Sunday, June 28, 2026

Toy Review: Transformers Generations Studio Series Barricade (The Last Knight) (Deluxe)


Review: 
 #912
Name:  Barricade
Brand:  Transformers
Allegiance:  Autobot
Line:  Generations - Studio Series
Year of Release:  2026
Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 30)
Mold Status:  new

VEHICLE MODE:


Another entry for Barricade in the Studio Series line, this time, it is based upon his appearance in The last Knight movie.


He transforms into a 2016 Ford Mustang police car, and the concept of a Decepticon having a police alternate mode is still quite novel.


He is an okay size in vehicle mode for a Deluxe, it might not look that much smaller, but he is quite compact.


All five of his robot weapons can store towards the back of the vehicle, making it seem like some sort of attack mode.


This is, in general, a somewhat good vehicle, especially in regards to the sculpted detailing and the painted details.  He's also missing his iconic "To punish and enslave" line.


However, and this is due to the requirement in transformation (which the designer could have figured out a way to fix...) but the front of the vehicle sits much higher than the rest, so it looks really odd and off.



It's a shame that this is the case, given that everything else looks so good.


A good and aggressive looking vehicle mode, let down by the weird hood thing.

TRANSFORMATION:

Barricade's transformation is not too bad.  The front and arms transforms as you'd expect, being that you fold the hood forward to form the torso, and the arms just swing up from underneath.  The roof and side windows fold into the backpack.  while the rear unfold to form the legs.

ROBOT MODE:


The original toy was a bit of a shellformer and it looked like it, and this version tries to address it but brings with it its own problems.


It's still a really decent robot mode though, and the biggest piece of kibble is his backpack, but is compact enough to not be a massive issue.


The head sculpt is really busy, to the point that it can be hard to decipher the details.


Height and size wise, he is okay for a Deluxe.


Articulation is also fine, he has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and ankles.


He comes with a plethora of weapons though, a pair of guns, a forearm blaster, and a circular wrist blaster.


The two guns can be held in his hands, but they look really odd.  Firstly, they are too flat (basically as thin as a typical sword accessory).  Second, the handles are really long / high up for some reason so it sticks out of his fists.


A neat touch is that the guns can store on his waist.



They're pegged to look like they're holstered there, which is a nice touch, and probably is part of the reason why they are so thin since they would get in the way of the arms if they were thicker.


The next weapon is a forearm blaster / wrist mounted taser, that just pegs onto his forearm, and looks fairly good there.


Lastly, two separate pieces clip onto his arm for a circular six-barrelled blaster, which doesn't look too bad.


The robot mode looks a bit busy, and it's not perfect.  He has some proportion issues with his legs.  Due to transformation, they unfold from just the rear of the vehicle mode and every time a Transformer tries this, there is not enough mass.


And that's the case here, Barricade's legs are too thin and not chunky enough, especially looking from the side.  His feet are also indistinct blobs lacking a proper outline.


It's hard to say whether this is an improvement over the original as there are pros and cons, but objectively, it's not a bad robot mode.

OVERALL:

Barricade is a good enough figure.  He has flaws in both modes, which isn't ideal and feels like they could have easily been remedied if a little bit more effort was put into it.  As a result, this isn't the best figure we've had, but it is still a solid one.

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For other Transformers reviews, have a look at this page and this page.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Toy Review: Transformers Retro Seaspray (Deluxe)


Review: 
 #911
Name:  Seaspray
Brand:  Transformers
Allegiance:  Autobot
Line:  Retro
Year of Release:  2025
Size Class:  Deluxe
Mold Status:  new

PACKAGING:


Released as part of the Retro subline, Seaspray comes in retro inspired packaging, which means he's on bubble cardboard (an extreme rarity these days).


The back depicts classic G1 art, and tech specs, and this is like a blast from the past.  The packaging has just enough modern touches to not feel outdated.

VEHICLE MODE:


Surprisingly, unlike most of the other Retro releases, Seaspray is a brand new mold (rather than a reuse from the Generations line), and transforms into a hovercraft.


This is a very decent hovercraft.  The shade of blue used is vibrant, and pairs well with the white and yellow.


Seaspray is a decent size for a Deluxe, considering that he is a minibot.


The robot gun can peg onto the side towards the back.


He has some small plastic wheels on the bottom to allow him to roll.  The propellers at the back can also spin.


There are only two minor flaws in this mode, the first is that his robot head is visible at the back.  Even though it kind of blends in as it's the same shade of yellow as its surroundings, it's still obvious.


The second is that he is fairly hollow when you look underneath, but considering real hovercrafts are the same, it's not a huge deal and he feels quite nice in hand anyway.


A fantastic vehicle mode.

TRANSFORMATION:

Seaspray has an enjoyable transformation that isn't too complicated.  The general idea of the transformation is similar to toys of the past, but updated here.  The front splits and unfolds to form his legs, and a few panels of the hovercraft will fold around his legs as a result.  The sides become the arms, and they just require you unpegging him.  The rest of the assembly folds together to form the torso.

ROBOT MODE:


Seaspray's robot mode is very very good.  It captures the character perfectly.


Despite some G1 artworks depicting him as very chubby, he's more towards the animation model (as expected) and so he isn't too fat.  He has great proportions.


The head sculpt is also fantastic.


As a minibot, you would expect him to be a little bit shorter than normal Deluxes, and that is the case here, but he doesn't feel small thanks to his solid feel and proportions.


Articulation is great, he has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and ankles.


He comes with a silver gun as his weapon.


He can either hold the weapon in his hand...


...or you can attach to in the same place as vehicle mode so that it looks like a shoulder cannon.


A really surprising and amazing thing is that he doesn't have any kibble at all in robot mode, which is very impressive.


He has wide feet, which really helps in his stability, he'll probably never keel over, but it's not wide enough to look out of proportion.


A big difference of Seaspray compared to some other contemporary figures is that he actually feels solid and quality in hand, rather than a flimsy hollow piece of plastic.


A robot mode that's a great follow up to vehicle mode.

OVERALL:

It is a shame that Seaspray was released as part of the Retro line rather than the Generations line, given that he'll probably have a little less availability.  This is a really good figure that perfectly captures the characters in both modes, and is a brilliant toy to boot.  Definitely try and get Seaspray if you can.

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For other Transformers reviews, have a look at this page and this page.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
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