Human Alliance Barricade:
I could just go the short route and say that he's quite the addition to the collection, but that would be pretty lazy. HA Barricade is a very good addition to a collection and well worth getting, if you are lucky enough to find him for a good price.
The alt mode is as expected, it looks as powerful as it did in the 2007 movie and the little details fairly add to it. The ground clearance isn't great so it's best not to go rolling him along any carpets, but then all of the larger HA Transformers don't exactly have great ground clearance.
Transformation is simple and you won't have any problems with it, it's almost like the 2007 deluxe of him with just some differences.
The bot mode is great, a little modification on his upper thighs and he has better balance than without the modification. Basically the modification is just to snip off two blocks of plastic that prevent his legs from fully moving upwards in transformation, limiting his articulation. Those can be removed with a pair of flush cutters. Once done he has better leg articulation.
The details are as good as hoped for, he's almost as tall in regards of head height as HA Bumblebee. Sadly he only has one hand while the other arm has a spinning blade, I've seen some people do modifications to give him two hands. The HA addition is nothing special really, just a small missile rack on the shoulder of his right arm and two gun like things that come out from beneath his torso.
Frenzy, who comes with Barricade, is nothing special. He's one of the articulate HA additions but he's best just turned into his folder/engine block like mode and placed into Barricade's chest to fill a gap.
I would go into more detail but I don't think that will be required, I'm sure others have read reviews of him and seen reviews of him. If you can find him, get him, he's worth it. But only buy him for a low price.
Rating: 9/10
Human Alliance Soundwave:
If there's a Transformer that could be considered a modern 'Holy Grail' for collectors, not all but those who very much would like to get him, it might just be HA Soundwave. We all know the story of why he's so hard to find so there's no point in my going into that.
He's a rare one for sure and not easy to find for a fair price.
The alt mode is great, the doors open in the gull wing style, the details give just enough detail without giving too much. The rear plate saying 'Superiour' is a cute homage, but seems out of place.
The inner detail, like the larger HA line in general, is nicely detailed. He does look very cheap due to the dull grey used, but he doesn't feel cheap thankfully, he feels solid in alt mode.
The transformation is daunting at first, but once you've done it once or twice it becomes pretty easy as long as you're careful not to rush the transformation.
The bot mode is great, there's a lot of detail in it although he does seem to have an ape like appearance due to the size of his arms compared to his spindly looking legs. He does have some light balance issues, the tripod feet don't help much but with effort you can get him to stand just fine.
He has a fair amount of articulation, much like Barricade does after the thigh mod, although his HA mode is little more than Laserbeak turning into a missile launcher.
Laserbeak is nothing special, he's detailed but in all honesty he's pretty useless. Other than turning into a missile launcher, which the human character can stand on and use, he has no real use. He can sit somewhat okay on Soundwave's arms, if you're patient with balancing him. His missile launcher mode tends to make Soundwave pretty top heavy though and in Soundwave's alt mode he can't be stored anywhere unlike Frenzy can with Barricade. He just sits there getting up a little room.
Finding Soundwave is not easy, but if you can get him for a good price then take the chance to get him due to how rare he is and how hard he is to find. He is smaller than most of the larger HA figures, only taller than HA Skids and I would guess Mudflap as well - not sure on Mudflap since I can't find him anywhere for a fair price.
If you do get the chance though, and don't mind his balance flaws, then get him for your collection.
Despite his balance flaws, Soundwave really is a great figure and worthy of being in anyone's collection.
Rating: 9/10