I’m also really pleased with the overall look of his vehicle mode. I’m not usually as concerned about alt modes as I am their robot forms, but Bulky has this perfect SUV design going on. The car itself is larger than most of his Autobot companions, yet still smaller than Optimus’ big rig. I’m also pretty impressed with how such a large robot can fold up into such a compact vehicle.
Bulkhead’s articulation also took me by surprise. It seems like most of the Prime figures have a really extensive range of movement, but I think Bulky goes a bit further. I mentioned earlier that his head is on a ball joint and he has a hinged jaw. His hips are also ball joints. His shoulders are made up of two separate joints. His arms extend out from inside his body on a hinge, but the actual shoulders are swivel/hinges. He’s got swivel joints on his biceps, forearms, and thighs. His wrists and knees are hinged, while his elbows are double hinges.
Because Bulkhead is so bulky, they also designed his shoulder pads and breast plates to be articulated. Each extends from the body on a ball joint and attach with a swivel on the end. These adjustable body parts allow for great dynamic posing while still keeping the overall look of the body normal. Very neat engineering.
Bulkhead’s only accessory is his Arms Micron. If you’ve been reading my Transformers Prime reviews then you already know I love these little guys. So you can probably imagine how disappointed I am when I say that Bulky has the worst Micron. This little guy’s robot mode consists of moving his arms to the side and flipping his feet forward. This uninspired transformation is only worsened by the fact that the Minicon has a giant bulbous butt sticking off his backside. He’s pretty awful looking.
The only good thing about this Micron is that his weapon mode is decent. He can either be used as a four barreled gun or a neat balled mace on the end of a chain.
Like I said earlier, this figure was a surprise to me. I really didn’t expect him to be as interesting or well designed as his First Edition cousin, but he turned out to be a great addition to my growing Prime collection. His Micron on the other hand is just… blarg. His robot design is so half hearted that wish he didn’t even have one, and to me he doesn’t. This guy is only a cool looking mace in my collection.
-Vault
Great review, as usual!
Got the stadard (Non-Japanese) version of this toy myself, and I’m pretty happy with it. While I wish my version had a good wrecking ball attachment, I’ve gotta agree that the Takara one is a bit on the “Eurrrgh” side.
Ever since I bit the bullet and watched the TransFormers Animated series, the character of Bulkhead really grew on me, and now I’ve started not so much a focus collection on him, but at least the better pieces devoted to this guy.
I pre-ordered the Takara FE edition of Bulkhead, whis is by far the best rendition of Bulkhead that I have see. I’ll be passing on this version of Bulkhead, but if Hasbro re-issues him as a different character (a la Hot Shot) then I’ll definitely pick him up.
FYI. It looks like Takara has plans to re-issue FE Bulkhead as Brawn. Same FE Bulhead mold but with a new paint job and head sculpt. Not a bad way to get an awesome toy without paying thru the nose for it.
Would’ve ordered the First Edition version myself, but they all sold out in like, 13 seconds.
FWIW, that’s Hasbro Asia, not Takara.
THe scale issue was the only real problem I saw in the animated line. I don’t like the green choice though, doesn’t feel right to me.
A brawn variant will probably warrant a purchase from me.
I thought he would be bigger…
Bulkhead is my favorite new TF character in the last ten years…
The scale in Prime is, in fact, pretty good… so long as you ignore Ratchet. He should be closer to a Voyager size rather than a deluxe. Cliffjumper could stand to be a smidge bigger, as well.