Bulkhead's alternate mode is looks a bit more realistic than his other toys, though "realistic" is all relative here, of course-- it still definitely has that Animated stylized look to it. However, the edges are a bit sharper, and he's got some cool details such as rivets all over his body. The slanted window on the front is clear plastic this time (though you can't see anything inside of it), and the mode as a whole looks more menacing. Of course, the added weaponry is a major contributing factor to this-- Bulkhead's got a gun-emplacement on the top of his vehicle mode with dual guns that can move up and down, and he also has four detachable missiles clipped on the sides. (The missiles themselves don't fire or fit into any launchers or anything-- you just take them off and... throw them at Decepticons, I guess.) I'm not sure why these things were added-- he's never had this kind of stuff in the show-- but regardless, I like it, as makes Bulkhead look less like a car-shaped green blob. If you press the Autobot symbol on Bulkhead's chest, you get a short siren sound, followed by the sirens flashing red on-and-off for a few seconds. Fairly cool. He also has no robot extras whatsoever in this mode, which is always good. There is one complaint I have about this mode, though, and that's the relative lack of paint detailing-- his front side is painted well enough, but large swaths of his top, back end, and the middle of his sides are just all matte military green plastic, completely unpainted. And his top has almost no mold detailing, which just makes that part look rather boring. However, that aside, this is a huge improvement over his Voyager class toy in terms of playability and looks, even if it's not as show-accurate.
    Bulkhead's robot mode is particularly impressive. They worked in the show look almost to a tee, and his proportions are ALMOST spot-on. His legs are actually slightly longer and his waist not quite as ridiculously enormous, but I don't mind reigning in Bulkhead's really exaggerated proportions just a tad. He's still undeniably Bulkhead. The transformation is nothing short of ingenious, with lots of little touches that really make everything peg together incredibly well while still having those two door halves above his shoulders like he has on the sow. About his only blatant extra are the halves of his added gun-emplacement from vehicle mode, which are just sort of seperate into hollow halves behind his shoulders. Everything else folds away quite nicely. His paint detailing is considerably better in this mode, with several black and copper paint apps on his arms, chest, and a few on his legs. His head sculpt is also incredibly well-done, and he has the treads on the bottom of his feet on this version, unlike on the Voyager class toy of Bulkhead. As far as articulation, Bulkhead's got a fair amount-- he can move at the shoulders (at three points), hips (at two points), knees (at two points), and ankles. This is a bit less than your average Leader class toy, but it's still adequate, and Bulkhead's a big chunky guy, so you can only realistically get so much movement out of that. There's also a few more points of articulation technically, but they're gimmick-related. For instance, all three of the claws on his left hand can open and close, but it requires sliding a small lever on his lower arm up and down to get them to do so. The claws on his right arm can't move, unfortunately, because of a sawblade gimmick that was included (why, I don't know-- he's never displayed that weapon on the show). By moving the black lever on that lower arm up and down, the sawblade spins-- pretty cool, but I would've liked some way to retract it. He still has the detachable missiles, though they're now on his forearms, which are a more appropriate place for them. Bulkhead's coolest feature, though, has got to be his electronics. Press down on the Autobot symbol on his chest in this mode, and his head will move to one side, with his jaw actually MOVING OPEN AND CLOSED a bit-- undeniably awesome-- while he says one of three phrases-- "You can do it, buddy!" "Sorry, my bad!" or "Time for the big guns!". And yep, they're lines by the actual show voice actor. His lights on his chest and optics glow yellow during this gimmick, and they also glow yellow when the transformation sound is emitted when you attach or detach the gun emplacement halves from over his head. The incredibly awesome part of this gimmick, however, has to do with the Headmaster unit that Bulkhead comes with. If you've watched the relevant episodes of the show, than you know that the Headmaster is a rather insane human villain that created a giant flying head that can cut off Transformers' heads and take control of their bodies. The look of the Headmaster unit is replicated perfectly here, eternal smirk and all. Obviously the toy Headmaster unit doesn't actually cut Bulkhead's off (or transform into a mini-Headmaster with a body like on the show, alas), but if you plug it over Bulkhead's head, the lights will change to red and you'll head one of the Headmaster's catchphrases, "OWNAGE! TOTAL OWNAGE!" in a totally awesome voice that was spoken by the actual voice actor. VERY cool. (If you press the Autobot symbol on Bulkhead's chest with the Headmaster unit still attached, that sound effect is all you'll hear, though now the Headmaster's head moves just like Bulkhead's did.)
    Leader class Bulkhead is an amazing toy with amazing engineering and gimmicks out the wazoo. Plus, he takes the dumpy vehicle mode and "cools it up" just enough where it looks more dynamic, but without going overboard and not making it Bulkhead-y. The inclusion of the Headmaster unit and the cool modified voice gimmick that comes with it is just icing on an already superb gimmick. My only real complaints with the toy are that he has below-average articulation and rather large parts of his vehicle mode are unpainted. A highly recommended purchase.

Review by Beastbot

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