To Play and Have Fun

The Human Alliance movie Transformers are intended to be a cut above the standard Deluxe model Transformer - bigger in size with more detail. They somewhat bridge the gap between big highly detailed figures like Optimus and Megatron and the smaller less detailed Deluxe Bumblebees and Barricades. The Human Alliance BB (Transformers Human Alliance - Bumblebee with Sam) is great the Sideswipe (Transformers Human Alliance - Sideswipe w/ Sergeant Epps)... not so much. So I wasn't sure what to expect out of Barricade.



For Kids:

In my opinion this guy makes a great companion piece for Bumblebee as they fought in the first movie. He looks cool as a car and transforms fairly easily into a pretty cool robot. Plus he's got a little Frenzy you can flush down the toilet or whatever.



For Adults:

After the disappointment that was Sideswipe I was a bit worried but was relieved to find that Barricade is a very solid figure. In car mode he looks like the tough Saleen police car with plenty of details like the grill on front police lights and painted license plate. It should be noted he's almost twice the size (maybe a little under) of his deluxe version. All the little painted details like "Police" on the doors and "To punish and enslave" on the back fenders are clean and neat.



Transformation is actually not too bad. After two or three times it's pretty simple pull the sides apart and the legs down. Unfold the legs and pull apart pull the roof/back out flip the head up and rotate the arms. Add several little flips for the details and you're good to go.



Robot mode is where Sideswipe failed but Barricade passes. He looks very close to his move look. There's lots of detail in his face and his jaw actually moves up and down. He arms are impressively massive as they are basically the entire sides of the car but are articulated enough that you can actually get great poses out of him anyway with a ball type shoulder and an elbow that both bends and rotates. He's got a hand on one side and the tire pops forward on the other arm you flip out a bunch of little spikes and he's got a rotating saw type weapon. The legs appear a bit short compared to the rest of the body but he was designed that way. The only failings so to speak are that the legs are attached at something of a 45 degree angle at the hips which makes them a bit tougher to get into dynamic poses and keep him standing and his waist does not rotate. But there's so much you can do with the head and arms that this is somewhat mitigated.



Human Alliance is the name of the line but it's kind of funny for a Decepticon. Anyway he comes with Frenzy who can hide inside Barricade's chest up under the hood sit in the car or ride on his shoulder and man a gun up there. Just like the little humans with the other Alliance figures he's not really the highlight here but some may like the addition.



So while he's not Bumblebee he is miles ahead of Sideswipe. He's fun and cool looking in both car and robot mode for kids and adults alike.

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Great figure with some minor flaws

I'd been wanting to purchase Ultimate Bumblebee since the first version was released with the first Transformers movie but I never bought one. After seeing that a second version was being released I decided to go ahead and pick one up and I'm glad I did.



This is a very large Transformer with a good bit of weight. There are some pieces that feel fragile but it is a sturdy figure overall. Its true that the transformation on this figure is somewhat complex but once you transform it a time or two its really not that difficult. The instructions are a little hard to follow but using common sense goes a long way as there are a good number of holes and pegs that fit together during the transformation to vehicle mode that make it pretty obvious what to do once you've seen where the pegs line up with the holes (ie. as when putting the arms into the body).



There are a couple of reasons that I like this ROTF version better than the original. One reason is because of the updated sounds. I was never impressed with lines such as "You're my first human friend" or the repeated playing of Whip-it (not a bad song I just didn't like it with the Bumblebee figure for some reason). The sound clips and phrases are much better in this new version in my opinion and the inclusion of "You've got the touch" seems much more appropriate to me.



Of course there are a few things that keep this figure from being perfect. For one thing the box clearly states that the figure responds to motion and the instructions say that the figure responds to both voice and motion. I've had two of these figures (had to take the first one back due to a defect) and neither of them respond to voice or motion as stated. After initially pressing a button and then waiting the figure will perform another "action" every 5 to 10 seconds of being idle up to about 30 second before going to sleep which at first made me think it was responding to me but then I realized that if I pressed the button once and then made no sounds or movements it followed the exact same pattern with no movement or sound input. After having two figures with exactly the same issue I wonder if this was a planned feature that made it to the box art but never made it to production (as far as it being in the instruction sheet its clear that the instructions are from the first version with a new header at the top of the page as the figure shown in the instructions has the old style headlights on the front of the car). Please let me know in the comments if I've somehow missed the correct way to get the sound and motion sensor to work as I've even emailed Hasbro about it and their answer so far has been "we don't know."



There is also an issue where in robot mode the wings can make a loud clicking sound almost like something is popping inside or is going to break (although I don't think it would actually break anything from this). After watching closely I've found that there are two things that can cause this. One if the figure is posed in such a way that it's leaning slightly forward the wings can get caught up on the tires. Making the figure stand up straight or even with a very slight lean backwards can alleviate this issue if this is the cause. The second cause appears to be related to the rubber pieces that connect the wings to the body. Since these are kind of long and tube shaped if they are "twisted" the wrong way when the doors are attached to the figure's back as wings the added tension although slight seems to be enough to cause the clicking noise. Disconnecting the offending door(s) and rolling it 360 degrees forward or backward (depending on which way it was twisted) seems to help. Because the rubber connector is a solidly colored tube shape its really hard to tell if it's twisted the wrong way so some experimentation may be needed if the clicking sound is happening.



OVERALL: A very good figure that I'd recommend picking up if you're considering it. It's a great deal of fun and the animatronics do make him seem a little more real than a normal figure. My kids love when I get Ultimate Bumblebee out and even my wife has been telling me how cool she thinks it is which is a first for her with any Transformer figure.More detail ...

Movie Soundwave: One Devilish Looking Decepticon !

with Transformers: Revenge of the fallen coming to theaters later this month..i like others were excited to hear that Soundwave the Decepticon Communicator and megatron's head Intelligence officer will be making his big screen debut.



when i first saw spy pics of Soundwave in january i was shocked..the design was a radical departure from the tape deck character we all know. But this design works for the film..his disguise is a communications satellite. in short Soundwave rocks! lots of detail here.



he is one Devilish looking decepticon the design retains his G1 style head(great touch takara/hasbro !) the color scheme is reminiscent of his g1 days also. he is quite poseable and is well built...i like his claws and his arms they wanted the movie transformers to look totally alien and they succeded..



he also comes with ravage that launches from him ( ala g1 days) ravage as you know is the cassette Kitty that is loyal to soundwave..however hes not transformable...perhaps a later version will have a transformable one because hes in the film. mabey laserbeak too? one can only hope:)



Soundwave is one of my favorite Decepticons and i think they did a nice job on him..hes worth getting. like Optimus prime hes hard to get..i went to 2 stores before i landed 2 of him (one to open and one to keep sealed in the package)



pros: its soundwave!

good articulation

movie accurate detail in all modes



cons: ravage is non transformable (they probably did this to keep the price lower)



if you can find soundwave grab him..hes worth checking out. (hope they keep his cool monotonic voice for the movie like prime's the voice is classic)



keep this one away from little Johnny hes a bit fragile and you know how kids are careless sometimes...these are made for the collector and rightfully so..



RAVAGE....EJECT...EJECT More detail ...

Nice Toys (Kids)

I'm ok with it I guess. I bought them for my little brother who will be 3 next month - early birthday gift - but the lil dude opened the package already. He was going crazy over them... I guess for persons like myself we're not moved by them due to greater expecations but to the little ones - its like whoa!!! I've purchased both packs - did I mention that I took Sideswipe; my older brother took the Bumblebee(no reason for having two in the packs)and my other younger brother who is a teenager took Mixmaster and Sideways. I'm look to get the performance track despite the inconsistent reviews - and I think its all for the kids and not for us adults... we need toys that are gas powered and gaming consoles.... he-he!!!More detail ...

That Guy Sideswiped Me!

Sideswipe is one of the hip new autobots who will appear in the Revenge of the Fallen movie. According to the packaging he likes close combat and is a sword expert.



For kids:

This guy is a sweet ride. He's a silver Corvette concept with blue windows and is probably one of the sportiest cars in the line. He transforms fairly easily but has tons of little bits and parts that move and come apart and go together. Because of this he doesn't seem quite as durable to me as some of the others. His swords are one of the coolest "mech-alive" features I've seen yet though and he's got a pretty cool looking robot form. I think he might frustrate younger kids but most kids will like both the car and robot forms.



For adults:

This guy is still a sweet ride. I even want to drive him around and make engine noises. He is painted silver instead of just molded in a certain color and this makes him pop visually. The downside is that over time I see this paint job chipping around the edges and rubbing off on corners. Another down side is because his is an involved transformation and he's such a bright color there are many visible seam lines.



His transformation isn't difficult but it is intricate with many pieces of the body of the car that move and swivel and break apart. He feels a bit delicate but so far has proven durable. Still if someone went a little nuts on him he might break easy.



Once in robot mode he looks pretty cool with a sleek head his shoulders that are the rear fenders of the car and a couple of neat points of articulation action. He has pistons and sliding knee covers in his legs that move as you bend it at the knee and he has four hydraulic rods connecting his leg to his body that slide up and down as you move his legs. The rods are a soft material so they won't snap. That's all pretty neat. He does have a bit too much of the car stuck onto his back though to look fully streamlined. But the biggest complaint is his feet. They look fine but the wheels are at bottom (as in his feet don't sit flat on the ground) which makes standing him up a bit of a chore as you have to wiggle him and his feet around to find balance.



His swords are two thin strips of the doors attached to each elbow. The cool part is if you grab one of the two and pull it around in an arc toward the front of his arm the other one swings in the opposite direction automatically via a cool little gear set up. They meet right in front to form the sword on each arm. It's a cool mechanism and works well. Plus you can take the two parts of the sword part way to make double swords or scissor like weapons or half way to make a shield like weapon. It's versatile and can be used to change up the look.



This is a tough one I'll rate him four but three and a half would be fair too due to his inability to stand well many seam lines his chipping paint job and his delicate nature. Then again he looks cool and has those swords...More detail ...

A great option for a cheaper version.

When I saw the pics of this toy online I really liked how the truck looked but was unsure about the robot. When I bought it today I must say the robot looks much better in person. I have seen the 44 dollar toy and it does look great but with that said this cheaper toy really does hold up well in comparison. If I had one small gripe it's that Prime's chest is not the front of the truck like old versions of the toy and instead a fake chest is used. This is minor and really is made up for more than well enough.

All in all if you want a really good permanent Prime this is a great addition and well worth the price. It also was just hard enough to transform without being over the top hard like some of the other toys that have come out in this line. Bumblebee comes to mind.More detail ...