Barricade (2004)
Not only do I miss the days of o-ring figures, but I miss the days of o-ring multi-pack exclusives. I guess I should say o-ring Toys R Us multi-pack exclusives. Maybe I should put it even more succinctly. I miss 2002-2006. It was a time when GI Joe seemed to still be viable, or at least a time when Hasbro still seemed to give more than a bit of cursory attention to its evergreen boys toys property. I’m sure Hasbro still remembers the brand, you know, the one that put it on the map as a big player in the toy aisle, and defined boys play patterns in a way that’s still being felt. Whoa, sorry about the tangent there. I cant imagine what would male me say such things. Now where was I?
The Anti-Venom Task Force set was an interesting concept, and was exciting to me as it crossed over into the main line’s Valor vs. Venom theme. This group of Joe’s were fighting against Cobra’s latest world-conquering scheme of venomizing innocent people. The task force is set with the mission of finding those infected individuals and spraying them with a serum to bring them back to normal. Change up a few details and this same idea could work with the current zombie craze.
Barricade is a repaint of his original mold, but equipped with a new helmet. The Steel Brigade must have had some excess headgear lying about, because the Anti-Venom team wear their helmets. Each member also has his code name handily stenciled on its front. That makes it easy to match them up when you’re a loose collector. Why can’t we do this with rifles too?
The only downside to Barricade’s accessories is the lack of his signature battering ram. If you don’t give the specialist door-kicker his actual door kicker, what good is he? Fortunately, I have a spare, so it’s no big deal. Although it would have been nice to get the accessory remolded in black or gold to match his new unit.
”Looks like Barricade could go to Iraq, and kick down all the doors of all the terrorists , with his big, bad boots/attitude.”
I really like this figure out that set. Definitely my 2nd favorite out of that set. The painted head was the only thing where I think the original Barricades looked better. But still, I think I liked this Barricade best out of all Barricades made as it toned down the gold-ish armor, has an awesome pattern throughout the figure, and just enough black painted details in the right places. I think the team generic helmet was an improvement over Barricades original.
Only Roadblock tops this guy in the set for me.
I think I am right there with you on the 2002-2006 range of G.I.Joe. There was product, and mixed in were a lot of fun toys overall, but if a person didn’t like “new sculpt,” there was still classic ARAH items coming. Not to mention, in my opinion, almost a stand alone sub series of comic packs that make for a neat little sub collection on their own.
I think Mutt and Duke were the stinkers in this set. Sgt. Lifeline would have been better as just Stretcher, or even being Sideswipe into the set and give him the same SB/AV helmet. I like Charbroil in this set more than his original figure (save for the painted head) but if I remember right that hose just would not flex?
It’s a pretty good figure for Barricade, but I’m not crazy about the desert camo. The original blue/grey camo is more “urban ops”, even if it looks kinda Cobra-ish.
The Anti Venom was the last really good “Joe” TRU set. The Cobra ones were a little better as the concept aged.
The painted heads and common helmets were big detriments to me. Joes were individuals. Putting them all in the same helmet stripped them of that feature. If they wanted SB out there, they should have included 2 SB figures. We know they had the mold and no one would have missed Duke or Lifeline.
The alternate blue versions from Asia featured molded flesh colored heads. They looked much better. Why Hasbro ditched them, especially for figures that were designed to wear helmets, is beyond me. It was nice to get some different molds and some original accessories, too.
My looking back mode leads me to believe that Hasbro started the TRU 6 packs with high hopes. (Look at Python Patrol or even Night Force for examples) but lost any desire to make them interesting. It’s known that the Hasbro guys of the time had no interest in the old molds as they were not seen as a way to advance their careers in the industry. Thus, the packs deteriorated to the point where Hasbro pulled the HAS pack at the convention, stating it wasn’t ready. Then, just weeks later, the exact set they showed appeared at retail. 2005 was not a good year to be a Joe fan in a lot of ways. Ahh, bitter memories. 🙂
Man, I’m STILL looking for this guy’s helmet.
Despite popular beleif; Bullitproof, Longarm, Mace, Barricade and Longarm are not the same individuals as the C.O.P.S
I wouldn’t call the Joes in the early to mid-2000s an “evergreen… property.” At least not at a retail level, They were a cash cow (in the 80s) that was put out to pasture.
Part of a better desert set than the actual desert set.
I’d to have had DEF’s Shockwave’s battering ram robot included, without the lightup feature.