As I've said, I never paid much attention to the Deluxe Insecticons when I was a kid. They weren't in the cartoon, they weren't even in Marvel Comics, and so they were among the blessed few non-media characters (like the Jumpstarters or Deluxe Autobots) who weren't really true characters in my mind.. It was like the Mini-Rigs from the vintage Star Wars toy line by Kenner—they shared the correct aesthetic, but they weren't part of the fictional universe.

However, my family knew I was into Transformers, and when it came time for Christmas or birthday gifts, that somehow translated in their minds to "any old robot that can change into something else." I ended up with a lot of Tonka GoBots and Convertors and assorted off-brands. So, at one point I actually had the Select brand version of Barrage, the Convertors toy from their Insectors range that was named Crawler. He was blue and grey, and if my understanding is correct, the design was licensed from Bandai to Select, but then they went and came up with their own low-budget version of the mold anyway, rather than using the existing Bandai design as Hasbro had done when licensing the Beetras toys (which in turn Bandai had licensed from Takatoku Toys). It's possible I'm getting some of that wrong—the relationship seems quite complicated.

Anyway, my point is that I grew up with a version of Barrage who was not quite Barrage, and it's weird how the official Transformers version directly clashes with my strong childhood memories of the Convertors version!

So, Barrage is a Japanese rhinoceros beetle, characterized by its distinctive horn, which the male beetles use to fight each other (in Japan the beetle is called kabutomushi, which loosely translates to "samurai insect"). They're definitely not as well-known in America, which might partially explain why the Deluxe Insecticons never quite took off the way some other G1 toys did. He's about four inches in length at the head, but his ornate horn brings his total length to five inches. (I don't have Crawler here with me, but I feel like he's a bit bigger than the Convertors version.) All six of his insect legs can both swivel and pivot at the base, and each has a hinge joint at the mid-section. (The insect legs are reportedly quite fragile, and you see lots of Barrage toys on eBay in assorted states of disrepair.)

I remember the eyes and antennae being articulated on Crawler, and being able to move in unison, but that's not the case with Barrage. His shell halves can open, which is a fun and authentic design element, though there are no wings underneath it. His rub symbol is on the back of his right wing. The insect head can pivot up and down a bit, and the horn is articulated, both of which are required for transformation. The horn is another piece that frequently breaks—mine is actually broken, but I got him for cheap, with plans to buy another one and cobble them together to build a complete, intact unit. Barrage would seem to be one of the most fragile G1 toys of all time, since most of the ones I see on the secondary market either have a broken-off horn or are missing it entirely.

To transform him, the robot legs are tucked underneath the beetle form, and his design gives him both hip and knee articulation, which was almost unheard of during the G1 days. The knee joints actually have little semi-flexible metal tabs to help lock them in place, which reminds me of the metal piece inside Reflector that would make his shutter go "click." On the Convertors version, the insect legs just protruded from the sides of his robot legs, but for the Hasbro version, the legs actually fold up and stow away inside the gap behind the robot calves, with the toes of the bug legs actually tucking neatly into a little gap under the robot feet. It's very well-done. It's hard to get the bug legs back out when switching back to insect mode, though, so I can see why a lot of these toys end up broken, if kids tried to force the leg panel open without gently pulling the insect legs out first.

The robot arms have spring-loaded fists that pop out automatically, like Chop Shop, and they extend in length slightly by swinging the robot arms out and reversing the orientation of the shoulders. There's some incredibly precise engineering involved here, and it required metal connector joints for the robot arms, as well as a die-cast metal frame for the robot body, in order to make it happen. The front insect legs tuck into the robot body, and the insect head folds down to form his chest armor. His robot head slides forward on a track to align it in the center of his body, which is a nice touch.

So, he's arguably a little goofy-looking in robot mode. In this form, he's an even mix of green and yellow, definitely more colorful than your average Decepticon. Part of the ornamental insect horn forms the top of his robot helmet, so he's a little like a Kamen Rider character. Also, the chest armor absolutely does not want to stay transformed on my copy, and keeps flopping over, but I'm sure that's due to the broken joint. Hoping to fix that soon. He's armed with a yelllow electro-sword and a green sonic rifle, which I do not own yet. His beady little red eyes really bother me. It's a very silly-looking robot face. Honestly, the alternate styling on Crawler's robot face was a little bit cooler. But, he's still a very dynamic-looking robot.

All the consumer-applied labels for the Deluxe Insecticons are on clear plastic stock, so they're slightly classier than the paper stickers most other G1 Transformers came with. They remind me of the decals for model kits, especially the way the clear sticker is essentially invisible, with only the printed pattern clearly visible on the toy.

Barrage was never in the original G1 cartoon, but he does make an appearance in a Transformers gag in Family Guy (in which Frank Welker was recruited to voice Megatron):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1n0SVjZ_d8

So, you can reasonably expect to pay anywhere from $100-$150 for this guy, unbroken and complete. I got mine for $30, broken and with no weapons, but there's another $30 auction I've got my eye on which would net me the unbroken piece I need, plus the sword and gun. So, sixty bucks total ain't too bad. There are so many auctions for this guy where his wings are broken off, or he's just a pile of broken insect leg parts. It's honestly kind of sad.

I had gone into this thinking that I'd already experienced Barrage, essentially, in owning the Convertors version. I had no idea there were wholesale design differences between the two. I would say that, for the most part, the official Hasbro version is objectively better. I'm really impressed by the engineering of the transformation—it's so clever.

I owned Ransack briefly, so there won't be any surprises there, but I've never owned or handled Venom before, so he will be a treat, I'm sure. (I've already got a sticker sheet for him, just in case I end up needing it.) I'm finding that I really greatly enjoy the early Japanese robot design aesthetic a bit more than the late-run Hasbro stuff. There's just something intrinsic and intangible about it. These things really are like little works of art.

Zob (gonna have to combine my Constructicons together now to make room on the shelf for this guy and Chop Shop)

On Friday, June 30, 2023 at 8:12:35 AM UTC-7, Zobovor wrote:
> As I've said, I never paid much attention to the Deluxe Insecticons when I was a kid. They weren't in the cartoon, they weren't even in Marvel Comics, and so they were among the blessed few non-media characters (like the Jumpstarters or Deluxe Autobots) who weren't really true characters in my mind. It was like the Mini-Rigs from the vintage Star Wars toy line by Kenner—they shared the correct aesthetic, but they weren't part of the fictional universe.
>
> However, my family knew I was into Transformers, and when it came time for Christmas or birthday gifts, that somehow translated in their minds to "any old robot that can change into something else." I ended up with a lot of Tonka GoBots and Convertors and assorted off-brands. So, at one point I actually had the Select brand version of Barrage, the Convertors toy from their Insectors range that was named Crawler. He was blue and grey, and if my understanding is correct, the design was licensed from Bandai to Select, but then they went and came up with their own low-budget version of the mold anyway, rather than using the existing Bandai design as Hasbro had done when licensing the Beetras toys (which in turn Bandai had licensed from Takatoku Toys). It's possible I'm getting some of that wrong—the relationship seems quite complicated.
>
> Anyway, my point is that I grew up with a version of Barrage who was not quite Barrage, and it's weird how the official Transformers version directly clashes with my strong childhood memories of the Convertors version!
>
> So, Barrage is a Japanese rhinoceros beetle, characterized by its distinctive horn, which the male beetles use to fight each other (in Japan the beetle is called kabutomushi, which loosely translates to "samurai insect"). They're definitely not as well-known in America, which might partially explain why the Deluxe Insecticons never quite took off the way some other G1 toys did. He's about four inches in length at the head, but his ornate horn brings his total length to five inches. (I don't have Crawler here with me, but I feel like he's a bit bigger than the Convertors version.) All six of his insect legs can both swivel and pivot at the base, and each has a hinge joint at the mid-section. (The insect legs are reportedly quite fragile, and you see lots of Barrage toys on eBay in assorted states of disrepair.)
>
> I remember the eyes and antennae being articulated on Crawler, and being able to move in unison, but that's not the case with Barrage. His shell halves can open, which is a fun and authentic design element, though there are no wings underneath it. His rub symbol is on the back of his right wing. The insect head can pivot up and down a bit, and the horn is articulated, both of which are required for transformation. The horn is another piece that frequently breaks—mine is actually broken, but I got him for cheap, with plans to buy another one and cobble them together to build a complete, intact unit. Barrage would seem to be one of the most fragile G1 toys of all time, since most of the ones I see on the secondary market either have a broken-off horn or are missing it entirely.
>
> To transform him, the robot legs are tucked underneath the beetle form, and his design gives him both hip and knee articulation, which was almost unheard of during the G1 days. The knee joints actually have little semi-flexible metal tabs to help lock them in place, which reminds me of the metal piece inside Reflector that would make his shutter go "click." On the Convertors version, the insect legs just protruded from the sides of his robot legs, but for the Hasbro version, the legs actually fold up and stow away inside the gap behind the robot calves, with the toes of the bug legs actually tucking neatly into a little gap under the robot feet. It's very well-done.. It's hard to get the bug legs back out when switching back to insect mode, though, so I can see why a lot of these toys end up broken, if kids tried to force the leg panel open without gently pulling the insect legs out first.
>
> The robot arms have spring-loaded fists that pop out automatically, like Chop Shop, and they extend in length slightly by swinging the robot arms out and reversing the orientation of the shoulders. There's some incredibly precise engineering involved here, and it required metal connector joints for the robot arms, as well as a die-cast metal frame for the robot body, in order to make it happen. The front insect legs tuck into the robot body, and the insect head folds down to form his chest armor. His robot head slides forward on a track to align it in the center of his body, which is a nice touch.
>
> So, he's arguably a little goofy-looking in robot mode. In this form, he's an even mix of green and yellow, definitely more colorful than your average Decepticon. Part of the ornamental insect horn forms the top of his robot helmet, so he's a little like a Kamen Rider character. Also, the chest armor absolutely does not want to stay transformed on my copy, and keeps flopping over, but I'm sure that's due to the broken joint. Hoping to fix that soon. He's armed with a yelllow electro-sword and a green sonic rifle, which I do not own yet. His beady little red eyes really bother me. It's a very silly-looking robot face. Honestly, the alternate styling on Crawler's robot face was a little bit cooler. But, he's still a very dynamic-looking robot.
>
> All the consumer-applied labels for the Deluxe Insecticons are on clear plastic stock, so they're slightly classier than the paper stickers most other G1 Transformers came with. They remind me of the decals for model kits, especially the way the clear sticker is essentially invisible, with only the printed pattern clearly visible on the toy.
>
> Barrage was never in the original G1 cartoon, but he does make an appearance in a Transformers gag in Family Guy (in which Frank Welker was recruited to voice Megatron):
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1n0SVjZ_d8
>
> So, you can reasonably expect to pay anywhere from $100-$150 for this guy, unbroken and complete. I got mine for $30, broken and with no weapons, but there's another $30 auction I've got my eye on which would net me the unbroken piece I need, plus the sword and gun. So, sixty bucks total ain't too bad. There are so many auctions for this guy where his wings are broken off, or he's just a pile of broken insect leg parts. It's honestly kind of sad.
>
> I had gone into this thinking that I'd already experienced Barrage, essentially, in owning the Convertors version. I had no idea there were wholesale design differences between the two. I would say that, for the most part, the official Hasbro version is objectively better. I'm really impressed by the engineering of the transformation—it's so clever.
>
> I owned Ransack briefly, so there won't be any surprises there, but I've never owned or handled Venom before, so he will be a treat, I'm sure. (I've already got a sticker sheet for him, just in case I end up needing it.) I'm finding that I really greatly enjoy the early Japanese robot design aesthetic a bit more than the late-run Hasbro stuff. There's just something intrinsic and intangible about it. These things really are like little works of art.
>
>
> Zob (gonna have to combine my Constructicons together now to make room on the shelf for this guy and Chop Shop)

Great summary, Zob! Barrage is definitely a complex piece of engineering, and a clever one at that - I actually just picked him up over the last year or so, at Cherry Bomb Toys in Victoria. The Deluxe Insecticons are objectively high-quality toys that trust a lot in their audience to figure things out (and not break them). That front horn is so fragile.

Loving these reviews,

JB