Friday, December 1, 2017

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

1984 Roadblock, 2017 Sightline, Red Laser, Black Major, Factory Custom, Bootleg, Viper, Backstop, 1985 Mauler, Plastirama, Argentina

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5 comments:

  1. Battle Armor DadDecember 1, 2017 at 8:47 AM

    Great character-- weird head. Even as a kid I wondered why Hasbro chose to repaint this version for Tiger Force rather than the '86.

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  2. A-ManDecember 1, 2017 at 10:08 AM

    Old "Bubba"...Hasbro's working name for him...Hama called it out as insulting or racist. It was a good call on Hama's part. Issue #22, "Duke and Bubba show up and save the Joes." Roadblock could've been called one of the worst characters just by that Bubba name alone.

    It funny how Roadblock became universal parts donor in the 2000-2006 era. The V2 mold had done the same in 1997, but we never got a V2 recolor!

    Yeah, his head is kinda strange.

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  3. JosephDecember 1, 2017 at 7:40 PM

    I could never get over how bad that head looked. Hasbro couldn't sculpt a proper bald cranium, yet they got it right only two years later? Weird. That head alone both ruined and lessened the figure's worth to me, even though I liked his initial look in the comics and cartoon. I've always preferred the '86 version due to the major improvements made there.

    I had never heard of the "Bubba" anecdote until now. Good call on Hama's part indeed! Roadblock would never have become so popular a Joe with such a generic and stereotypical code name.

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  4. R.T.G.December 3, 2017 at 7:25 PM

    In one of your profiles (Thunder's I think), you mentioned that, he Duke and Roadblock all seemed like a continuation of the 1983 line, versus Blowtorch, Recondo and Spirit.

    That comment really stuck with me and caused the figure choices in that picture of mine. Also, it looks like Duke and Roadblock were the earliest 84 joes ready, based on the 1984 case assortments

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    Replies
    1. Robot_SonicDecember 4, 2017 at 11:41 PM

      That's cool. They really do kind of stand out. I've heard that some of the heads were sculpted earlier than the others and that Thunder may have been planned for an '82 character head. But, I can't find any notes about where that came from.

      I remember seeing Duke on the shelf first in 1984. I was pissed as my mother owed me a figure for my report card, but I already had Duke from the mail away. I found Roadblock, Firefly and Baroness shortly after that, though. Firefly also kind of fits the early head theme, too.

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