GI Joe Retaliation Battle Kata Roadblock

Presenting the Battle Kata Roadblock from the second series of the GI Joe Retaliation Toy line.

I remember the series 1 Roadblock from the same line and I remember thinking... "He's soooo..... white!"  And I really did not understand why the son of a Black Nova Scotian and a rich brown Samoan would agree to have his skin represented as white. And I bashed this fact when I reviewed the GI Joe Retaliation Ninja Dojo Set.

I was so bothered by what I considered racisim that I actually tweeted the Great One.

Clearly someone must have heard me as now the GI Joe Battle Kata Roadblock has a nice brown skin tone that's closer to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's.

I'm also not sure why, when or how Roadblock, the GI Joe machinegunner, became a ninja, but I doubt if this is anything more than a marketing gimmick.

GI Joe Retaliation finally makes itself open to public scrutiny here in the Philippines on the 30th of March - Black Saturday - hopefully not a bad sign (Seriously? Open on Black Saturday? Why would you do that?) Now we get to see whether or not the wait for the new GI Joe film will be well worth its wait (And if the supposed bad reviews which supposedly caused the delay in the first place have been addressed). 

GI Joe Retaliation Battle Kata Roadblock's blister card reads "Roadblock battles evil Cobra enemies with his unique Battle-Kata fighting system. The G.I.Joe leader uses on-the-fly weapon switching and martial arts moves to take out his attackers."

WHAT'S TO LIKE ABOUT THE GI JOE RETALIATION BATTLE KATA ROADBLOCK?

It's the Rock! Do you smell what he's cooking?

I was going to review him but then I realized that he's probably say "What do you think? It doesn't matter what you think!"

"The Rock will take you down Know Your Role Boulevard which is on the corner of Jabroni Drive and check you directly into the Smackdown Hotel!"

And:

"The jabroni beating, pie eating, trail blazing, eye brow raising, the best in the present, future and past, and if ya’ll don’t like me you can kiss the people’s ass!"

But seriously, I do find the Battle-Kata system - and his gear quite entertaining. The GI Joe Retaliation Battle-Kata Roadblock comes with everything you see here:

Specifically:

• A 50 Caliber Machine Gun that belongs on the back of a tank, and a tripod.
• A Battle Harness
• the Battle-Kata Grip system - that hangs on the front of his Battle Harness and attaches to:
• A Pair of Staple-gun like Pistols
• A Pair of stilettos
• A Pair of Daggers
• A Battle Batton. 

All of which stick nicely all over Roadblock's body - except the 50 Caliber.

The Battle Kata system allows Roadblock to grasp and draw each and every weapon on his person with the use of just one grip system. In effect, none of his weapons have handles - and cannot be drawn or used easily without the Battle Kata. Though on a more personal note, I think they should just have given him handles.

Let's start with the Staple Guns. Roadblock's can actually "draw" his Battle-Kata and his Staple Guns:

And as you can see here, Roadblock' articulation is excellent:

Happily GI Joe Retaliation Battle Kata Roadblock can kneel thanks to the return of the double knee joint and foot articulation that we found sadly lacking in the GI Joe Retaliation Flint and even the Cobra Firefly figures. But he sadly does not have any of the advance hand articulation that we saw in the GI Joe POC line. 

Next up are the two stilettos in his Battle Harness:

These blades are really tiny. I'm not quite sure why you need a Battle Kata from them and I get the impression that they should be thrown, not used as a bladed weapon - unless you expand your imagination a bit and think of them as some really wicked brass knuckles.

If you don't like the stilettos, you still have two blades for him to use, one of which is attached to his left leg.

And lastly, GI Joe Retaliation Battle Kata Roadblock has a baton in his back for him to use. You can already imagine him saying "I’m gonna take this stick, shine it up real nice, turn it side ways, and stick it straight up your candy ass!"

And at the end of the day, when everything's gone, the GI Joe Retaliation Battle Kata Roadblock, still has a pair of deadly brass knuckles to "layeth the smackdown" with.

And let's not forget the 50 Caliber:

WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT THE GI JOE RETALIATION BATTLE KATA ROADBLOCK?

That damn 50 Caliber to begin with. Why is it still on a tripod that really cannot be used or carried? It's a useless piece of plastic! And to make it worse, the 50 Caliber has NO AMMUNITION!!!! Which is why I'd rather drop it or go borrow an ammunition belt from his Ninja Dojo counterpart.

And as mentioned, while cute and "hero-y" the Battle Kata system is useless. Just give him the freakin handle!!!!

Speaking of which, both stilettos and the knife - because they don't have handles - tend to get lost inside their sheathes in his Battle Harness. You'd have to remove his Battle Harness to get them.

And lastly there's the issue of "Where or what is he looking at?" His eyes tend to point up - not much in neck articulation also by the way.

But he is still the best - sadly(?) - that I've seen from the GI Joe Retaliation line. 

This particular GI Joe Retaliation Battle Kata Roadblock was purchased at retail price from Toys R' Us Galleria here in the Philippines for PhP 599.75 (Roughly US$ 14.62). He's available on Amazon for US$ 16.39 (Roughly PhP 671.99 plus shipping).