Bulkhead's vehicle mode
for the Prime 'toon is a 4WD all-terrain type of vehicle. The proportions
for this mode are pretty much spot-on when it comes to show-model accuracy--
at least if you look at it from a top-down or "angled from the front" view.
Unfortunately, from almost every other view, Bulkhead's robot mode extras
become quite obvious below his undercarriage. Now, just a little bit of
undercarriage stuff wouldn't be that big of a deal, but these are some
BIG chunks of his robot mode underneath that reach almost to the ground,
including a large section of his front legs and waist below the front half
and his lower arms under the back half of this mode (though two "exhaust
pipes" come out of the ends of his lower arms to at least partially disguise
his undercarriage there). It's a bit unsightly; there's no way around it.
However, given how much Bulkhead's transformation makes him "expand"--
both in the show and in terms of this toy-- it's hard to see how it could've
turned out any other way, at least without making a really huge and even
more intricate toy. At least there aren't any robot mode extras overtly
seen on the top or sides of this mode-- even the transparent tinted windows
don't have anything visible behind them that give away that this is a robot
in disguise. The military green is pretty much spot-on Bulkhead, so it's
nice to see that transfer over so nicely to a modern-esque vehicle, even
if the white stars from his previous version didn't make the transition.
The dark bluish green and tan plastic complement his military green, while
his silver and black colors help to provide some contrast. Pretty much
all of the necessary mold details are painted, like the yellow headlights,
silver side rails, and red taillights-- thus, even though his primary color
is certainly green, that doesn't mean he's not visually interesting in
this mode. This being a Prime toy, the mold detailing is a bit more minimal
than normal for a TF toy, but it still works, and there's certainly mold
detailing on the little things (door handles, gas caps, the roof rails)
to keep Bulkhead from looking too simplistic. The toy also does a wonderful
job of evoking that Prime aesthetic of having alternating curves and angles,
with Bulkhead being a bit more angular in this mode (such as with his headlights,
rims, and windows). Bulkhead's "wrecking ball" weapon-- which has some
nice "spray black" paint apps on it to make it look battle-worn-- is storable
on his back end. It's fairly obvious, yes, but it's not so large I'd consider
it an eyesore (and it's not like there's anywhere to store it UNDER this
mode, anyways).
Bulkhead's transformation
is quite complex-- it's a pretty big challenge the first time or two getting
all of his various windows and panels on his front and back to line up
just right, but once you do the result is-- quite simply-- a masterpiece.
It's absolutely incredible how accurate they managed to get Bulkhead to
his show model, which at first glance seemed impossible to accurately reproduce
on a toy-- and they replicated his "expanding" transformation well, to
boot! To be fair, there's still a few weaknesses-- I wished his front panels
in particular had somewhere to "lock into place" so that their positioning
didn't rely so much on you referencing the toy packaging to determine when
you've gotten everything just right-- and his backside, with all of its
details like fake taillights, is completely unpainted here. However, otherwise
this is pretty much the perfect representation of Prime Bulkhead, with
his short legs and longer, tougher arms (but to a lesser extent than the
cartoonishly-exaggereated Animated Bulkhead). His headsculpt is particularly
dead-on when it comes to his show model, but all of the major details of
his arms and legs are quite well-done in that Prime stylized version, as
well, with a bigger emphasis on his rotund-ness in this mode. (His feet
could stand to be a little bit larger, however, for accuracy's sake.) The
positioning of his tires behind his upper back is a feat of engineering,
as well. His color scheme is a bit more broken up in this mode, with more
of his gray, black, and tan plastic showing. It's not the most exciting
color scheme in the world, but it certainly gets the job done, and Bulkhead
definitely doesn't look boring. (I don't like the bits of bland gray plastic
used on his knees and a few interior parts, though.) Bulkhead's articulation
is also quite good-- he can move at the neck, shoulders (at three points),
elbows (at two points), inwards at the wrists, and at the hips (at three
points-- one of them ratching to ensure he can stand fairly stably), and
at the knees (at two points). Other than waist articulation-- which would
have been nearly impossible to give him, given his transformation-- he
can get into a surprising number of cool positions despite his bulk (namely
because of his good stability-- his feet aren't that large, but the big
chunks that form his lower legs work well as a backup). A neat feature
is that either of Bulkhead's hands can turn inwards to show a port, which
you can stick his wrecking-ball weapon on, just like in the show-- plus,
it's a gimmick that doesn't sacrifice anything else on the figure, which
is always good.
First Edition Bulkhead
is an absolute marvel of a figure in robot mode, and for the most part
his vehicle mode is quite nice, too-- and I love his wrecking ball-hand
gimmick, which is simple but effective. All of his undercarriage junk in
the latter mode does drag his score a little, but if you're looking for
a big Bulkhead toy and don't care about complex transformations (I think
he's probably the hardest to transform in the entire Prime toyline by a
smidge), I HIGHLY recommend this figure. If complex transformations turn
you off, though, you may want to consider getting the Cyberverse
version of him instead.
No Stats
Review by Beastbot