1986 Roadblock

Roadblock is one of GI Joe’s more iconic and interesting characters, who also received more toys during ARAH than most other characters. The truth is, most of these toys are pretty good too, though it might be fair to say this Roadblock has the least appeal of them. It’s a figure that falls into the category of “Things I own because I got it in a lot.”, but I’ve found some ways to use him, still.

I’ll go ahead and admit this isn’t my favorite version of Roadblock, though, I have developed a fondness for using him. The figure’s design is made iconic by his appearance in the movie, and really isn’t too bad of a look for a more futuristic figure. He matches up nicely with contemporaries like Cross-Country and Sc-fi, which also makes him a nice crew member for the HAVOC. Some of what makes the figure memorable to me is that fact that he looks very dated, and like something that would’ve only come out between ‘86 and ‘87.

Of course, when you put aside iconism, the figure really loses it’s luster. At face value, 1984 Roadblock was a good figure; he had great colors and a great sculpt that stood out without looking outlandish. 1986 Roadblock on the other hand, looks both outlandish and somewhat generic, too. The figure is mostly white with no significant details, and has a bright green vest with a few painted details on it. I won’t say the look is bad, but it’s certainly somewhat bland, and I think that’s why this design didn’t take off in the same way as 1985 Snake Eyes did.

The parts leave a lot to be desired with this one. You get a machine-gun and a tripod: that’s it. The parts are still pretty fun, but lacking the helmet and backpack from the first figure just makes this one feel like more of a downgrade. The LMG is much more generic and hardly feels as iconic as the Ma Deuce. On the bright side, the tripod is taller on this figure, so that makes it a little more practical to pose him with it.

Ultimately, this would’ve been a pretty good figure, but the main problem he has is that he’s probably the least good Roadblock from the vintage line. If you really have a hatred for Tiger Force colors, you might say he’s better than that figure, but that still leaves the original, as well as the Battle Corps and Star Brigade releases which are some of the best figures from their respective years. It leaves ‘86 Roadblock as a figure that really only appeals to fans of the movie, which there aren’t that many of.

1986 Roadblock is one of those figure that is common, and has almost always been relatively cheap. You can easily get one for $6 to $8, and it’s pretty common you’ll get one in a lot like I did. If you’re a fan of the cartoon, more precisely, the movie, there’s appeal in having this Roadblock. For any other Joe fan, it’s fair to say the figure doesn’t provide much.

1986 Roadblock vintage gi joe hasbro gi joe the movie arah

1986 Roadblock Links:

1986 Iceberg

The V1 Iceberg figure is a sculpt I’m pretty fond of, which likely comes from my frequent usage of the 1997 version as a kid. As an adult, the 1986 line-up was one of the first years of vintage figures I’d come close to completing, so eventually I made it a point to acquire V1 Iceberg even though I still had that ‘97 version and liked it plenty too.

In my youth, Iceberg was generally Snow Job’s sidekick. Any mission Snow Job was on, pretty much had to have Iceberg too. Blizzard would usually be present at first, but would typically end up a casualty early on into the play, leaving Iceberg and Snow Job to get through the thick of it on their own. Which, isn’t to say much for what kind of character I envisioned him as; I saw him mainly as an angrier version of Roadblock.

Of course, speaking of character the filecard and other media doesn’t really bring much to mind for Iceberg. He’s basically a guy who grew up in Texas and hates the heat… And that’s it. I remember the Sunbow episode where he got turned into a whale, but I don’t remember much about him other than that. I’ve always had a preference for cold-climate themed figures, but it is a shame that most of them are somewhat boring characters. The best I can think of is the Snow Serpent, but he’s not even an individual person, so that doesn’t say much for the rest of the arctic Joes.

Visually, V1 Iceberg is a very pleasing figure. The sculpt is very well detailed, well proportioned, and well colored. I think the chest sculpt is particularly impressive, with so many pockets, straps, side-arms and grenades adorning it, it gives you a lot to look at without being too busy. The bulkier shoulders are also a lot nicer than the Clutch/Breaker ones they replaced them with on the ‘97 release. For painted colors, Iceberg features three separate shades of green, light blue, some black for his eyes and a little red for the emblem on his arm. It’s really quite a nice selection of colors and a pretty large palate for an 80‘s figure.

Accessories are where Iceberg doesn’t end up so well off. He comes with only one part, that being his M60. It’s not a very impressive looking sculpt and comes with no source of ammunition for it. The best I can say is that he can hold it well, but that’s about it. To not come with any other parts than that certainly makes Iceberg a lot less interesting, and among the most poorly equipped figures in his year (the only other figure with one part being Monkeywrench).

As a side note about his accessories, if you were a cool kid in the 90‘s who bought mail-order figures, you had a chance to acquire a version of this figure with the awesome (terrible) Rock Viper riffle! The exact same gun as the one with the Rock Viper, the color wasn’t changed or anything. I guess the 2000‘s weren’t the only time Hasbro ruined figures with that horrible gun.

Iceberg’s are plentiful and cheap. Routinely, a mint, complete example can be acquired for around $6. For that much, he’s a great figure just to fill out a team of arctic specialists, and his accessory problems are easy to solve just with a spare backpack from someone else.