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.