TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:
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Box Art:
Technical Specifications:
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Sir Auros' review of: Bulkhead

Name: Bulkhead
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Aerial Warrior
Sub-Group: NA

Well, after seeing NOTHING new in the way of Transformers in my area other than some Omega Supremes and an Alternators Silverstreak since last February, our local Target's started stocking some newer Energon figures. I wasn't too happy paying $25 for Bulkhead, but I had wanted the figure since I saw the prototypes (almost a year ago at this point) and figured I had better pick it up when I had the chance rather than miss out on it due to Hasbro's crap distributing in this line. The figure's fairly nice and it's worth picking up as a slight throwback to the G1 Springer design or as something to make an easy $15-$20 on ebay.

Vehicle Mode:
Bulkhead's helicopter mode looks good and both the coloration and the design remind me a lot of G1 Springer. The design is a gunship style that looks like an amalgamation of existing military helicopters. Like the last helicopter figure to come out (Armada Cyclonus), there's a trigger near the tail of the figure that causes the rotors to spin. Bulkhead's rotor mechanism functions smoothly, unlike Cyclonus' and makes a lot less noise as well. This is a vehicle mode I wouldn't mind displaying because it looks good and I'd imagine it's fun since it's a helicopter. Everyone loves helicopters.

Bulkhead inexplicably comes with this blue, transformable "afterburner" that makes noises, lights up, and attaches to the figure in vehicle and robot modes as well as becoming an automated drone itself. This is how Hasbro was able to charge $25 for a figure that would normally fit into the Ultra ($20) bracket. The thing is kind of neat, but I would've rather paid $5 less for the figure than have it. It looks dumb attached in Bulkhead's vehicle mode and its automated drone mode is kind of lame and a ripoff of that robot from Robocop. You know the one I'm talking about.

Robot Mode:
I only have one complaint about Bulkhead's robot mode and that is the sculpting on his face makes him look like some old man. He has a decent amount of articulation too, but his shoulders can sometimes be prone to detach frequently. Not really an issue though and it makes for some interesting battle damage. His primary weapon is reminiscent of BW Dinobot's spinning tail, but Bulkhead also has the ability to launch four missiles in robot mode. From his skirt no less. Also interesting, I think, is that one could just not transform one of his hands since the things in their place in vehicle mode kind of look like built-in lasers or something in robot mode. Also worth mentioning, since I didn't think to try fitting it in anywhere else, is that the colors here also kind of look like G1 Springer's, but the bright greens really are bright green, and this may be offputting to some. I really like Bulkhead's robot mode though and find it both fun to play with and cool to display.

Bulkhead's extra superlink thingy is actually kind of cool here as this assault backpack with extra arms and cannons. It's really easy to get the cannons to light up and make noise in this mode too. I suppose I should also mention that the electronic piece also has two transformation sounds, both of which sound like the original Transformer sound.

Transformation: 7 - Not too hard and it's fairly well designed, but I think more could've been done with the arms in vehicle mode.
Durability: 8 - Pretty solid, but the rotors became loose soon after I started playing with the figure. Energon Mirage had a similar looseness issue with its missile launchers.
Fun: 9 - Cool helicopter mode and an awesome robot mode.
Price: 6 - $25 seemed a bit much to me and I was lucky enough to find it in a store. For everyone else having trouble finding new Transformers in stores, expect to pay $35+ on ebay.
Summary: 8 - Slightly above average and I'll probably be keeping it in the longrun.