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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
He's not big, he's just...big, 10 Sep 2008
Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars
The first time I saw the design for Bulkhead for the Transformers Animated series I thought 'Oh look, the 90s art work has returned' since back in the 90s, cartoons had that kind of design for characters appearing. You know the kind, tiny heads, big bodies, tiny legs and the like.
I thought it was terrible back in the 90s and it's still terrible to this day. I have honestly never seen anyone in my life who even looks like that.
But I was curious about Leader class Bulkhead after seeing a video review, reading a few text reviews and looking at the gallery. He arrived today after being ordered a few days ago and since I'm bored, I'll write up what he's like for parents to read and think about if Bulkhead is a safe choice for their kids.
Bulkhead is the demolitions and warp gate experts for the Autobots in Transformers Animated, he's depicated as a bit accident prone, usually tends to create a huge destructive mess more often than not. And after seeing the cartoon, he is just that. But he's also very gentle and despite being like a bull in a china shop, as the saying goes, he's a big softie.
The toy itself is almost cartoon accurate. Almost. The alt mode is a police/army style troop carrier/support vehicle with a futuristic look in terms of the small windows, how a driver can see though those I don't know.
His colours are mostly green with a little black, white for the star on either side, red sirens, a teal coloured front grill and standard head light colours on his head lights. He has a red Autobot symbol on his roof that when pressed down activates a siren sound.
His wheels roll well and he has two missiles on each side that are clicked into what looks like either non-active missile launchers or missile storage. He has a fair amount of details, though as someone said in a review, the rivet detail looks out of place since a vehicle like Bulkhead's alt mode would be dangerous in real life for anyone inside if the vehicle was too hot and the rivet's exploded due to the heat.
Aside from the non-turnable turret on the top and the missiles on the side, it's almost accurate to the cartoon and looks oddly cute, in a bloated design kind of way.
His transformation is simple, though his chest transformation is a problem since it sticks hard. You have to use a wire tie by slipping it into the cracks and pulling hard, doesn't work too well doing that either. He has no grips on that side, so it can be annoying. But once he's transformed, you get -
- Robot mode. How in this mode Bulkhead looks very true to his cartoon look. However he doesn't have his large wrecking balls that he uses in the cartoon, instead one had has a chainsaw that can be turned by a little flip switch in his arm, sadly the chainsaw can't be removed, so it renders that hand useless for grabbing anything. The other hand has no weapon, instead there's a flip switch that opens the three fingers and closes them. A bit of a missed chance to have one of his wrecking balls there.
His sounds in robot mode are, when you press the Autobot symbol, "Sorry, my bad", "Here come the big guns!" and "You can do it buddy!". If you click on the Headmaster head that comes with him, you get one sound - "Ownage! Total Ownage!". Each sound is more or less true to the series.
His articulation isn't bad, despite his short legs. He has no head articulation beyond his head turning and mouth opening when activating the sounds. He can pose, though it's a little awkward. His body design is a little limiting, and from pictures I've seen, his back parts can be transformed into the seat he uses in the series.
So is he worth getting? Yes and no. He is almost fully accurate to his cartoon self, his chest transformation however might be a pain for kids to manage, maybe even parents. And it might get damaged during the attempt, though he is pretty solid.
He is a little on the expensive side and while the Voyager class version may have the wrecking balls, it doesn't have the same size as the Leader class. Leader class Bulkhead does tower over the smaller deluxe size just like his character does in the series, so that's a good thing since it's accurate.
If his price were lower, then he would definitely be worth it, but as he is, it's a maybe. He is fun, likely a lot of fun for kids. But he could honestly have been a lot better if it wasn't for the terrible design. I wonder if after Animated is finished, Hasbro and Bulkhead's designer will take a look back and say 'Sorry, my bad". Bulkhead's potential is let down by the very thing that created him, the awful design of his body.
Oh well, he's still fun.
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