hasbro helped this along in the early 2000's when they got the mold back from India and repainted it for the 2004 Anti Venom set.  Gone were some of the more gaudy hues from the '90's and in was a palette of black, tan and deep green.  It was extremely rare for the 2000's era Hasbro to produce the best paint job on a figure.  But, with the Anti-Venom Roadblock, they succeeded.

Hasbro had planned a repaint of the 1984 Roadblock as part of the 1997 Toys R Us exclusive G.I. Joe assortments.  While all of the other replacements from the original hand painted samples could be explained away by "lost" molds, Roadblock's absence was odd.  While he was not replaced in that year's lineup, his 1986 sculpt did.  The parts were used for Breaker and Rock and Roll in the Stars and Stripes set.  But, then, those parts disappeared and the 1986 Roadblock was never repainted.  In 2001, the 1984 Roadblock returned to retail: renamed as a new character.  It was revealed the copyrights were an issue and may have been part of the 1997 snafu.  The 1984 mold was re-done several times: to the point of annoyance in the collecting world.  Finally, Hasbro got the 1992 mold back from Hasbro.  While I'm not too keen on Hasbro's handling of the molds returned from Funskool, they did right by Roadblock.  He was released twice, both times in a solid color scheme worthy of the character's importance.

When I talk about Joes of the 1980's, the memories are of childhood play.  For figures from the 1990's, it is of my re-entry into collectordom and the recollections are a mixture of childhood regret of not having some of the toys when I was a kid and adult happiness for finding a fulfilling past time.  My 2000's remembrances are of the acquisition of figures and the sentiment of the collecting community at the time of their releases.  Each era has value to me.  But, it also shows why many of the 2000's figures have faded with time.  They lack any real connection to me aside from the community aspect.  And, the community during that time was fun.  Sure, there was nonsense.  But, less than today and more guys got along since it wasn't a big competition like so many want to make collecting now. 

For this Roadblock, though, I have found uses.  I like Roadblock to appear in photos since he's a popular character.  The 1984 has its uses.  And, I no longer have the 1986, 1992 or 1993 figures in my collection.  So, the Anti-Venom Roadblock and the HAS Roadblock see a good amount of use in various photos and dios.  The colors are strong and the accessories are good.  That's about all you can ask of a decade old repaint.  But, that's also the extent of my involvement with the figure.  He had no great adventures.  I lack any anecdote about losing him somewhere or playing with him in a place that's long gone.  (I have no nostalgia for any homes I've sold other than my first.  If I liked them enough to stay, I'd still own them.)  In short, he's something cool that's there.  But, without his connection to my childhood toys, I'd have no reason to own him.  I'm happy I have him.  But, at the same time, I also realize that he's never going to be more than a box checked for some mythical collection goal.

I've talked about the Anti Venom Steel Brigade helmets before.  For characters that had a unique helmet, the common theme detracted from the figure.  But, for Roadblock, the helmets are less problematic.  The original figure release did not include a helmet.  So, the inclusion here doesn't replace something better.  The helmet, of course, doesn't fit on Roadblock's head.  So, it's value is minimal.  The rest of Roadblock's accessories are derived from the 1984 original.  He includes a black version of the 1984 .50 cal machine gun and stand.  I consider this Roadblock's iconic weapon.  So, its inclusion is a welcome one.  The figure also includes a black version of the 1984 backpack.  However, this is the modified version from earlier in the 2000's that lacks the peg for the tripod and has the ammo pack molded to back body instead of having it as a separate piece.  It's a downgrade from the original.  But, it also is less prone to breakage and loss.  The final piece is a black figure stand.  The fact that the Anti-Venom set included well thought out accessories seemed inconsequential at the time.  But, this proved to be the only Joe set that ever included gear that really matched the figures.

The 1992 Roadblock mold had an interesting life.  Originally, the 1992 figure was released with a spring loaded spinner and cool new machine gun.  However, the spinner mechanism broke easily and was "recalled".  Roadblock was then removed from later 1992 shipments.  However, in late 1992 or early 1993 the 1992 Roadblock paint scheme was re-released on 1993 cards.  This time, though, the figure included a weapons tree and the cool machine gun was gone.  Once this stock was cleared out, the mold was repainted in a neon 1993 color scheme and shipped for the rest of the year.  Hasbro sent the mold to India in the late 1990's where Funskool then released the figure in colors similar to the 1992 figure for many years.  The Funskool release brought back the "recalled" 1992 machine gun and gave collectors a chance to easily get it.  Hasbro got the mold back in 2003 when Funskool returned 18 molds to Hasbro.  They then released it in this Anti Venom set.  There are two different unproduced color schemes of the Anti Venom Roadblock: a light blue and a dark blue variant.  Both are now expensive and hard to find.  In 2005, Hasbro used the exact paint masks from the Anti Venom Roadblock for the HAS Roadblock.  The HAS set was terrible, but the Roadblock and Snake Eyes figures were useful.  The mold then disappeared and never appeared again.  There's lots of paint jobs of the figure for collectors to track down.  But, the mold probably had a couple of more uses in it if the line had continued for a few more years.

The Anti Venom set was actually relatively popular upon its release.  At the time, collectors generally ignored any set that didn't include army builders.  But, the Anti Venom set found some interest.  While the Urban Strike set was reduced to $15 at Toys R Us stores around the country, the contemporarily released Anti Venom set never saw such reductions.  While it hung around in stores through most of the rest of 2004, it did sell out.  By 2006 and 2007, loose figures from the set were selling for double retail: a feat not even achieved by many army builders of that era.  Now, too, the figures have gotten rather scarce.  It's actually kind of hard to find mint and complete versions of the characters from the set.  But, scarcity doesn't equal rarity and pretty much anyone who collected in 2004-2006 has this figure safely tucked away.

Still, though, a mint and complete version of this figure will run you between $15 and $30.  That's quite a lot for a mold that was repainted twice and was heavily concentrated in collector circles.  But, all Joe figures are pretty stupidly priced these days for things so common.  If you can find collections amassed during the early 2000's, this guy will be there.  And, that's probably your best way to get him cheap.  This version is easily the best paint job on the mold and is a worthy addition to any Roadblock collection.  With production numbers around 16,000, there's plenty of these guys out there.  You just have to have some patience to find one for a fair price.

1988 Tiger Force Roadblock - Around the Web

The 1988 Tiger Force Roadblock was one of the final figures I bought as a kid.  I found him very early in the year.  And, I simply could not pass up a chance to get new Roadblock gear since my brothers had completely broken and lost all of the accessories for our 1984 version.  (I had even tried to glue the barrel back to the gun to salvage the weapon!)  He's probably the first figure I bought for his gear.  By 1992, accessories would be the primary reason I'd buy a figure at retail.

Tiger Force is an incredibly popular subset of Joe collecting.  And, Roadblock is a very popular character.  But, the Tiger Force Roadblock figure is generally maligned and forgotten.  Here's the best of him from around the web.

1988 Tiger Force Roadblock Profile

Tiger Force Roadblock Instagram 01

Tiger Force Roadblock at JoeADay.com

Tiger Force Roadblock on Instagram 02

Tiger Force Roadblock on Instagram 03

Tiger Force Roadblock Video Review

Tiger Force Roadblock on Instagram 04

1984 Roadblock - Around the Web

The 1984 Roadblock figure stands as one of the great links between the line's first two years and the leap in quality it took in the third year.  In many ways, Roadblock feels like a 1983 release.  But, his gear makes him stand out from the simpler equipment from that year.  He's not as complex as Blowtorch or Stormshadow.  But, he remains an iconic figure, nonetheless.  I first got him in early 1984 at a Value City store.  He's been a staple of my collection since, even if this mold has gotten a bit stale.  Here's the best of him from around the web.

Roadblock Profile

Roadblock Dio 1

1984 Roadblock at When It Was Cool

Roadblock at 3DJoes.com

Roadblock Dio 2

Roadblock at TheJTJ.com

Roadblock Dio 3

Rarities - Asian Bootleg 1992 and 1993 G.I. Joe Figures

I've saved the oddest item of all for last.  In the late 2000's/early 2010's, carded bootleg examples of 1992 and 1993 G.I. Joe figures started showing up in Asia.  They were on cards mimicking the vintage carded look for G.I. Joe.

The figures sometimes attempt to be similar to the colors shown on the card artwork.  In other cases, they are very off.  But, the figures are spectacularly bad.  They are definitive bootlegs if only for their horrendous quality and garish design.

Below you will see ten of the figures offered.  There may be more.  I'm not sure of the origin.  But, some figures, like Cobra Commander can be interesting due to the different paint jobs.  I own the Iceberg figure, but have never gotten around to opening him.

These figs were dirt cheap when the first appeared, often selling in the $5 MOC range.  Today, they are still relatively cheap with the most popular figures running around $20 for a MOC figure.  As an interesting display piece, the figures have some value.  But, they are really, really awful in terms of quality.