Renegade Game Studios have been releasing several G.I. Joe related stuff recently. I already had the RPG Core Rulebook and the Deck-building starter set, but I also pre-ordered several necessary tools to play the RPG. They took a while to arrive, but they’re here now!
Time to roll the dice.
A dice set and a dice bag are the basic essentials for the RPG game. The dice set contains 6 different dice and are made in bright blue. The dice bag is a soft black material with the modern G.I. Joe star logo on it. I recently found out that they also made a Cobra themed dice set and bag. I may have to look out for those too.
The other part of the order was the new Emerald Oubliette scenario that comes with a handy Game Master screen. The inside of the screen is showing rule tables and references, where the outside shows the artwork we’ve seen on the Classified Series.
Game Master Screen
The art on the dice set and bag packaging looks like the Classified art but something is off. I must admit, it’s not that good looking. Scarlett in particular is looking a bit strange. Maybe it’s the angle or the lens flare from Roadblock’s head, I can’t really put my finger on it, it just doesn’t click with me.
Is that you Scarlett?
That’s it for now. I have some other pre-orders incoming as well, there will be a post about those soon. Until then…
I could have gone for all good things, come in threes as well. But I like a bit of charm. This time around, we’ll take a look at the latest Classified Roadblock figure, the Heavy Artillery Roadblock. A.k.a. Marvin The Third.
Triple badass
This is the Roadblock figure we should have gotten first. It resembles best his original look if you ask me and frankly, we could have done without the other 2 figures.
Badass art
As always, the art is awesome. In classic style, he is aiming just next to the beholder and he’s looking angry, strong and totally in control. I pity the Cobra Troopers that he has in his sights.
Although I still don’t see why on earth we’d need so many Roadblock figures in the Classified line. Or rather, this early in the line. But I’m not complaining. This figure looks the part and is a great addition to the collection.
See you back soon. Until then, Happy Collecting and YoJoe!
I did not think I’d be getting the G.I. Joe Prexio Miniature figures quite easily, but a while back I stumbled upon them on eBay for a very reasonable price. Well, when I say reasonable, I mean not too expensive. Considering these were selling in the US for a few bucks, I did pay quite a hefty markup, but hey, they’re here and they are small, but they’re Joe and so they’re cool!
The 6 Prexio Mini Figurines
3 Cobra’s and 3 Joes to have a completely balanced set. On Cobra’s side, we have Cobra Commander, Destro and a Red Ninja. The G.I. Joe team is represented by Duke, Roadblock and Snake Eyes. The figures are small. No other way to put it. No articulation as far as I can tell, I still have them on the cards. But surprisingly well applied paint and decals. They really do look nice. They do remind me of the kind of figures you can buy as cake decoration. Someday, I may just put them on my birthday cake 🙂
Destro
Cobra Commander
Red Ninja
Duke
Roadblock
Snake Eyes
Up closer
That’s it for now. I’m really glad to see a lot of different G.I. Joe related toys and products being released. Even though I won’t be able to get them all here, I keep my eyes open for that sweet deal.
I’m afraid we may have to take a detour this time around. There appears to be something in the way. Impel Trading Card #30 is Roadblock!
The G.I. Joe’s resident gourmet chef is up this week. Roadblock was introduced in the comics alongside Duke at the funeral of General Flagg. Cobra tries to attack the mourning Joes with the new Rattler plane, but Duke and Roadblock shoot the plane down. Quite the entrance one might say.
In the cartoons, Roadblock is best remembered for being the rhyming cook. His aunt and uncle are introduced in the Red Rocket’s Glare episode, one of the first episodes that come to mind when I think of the cartoons. Roadblock is also featured in 2 of the PSA videos, warning kids about power lines and strangers.
In G.I. Joe The Movie, Roadblock – though being blinded by the Nemesis Enforcer – is the only one able to escape from Cobra-La. He carries a mutating Cobra Commander (I was-s-s-s once a man) on his back who functions as his eyes. When they get found by a Joe search party, Cobra Commander is fully mutated into a snake and slithers away. Roadblock then gets his vision back and leads the Joes to Cobra-La where the end battle takes place.
In Renegades, Roadblock is one of the ‘fugitive’ Joes. This time he is bigger and more driver/mechanic than heavy gunner. He (luckily) doesn’t speak in rhyme, but still likes to cook.
And then there was Retaliation and The Rock… I like to think of the live action movies as slightly better than average Action movies, but not as G.I. Joe movies. Sure they have sort of the same characters (Scarlett and Ripcord, really??), but it’s not canon. Kind of like what they did with the Devil’s Due comics, nice stories, but disavowed.
Over the years, there have been 24 figures released. The first one in 1984 had orange-brown pants and didn’t look too good if you ask me. The 1986 figure, shows the Roadblock figure in his gray pants and green top that is used in the comics and cartoons. In 1988 and 1993, Roadblock was part of the subteams Tiger-Force and Star Brigade. The last 4 figures have been modeled to resemble The Rock and aren’t bad, but as mentioned above, I can’t see them as being reincarnations of an African-American, rhyming cook that can run around with a M2 Browning .50 caliber heavy machine gun.
To end this post, I’ll leave you with the following music video from Stock Aitken Waterman. This song has great vibes and I’d like to think that Larry Hama was listening to this when he created the Roadblock character. Listen for yourself and let me know what you think.
Next time, we’ll need the following ingredients…
Happy Collecting and YoJoe!
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