Review: #822
Name: Bulkhead
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Generations - Legacy
Year of Release: 2022
Size Class: Voyager
Mold Status: redeco of Legacy with new hammer weapon
PACKAGING AND CONTENTS:
As part of the Wreck 'N Rule Collection set of exclusives, Bulkhead comes in a really nice box with excellent packaging art (if you get all of them sets in the collection, they can combine into a bigger piece of art).
He also comes with a piece of cardboard that you can build into a hammer if you get the whole collection, so it's a nice little incentive to collect the set.
VEHICLE MODE:
Bulkhead is a reimagination of the Prime character, with G1 aesthetics. He transforms into a military truck which looks nothing like the Prime version unfortunately.
Looking at the truck on its own merits, it's not a bad one, the bad is a bit gappy (it's the robot mode feet) and it relies on the tarp piece to hide a lot of it.
He comes with a couple of weapons, the gun and mace can store inside the tarp. The new weapon for this release, the hammer, can only store by being pegged outside (well, you can put it inside the tarp but then there'll be no space for the other weapons).
There's something really neat about the flatness / blockiness of the truck mode, and it looks great, and there are a lot of good sculpted detailing.
There aren't any gimmicks here though. The six wheels roll, and that's about it.
A decent truck mode but a little bit spartan.
TRANSFORMATION:
A simple transformation but one that makes him quite fun to transform. Take the plastic tarp off, along with the weapons. Then you can split the back and split them to form the legs. The front of the truck is the torso, while the arms also come from the back. push up the head and you're done.
ROBOT MODE:
Apart from the head, Bulkhead's robot mode doesn't really look like his Prime self (or his Animated self for that matter). That was the biggest disappointment of the "updated" design language of Legacy. Later inspirations were much better.
Thanks to the blocky nature of the truck mode, this meant that the robot mode is relatively kibble free, which is quite impressive.
The head sculpt is recognizable as the character, although appears a bit small for the body.
His size is decent. He is as tall as a typical Voyager, but is a little bit wider than usual, although the torso is hollow.
Articulation is fine, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, wrist, waist, hips, knees and ankles. So, the usual stuff for figures from Legacy and beyond.
Perhaps the best part about this figure are the numerous weapons, he comes with a riot shield (from the tarp of the truck mode), hammer, mace, and gun.
The mace opens up so that you can wrap it around his fist, which is a nice inspiration from the original character.
You need to keep the mace on his hand in order to use the riot shield, as it then pegs onto the mace, but it looks great there as well and actually like a shield, rather than a repurposed unused piece of plastic.
He can hold the hammer in his hand, although the handle is a little bit short.
Finally, the mini Gatling gun can be held in his hand...
Or attached as a shoulder cannon which looks much cooler there.
The weapons can store on his back in a variety of ways, including the shield, even though it's somewhat awkward.
Give Bulkhead a chance, and the robot mode will warm up to you with its excellent stability and wide variety of weapons.
There are some neat design elements too, such as the wheels behind his back, the bulky aesthetic, and wide range of articulation.
A solid robot mode in the end.
OVERALL:
As the mold, Bulkhead is actually pretty decent, if you ignore the fact that this is supposed to be an update to the Prime character. As a re-release, the only thing new is the camo color scheme and the hammer accessory, which does add to his play value. If you get a chance to get him cheap, then he is worth it.
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