The Transformers Prime series is no doubt a favorite of mine, what with it being a great spin on concepts seen from the movies and Animated, which are two of my other favorite iterations of the franchise, and seeing a show that trumps both of them in ways makes me happy to revisit TFP everytime I get the chance. Team Prime is undoubtedly what keeps me hooked on the show, seeing the Autobots go against the Decepticons despite seeming small made them feel like reasonable heroes to root for quite a bit compared to the usually equal or massive amount of good guy robots compared to the Decepticons. Bulkhead is one of my favorite characters in the show, and when I heard that he and Arcee were going to pop up in Legacy, I was so excited for the reveals before finding out that they were both Geewunnified somehow. While I chose to skip Arcee because her personality was sucked out, Bulkhead intrigued me and we now have his review ready!
Here is Bulkhead in his vehicle mode. It's a fictionalized version of the Raba H18, with some creative differences in order to avoid licensing issues, and it reminds me of Hound's altmode from Age of Extinction. While Prime Bulkhead was an offroad SUV that helped him be the second-largest Autobot, Animated Bulkhead being a military vehicle justifies this transition for the character in Legacy. The sculpted details are still as nicely done as the WFC trilogy's AutoCons, which is great to see for a figure like this in addition to the stronger synergy between the two lines. While the shade of green compliments the windows nicely due to it being painted clear plastic, the gray of the vehicle mode could benefit either being painted in either silver or gunmetal gray; a wash would help, too. The design of the altmode also has a bit of a Bulkhead influence in the front, almost as if his face turned into a batting ram.
It's a pretty solid vehicle mode that almost fits the character in spite of it being heavily nothing like the TFP alternate mode, it's great for a weird reverse homage on how we got Movie Hound being reminiscent of Bulkhead and then TFP Bulkhead returns for this toyline and has an alternate mode that combines elements of AOE and TLK, with the front of the former and the back of the latter. And reading, further along, will reveal that's not the only time we get another Bulkhound reference.
While the gun is shown stored on the top of the vehicle mode, the mace can be stored underneath the tarp for a more effective approach in weapon storage.
This is the Prime: Robots in Disguise version of the character next to him for a vehicle mode comparison. At first, I was frustrated that the Legacy toy wasn't an updated version of the Prime character with better screen accuracy and engineering, but then I realized that by repurposing the Legacy figure as a G1 Bulkhead, it means I can have two Bulkies existing without doing what Hasbro did and copy-paste a universe-specific character into a G1 universe. Plus, while the new alternate mode is very different from the TFP incarnation, it still has as much personality as the original SUV, something that can't be said for Arcee in Legacy compared to TFP.
Transformation feels weirdly simple for a Voyager when compared to other figures we got in the WFC trilogy. It feels like a clunkier version of G1 Prime's transformation, and while he normally relies on being a complex conversion to look refined, Bulkhead doesn't change the front of the altmode and instead has the arms stuff themselves from the inside while the legs are more or less unchanged apart from hiding the gas tanks. His tarp can be removed if you want during transformation, but at least it stays on and doesn't ruin his robot mode compared to Earthrise Arcee when her altmode backpack isn't changed. The resulting robot mode is much blockier than the typically blocky G1 designs. While those guys at least have more definition to themselves, his design is almost reminiscent of Energon Optimus Prime, though at least it fits this guy better. In a way, it's less Transformer and more a-truck-that-stood-up-and-grew-arms for the design.
Head sculpt looks great, and probably meaner than the original Prime Bulkhead face sculpt. That's great because I don't want to have to deal wirh a retrofied head sculpt considering how nicely done the WFC trilogy head sculpts are without trying to go for that fuzzy hand drawn look. And both the silver paint and blue eyes pop nicely from the rest of the head. His articulation is standard for the line, with a ball joint for the neck, shoulders that move front and back as well as in and out, bicep swivels, elbow bends, wrist swivels, waist swivel, hips that move front and back as well as in and out, thigh swivels, knee bends, and ankle pivots
His accessories aren't too bad, as the mace opens up so he can conceal his hand and make it as though it's replaced his hand entirely. The tarp can be removed from the back and become a shield for him to use, which isn't too bad in terms of appearance and effectiveness apart from the lack of a window. The shoulder cannon may be used for a regular pistol, but I prefer having it as a shoulder cannon. It's on the left side since it doesn't stay on as well for the right side possibly due to the way the tooling works. It's translucent blue but the tip is painted black in addition to some of the other areas.
As far as reuses are concerned, we currently have a Wreck-N-Rule online exclusive repaint that makes me wish this was the version of the figure we got! The more militaristic color scheme further strengthens the Movie Hound influence and the additional hammer he comes with is a nice bonus if you want to give it to Arms Micron War Breakdown. While this figure is not as impressive in terms of engineering, this deco makes me want the toy again.
For a size comparison, he is taller than the PRID figure by a few centimeters. I like the size difference since Prime Bulkhead was squat compared thanks to his altmode size in addition to the way the altmodes make sense for the two to be distinct overall. I will say that I still prefer the PRID figure because its engineering and design are stronger, the Legacy figure makes for a good G1 Bulkhead with a design made from scratch.
And here he is with a Lugnut made from 2011, that being the Reveal the Shield version of the character. These two are great together, as even though a decade separates the engineering they share as well as the difference in aesthetics and play features, with one being more about the 5mm ports and the other having spring-loaded gimmicks, the duality of design choices makes these two great rivals for a G1-inspired display of Animated Lugnut and Bulkhead in general (apart from Energon Bulkhead because nobody remembers him).
I think you can be fine with Legacy Bulkhead if you have either First Edition or PRID Bulkhead as your main version of the Prime incarnation while this guy can instead be the G1 incarnation without requiring you to do a copy-paste of an already established design or character. While he does feel light and doesn't have the most impressive engineering or the most intricate design, he's a nice figure to have and would go well with Reveal the Shield Lugnut. But unless you're fine with the regular version, maybe wait for the Wreck-N-Rule version. That being said, he does remind me of Beast Hunters Prime, who was hollowed from the inside so they can make the illusion of a more filled in figure from the outside, and while this guy doesn't feel as cheap, he doesn't have the same quality that the other Voyagers have. And I kind of agree with Thew when he said that they made this toy a favor by making it Bulkhead instead of doing Bulkhead a favor by making him a new toy.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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