I hate Double Blast.

I mean Hasbro at times can be pretty damn lazy (see the Heavy Assault Squad half assed with three green shirts tossed in and no Ace despite him being in the art).

But DB *HAS* to be one of the laziest attempts at a figure.

It's Roadblock v1...not even the ATTEMPT to make the figure different they just wrote a different file card complete with different name and profile...here...


And yes I'm aware of the tale that it was simply a mistake on Hasbro's part...but DB's file reads like an entirely different character.

To make it more confusing in 2002...we got a sound attack Roadblock in the Sam's Club pack. Only the file card was using the info of Double Blast with the code name Roadblock, They basically mixed the two profiles.

At some point the 'unofficial' (and pretty lame) excuse was that Roadblock changed his info for security reasons.

Ugh.



So back to the top...I really hate Double Blast.


And when that happens I often feel the need to fix that.

So I decided...how can I make Double Blast...less Roadblock, yet...still something close to what was provided?

I started to look at the various Roadblocks and asked, "Which one sorta stands out as not Roadblock?"


The blue and grey v8 really stood out, and coincidentally was the figure that had the blended profile of Charles Griffith (Double Blast) and Marvin Hinton (Roadblock). So I decided that was the look I was using. Now its a take on the Roadblock v1 mold and I *COULD* have done it that way. But I again wanted to make him feel different. And because I'm slightly lazy...as little painting as possible.

Looking thru Roadblock molds...the modern of v2 (v18) had gray pants. So I had a solid beginning. The gray pants and the vest painted blue would still honor what came before in it still being Roadblock...but also a tether of Double Blast in the v8 blended profile.

So...Roadblock-ish, yet clearly something different.

But I was still not 100% happy with what we had. It was still...Roadblock's face.

I decided the simplest and easiest answer was a little extra facial hair. I changed Blocks fairly iconic Van Dyke style look. The stashe and soul patch became a goatee. But it still looked a lot like Block. So I added a connected set of beard...NOW he looked distinctly different from Roadblock.

So after this long winded read...I give you the redemption of Double Blast...


A closer look at the facial changes...


With the close up I can see it needs to be better filled in, but it came out pretty decently.

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i think some skin tone showing through sells facial hair. very few of us can grow a beard so thick no skin peeks through.

i like everything about this one from why to how. only thing i don't like is the tiny head, but that isn't your fault!

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Good point about the facial hair.

I find that if I can come up with some plausible story about a character that makes sense to explain them...I can often make a character better than it was.

One day I'll do a few other figures I have applied this to. Maybe a series of 'Redemption' figures posts.

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Nice work. I like using those "throwaway" characters and building on them. Currently I use the new sculpt Tiger Force Roadblock as my Double Blast with customs of Wreckage, Skystriker, Big Brawler, and Euro TF Outback. Now I think I need to update it.

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