Set Price: $20 U.S.
Overall Rating: 8.9

(NOTE: Because this set is composed of repaints, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the set and the color scheme, and merely compares it to the original versions of these molds. For a review on the original RotF deluxe Sideswipe mold, go here. For a review on the original TF movie deluxe Barricade mold, go here.)
 

Barricade

Allegiance: Decepticon
Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: White, black, bright "safety" yellow, and some transparent red, transparent blue, clear plastic, light red, silver, blue, dark blue, and gray
Individual Rating: 8.0

    Whereas most of the time the movie toys have rather subdued decos, for this repaint of Barricade they went in the completely opposite direction. This version's based on a Hong Kong police car, and although it's rather accurate, man is it LOUD. The white and black go together fairly well, as one would expect (though white is, of course, the primary color this time as opposed to the black), but another main color has been added to the mix, and it's a VERY bright yellow. There's also some blue patches amidst the yellow, and although those two colors don't clash, I do wish the blue was more prominent on this toy as opposed to the yellow. The blue contrasts well with ALL the colors, whereas that yellow is really just an ugly, loud color. (Yes, it's technically accurate, but still... ick.) The chinese "POLICE" symbols help to make it obvious where this version of Barricade is patrolling the streets, and the paint apps on his face are also very well-done, with the transparent red optics coming off as quite menacing (which is certainly in contrast to the rest of his body in this scheme). One last thing to mention about this redeco is that the windows are completely transparent (thus allowing one to see his bright robot innards more easily, unfortunately), but his rear windows are painted black-- go fig.
    This version of Barricade has the Interrogrator modifications, but otherwise no mold changes have been made to this toy from previous versions; however, the mold is seeing a bit of degradation by this point, particularly with the punching action, which activates at the drop of a hat now.

Sideswipe

Allegiance: Autobot
Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: Silver, black, transparent blue, and some gunmetal gray, chalky light sky blue, light red, light milky gray, and metallic light blue
Individual Rating: 9.8

    This redeco of Sideswipe more or less has the same basic color scheme, but with more added. That lovely silver paint all over the vehicle mode is still there, but with some really nice metallic blue stripes down the sides, which add a bit more contrast. There's also some blue-and-black patterns along the sides of Sideswipe's hood, though I'm not entirely sure what they're supposed to be-- some kind of bizarre tire-track stencil? The same Cyberglyphic pattern repeated in different colors? Weird. Well, it looks cool anyways, and again, adds a bit more to the mode. There's also been a silver paint app added down the front sides of the window, so that it looks like Sideswipe has his front window piece seperated into three separate windows. The transparent shade of blue used for the windows is also a tad lighter on this version when compared to the original. The robot mode doesn't have as many different paint apps as the vehicle mode, but the color layout's a bit different-- namely, some black has been added to parts, like the inner thights and upper arms. This, combined with the chalky light blue plastic used for many of the "connecting piece" bits, really helps to vary up the mode a bit more. Yes, that boring light milky gray is still there, but the added variation-- the blue, in particular-- really makes the color scheme pop that extra bit.
    No mold changes have been made to Hunters' Rumble Sideswipe.

    I'm of a bit of a split opinion when it comes to the "Hunters' Rumble" two-pack. On the one hand, the Barricade deco, while technically accurate in its scheme as Hong Kong police car, is really loud and bright, and just not suiting to Barricade at all. On the other hand, the Sideswipe redeco really adds some neat details and quite a bit of contrast to that robot mode of his, making an already excellent mold even better. If you don't have either mold and rather like the "rescue vehicle" schemes quite a bit, regardless of how loud the colors are, then this is a fairly easy recommendation. Otherwise, unless you're a particular fan of the characters this is probably something you can pass up on.

Reviews by Beastbot

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