Yeah! Giant spring-loaded missile launcher things! Hot damn!
GI Joe: Retaliation (RET) figures have hit the market! Well, sort of. With the delay of the movie until March 2013, toy releases are quickly drying up. Hasbro stated that all remaining toy releases will be pushed back until closer to the release of the movie. Understandable, but that means us Joe fans are only stuck with the first wave. And what a first wave - some hits and some misses.
Let's take a look at this first version of RoadRock, I mean Roadblock, as played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He's got this monstrous spring-loaded launcher thing, much like the Rise of Cobra (ROC) figures. This one has a couple added features in that Roadblock can actually interact with the weapon via the battle kata thing that he has PERMANENTLY AFFIXED TO HIS RIGHT HAND! What?
Okay, I know the picture is blurry, but that huge thing threw my camera for a loop. It was like a car wreck. It couldn't turn away and not focus on it.
The weapon actually comes apart into two pieces for added battle-kata fun. Yeah, I don't care. It's still silly. Well, silly for this 49 year old kid. Wess likes to point out his age, so why not me too?
We're both a couple of big goofy kids who focus way too much of our time on plastic toys. hey, we could be drinking and carousing, right Wess?
See that thing down in Roadblock's right hand? Yeah, it's molded into his hand.
Hasbro? Can I get an extra hand if I don't want my Roadblock to permanently have this thing in his hand?
The sculpt on Roadblock is pretty damn cool. The likeness to the Rock is impressive. Arm musculature is detailed as well. A great job by the Hasbro design team. 
Hey, even this thing in his hand is sculpted well. Okay, yeah, I'm reaching here. So what's a solution for this problem? 
There is another version of Roadblock currently available. Well, maybe. Without any resupply from Hasbro, RET toys are going to dry up real quick.
There's a ninja dojo 3-pack with Roadblock, Beach Head, and Kamakura available. This version of Roadblock is less than desirable - at least to me.
The first problem is that the plastic used for RB's skin is two different tones. Can't they make him match?
And his head is loose. What the heck? And his goatee is barely visible. Can we get some consistency between the two RB's?
Fortunately, the hands pop off easily enough to turn the single pack battle kata RB into a much better figure. I personally prefer the non-tiger-stripe camo RB.
He also comes with the vest that may have first appeared with Night Adder from ROC and later with Resolute RB.
So a quick hand swap and I get a decent version of RET Roadblock.
I like this guy! But I don't know what to do with my Resolute Roadblock and this Retaliation Roadblock. I like both figures and how can I incorporate this guy into my twisted GI Joe world? Don't know right now.
And what about the lack of extra leg articulation? Single jointed knees and no ankle articulation! Oh the horror! The absolute HORROR!
I really don't care that much. I still remember the articulation of the original o-ring figures and I'm not upset by this move from Hasbro. Some figures with the extra artic are actually a little more difficult to stand up due to the extra joints. Not this guy.
And besides... It's a frikkin' toy! get over it!
