TF Views

The day after I got Barricade, HasbroPulse delivered Smokescreen. When it rains, it pours.

Siege Smokescreen is a repaint of Barricade, who is has a retooled head from Siege Prowl (a figure that got a straight repaint as Bluestreak, naturally). I had passed on Prowl and Bluestreak from the beginning due to their low-feature alt modes, those blank canvases of their alt modes just called for something more interesting; thankfully Smokescreen and Barricade were announced. This is the first Smokescreen for me since Alternators, 16 years ago, and thankfully it's pretty decent.

Smokescreen comes with a left and right shoulder cannon weapons that combine to form a double-barreled weapon and with a repaint of Prowl's "acid pellet blaster" rifle (still white, but cast in blue). Originally shown with larger, stylized "38"-style race numbers on the doors and hood, the final version has what appears to be Cybertronian characters in a slightly smaller font. Smokescreen being an exclusive ships in a generic War for Cybertron trilogy cardboard box with just the tray and instructions, sealed shut with the character name & UPC sticker, no other packaging.

Pros:
- the added paint details to the hood and doors make this mold work very well
- dynamic deco in both modes that looks great
- G1-appropriate accessories look nice, attach to alt mode to form a very aggressive race car
- very good articulation
- good sculpted likeness and a balance of sculpted details and sleekness
- alt mode looks great in this paint scheme
- dark smoke canopy looks great against medium-blue deco
- painted torso panel dark gray over an unpainted black belt
- interesting transformation, and nothing feels dangerously stressed or fragile
- no battle damage paint at all
- packaging is eco-friendly and possibly helps keep the cost of being an exclusive down
- rolls cleanly
- bot mode shoulders stay in place well (unlike my Barricade sample)
- parts aren't as hollow as most Siege figures

Neutral:
- bot mode is a little small for the line's deluxes
- dark smoke wheels are unpainted
- thighs are dark gray instead of bright silver or white
- car splitter (chin spoiler) sits slightly lower than rest of bodywork, consistent with character's G1 race car design, doesn't affect ground clearance
- transformation to alt mode has alignment issue that's held together by the doors, this is just tight tolerances with the front end hinge
- alt mode hood center panel can be pushed in a tiny amount under its clip, not even half a millimeter, yet is easily pushed back into place without de-transforming via the included weapon
- unpainted taillights not G1-accurate, but race car appropriate

Cons:
- facade stomach at the front, obviously empty torso from the back
- very hollow lower legs, thin upper legs
- C.O.M.B.A.T. system integration is a little weak with a foot peghole that's on each heel, and an oddly-placed side 5mm hole on each shin
- not many useful 3mm fire blast effect pegs, none in alt mode aside from weapons
- packaging is very bland

Overall: B+
I was pleasantly surprised by Smokescreen here. Sure he's a bit empty from the back, and he doesn't integrate the fire blast pegs or COMBAT system as well as some figures, but overall he delivers pretty well on the character in both modes with a poseable yet solid bot mode and a sleek, exciting alt mode.

Articulation:
- ball as swivel neck
- universal shoulder
- 5mm peg hole shoulder pad rotates from top to side
- rotation bicep
- hinged elbow
- rotation wrist
- rotation waist
- universal hip
- hinged knee
- side-tilt ankle
- hinged foot

Connections:
- 3mm fire blast peg left shoulder front (hidden in alt mode)
- 3mm fire blast peg right shoulder front (hidden in alt mode)
- 3mm fire blast peg left forearm front (hidden in alt mode)
- 3mm fire blast pegs back of door-wing, 2 each (hidden in alt mode)
- 3mm fire blasts peg front and back each shoulder cannon
- 3mm fire blast peg front of acid pellet blaster rifle
- 5mm peg hole top of each shoulder (each panel rotates to side) (hidden in alt mode)
- 5mm peg hole back
- 5mm peg hole side of each forearm (hidden in alt mode)
- 5mm peg hole fists (hidden in alt mode)
- 5mm peg hole outside of each shin (hidden in alt mode)
- 5mm peg hole underside of each heel (hidden in alt mode)
- 5mm peg hole top of acid pellet blaster rifle
- 5mm peg as grip of acid pellet rifle
- 5mm peg hole side of each shoulder cannon
- 5mm tab each shoulder cannon
- 5mm peg of combined shoulder cannon weapons
- 3mm peg hole for figure stand at small of back

Siege Barricade is a retool of Siege Prowl (a figure that got a straight repaint as Bluestreak, naturally) via a new head, Barricade would go on to be repainted as Smokescreen. I had passed on Prowl and Bluestreak from the beginning due to their low-feature alt modes, those blank canvases of their alt modes just called for something more interesting; thankfully Smokescreen and Barricade were announced.

Barricade comes with a left and right shoulder cannon weapons that combine to form a double-barreled weapon, and a repaint of Prowl's light bar accessory (cast in purple with dark gray paint in the middle and red stripes under each bar). At one point shown with more paint on the light bar and painted text on the doors (looking an awful lot like a Cybertronian "to punish and enslave"), the final version has omitted the top paint on the light bar and the smaller text, leaving only the "POLICE" in Cybertronian.

Pros:
- the added paint details to the hood and doors make this mold work very well
- intimidating Decepticon-themed deco in both modes that looks great
- G1-appropriate accessories look nice, attach to alt mode to form a murderous cop car
- very good articulation
- dark purple wheels have painted matte black hubs
- good sculpted likeness and a balance of sculpted details and sleekness
- alt mode looks good in this paint scheme
- dark purple canopy looks great, and unlike some uses of this mold, the whole thing is underpainted silver
- alt mode center matte paint stripe continues all the way to the back
- the metallic mauve plastic for the lighter gray bits is a great fit with the black plastic, the dark gray matte stripe, and purple clear bits
- brassy face paint and red eye paint are clean, look nice
- interesting transformation, and nothing feels dangerously stressed or fragile
- combined cannons weapon looks good pegged to side of forearm
- rolls cleanly
- parts aren't as hollow as most Siege figures

Neutral:
- bot mode is a little small for the line's deluxes
- mid-torso originally shown with black-painted belt, paint omitted in production
- car splitter (chin spoiler) sits slightly lower than rest of bodywork, inconsistent with cop car design, but minor and doesn't affect ground clearance
- transformation to alt mode has alignment issue that's held together by the doors, this is just tight tolerances with the front end hinge and it works fine
- alt mode hood center panel can be pushed in a tiny amount under its clip, not even half a millimeter, yet is easily pushed back into place without de-transforming via the included weapon
- unpainted taillights, can just imagine they're tinted dark
- light bar accessory has a small tab for alt mode alignment but it doesn't really do much

Cons:
- paint wear originally shown as across alt mode nose but we only get a clumsy swipe at the very front of the fenders that ends abruptly
- hood is just begging for a police-style star for his head to appear through
- facade stomach at the front, obviously empty torso from the back
- very hollow lower legs, thin upper legs
- C.O.M.B.A.T. system integration is a little weak with a foot peghole that's on each heel, and an oddly-placed side 5mm hole on each shin
- not many useful 3mm fire blast effect pegs, none in alt mode aside from weapons

Overall: B+
Barricade works really well as a G1-inspired Cybertronian Decepticon police car, his dark colors look great together, intimidating without being monochromatic. He moves well and has a nice transformation. He doesn't have as much COMBAT or fire blast integration as others in the line, but is still pretty darn slick overall.

Articulation:
- ball as swivel neck
- universal shoulder
- 5mm peg hole shoulder pad rotates from top to side
- rotation bicep
- hinged elbow
- rotation wrist
- rotation waist
- universal hip
- hinged knee
- side-tilt ankle
- hinged foot

Connections:
- 3mm fire blast peg left shoulder front (hidden in alt mode)
- 3mm fire blast peg right shoulder front (hidden in alt mode)
- 3mm fire blast peg left forearm front (hidden in alt mode)
- 3mm fire blast pegs back of door-wing, 2 each (hidden in alt mode)
- 3mm fire blasts peg front and back each shoulder cannon
- 5mm peg hole top of each shoulder (each panel rotates to side) (hidden in alt mode)
- 5mm peg hole back
- 5mm peg hole side of each forearm (hidden in alt mode)
- 5mm peg hole fists (hidden in alt mode)
- 5mm peg hole outside of each shin (hidden in alt mode)
- 5mm peg hole underside of each heel (hidden in alt mode)
- 5mm peg hole top of light bar
- 5mm peg as grip of light bar
- 5mm peg hole side of each shoulder cannon
- 5mm tab each shoulder cannon

No excuses for Hasbro to have not included "to punish and enslave" in Cybertronian.

I like the mold enough, and Barricade is in the comic. So, I might get one.

Based on a recent conversation, "Siege" Mirage just dropped off my list.

The robot's chest is a faux-hood. (Or, the front of the vehicle mode is a faux-chest. Take your pick.) That sort of thing is unacceptable above the sub-scout level to begin with. But, there is even less reason for Hasbro to be doing that when a character has several workable designs that do not require faux-parts.

In reading a review about Mirage recently, not only did I see that fake chest on the back of the car, but a bunch of crucial joint parts are molded in clear plastic. I seriously don't know who green-lights crap like that but it's a NO.

Meanwhile, I've been enjoying Smokescreen and Barricade a lot, they hold up to my initial assessments - sometimes figures don't.

Maybe Hasbro has solved the fragility issues of clear plastic? (Unlikely.)


I saw the Target Seeker 3 pack yesterday. That is the sort of thing that I should be talking myself out of. Instead, I do not think that I could talk myself in to it, even if I *really* wanted to.

The set consists of 3 recolors of the current Starscream mold, which is a problem unto itself. Worse, the 3 figures (based on the "rainmakers" seen in "the Ultimate Doom") are cast in bright colors that the mold was never meant to use. The end result is three pressings of a bad mold in bad colors.

After the 2007 Transformers line used clear plastics for gearings in Brawl, and then they molded poor 2017 Jazz's hood shoulder hinges in clear plastics that failed, I'm done trusting that Hasbro might get it right someday.

I really haven't had any problems with clear plastic. The only one I've had a problem with so far was the brown plastic used for Transmetal Megatron. That stuff just disintegrates.

Metallic effect plastic tends to be fragile. (The flake effect tends to compromise the plastics.)


After years of customizing, I have gotten pretty good at recognizing different types of plastic and related problems. In some cases, the plastic will react badly to paint, or paint thinner. In others, the plastic feels "ready to break", which is common for clear plastic.

Managed to secure an Impactor.

Saw Apeface at Newbury recently. Not planning to get one (particularly at Newbury prices). But, if I remember (and have time), I plan to go back with a black light to pull the cipher text.