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Series: Legacy
Year: 2022
Allegiance: Autobot
Class: Voyager
Prelude: The Legacy line included characters from all over the Transformers franchise. Lots of them were G1, sure, but a record number were from other iterations of the transforming robots as well. In the first wave of the first year, we even had two figures from Transformers Prime… well, kind of. So here we have a robot who, according to his packaging, is supposed to be Bulkhead from Transformers Prime. But is he, really? Let’s say go!
Robot Mode: Now, seeing as this robot here is supposed to be “Prime Universe Bulkhead”, meaning Bulkhead as we saw him in the Transformers Prime cartoon and toy line, let’s start by looking at the similarities this new figure has to the character it’s supposed to portray. There is the head, which is a pretty good likeness, and then there is… the mace, yes! The mace he can put on his hand, that’s so Bulkhead. And then… he’s green, too! Bulkhead is green! And… yeah, that’s pretty much it.
Over the last decade or so fans have been using the term “GeeWunn-ification” a lot, meaning the process where a character from outside the G1 is made to look more like a Generations-style G1 figure. Which very much describes what we have here. If the character Bulkhead had debuted in G1 instead of Animated, he might have looked somewhat like this. A very boxy chest with truck windows, the generic truck-bot legs with double tires on them, shoulder wheels, the works. So basically what we have here is a more or less generic G1 truck bot with a head that looks like Bulkhead.
Leaving aside the character recognition or resemblance, what else can I say about this robot here. It’s very nicely articulated, no complaints here. He can be put into some really awesome poses with his mace attachment that goes over his fist and his truck canopy / SWAT-type shield. He also comes with a translucent gatling gun, which looks fine, but is a little small for him, I think. He can hold it in hand or attach to the kibble on his back as a shoulder gun. You can also store his shield there.
Speaking of the kibble on the back, for some reason Bulkhead has two fake wheels behind his head. Why? I have no idea. Yeah, Prime Bulkhead had wheels on his back, sure, but given how little they cared about replicating the look of the original figure in general, why add this detail? Another thing worth mentioning, Bulkhead’s torso – which is the driver’s cabin of the truck mode – is open from below and the sides and has see-through windows, so from quiet a few angles you can literally see right through him. Doesn’t bother me much, but I know some people don’t like that.
So bottom line for the robot mode: it’s not a bad figure. It’s actually quite the decent Voyager-class figure. But apart from the head, it’s not Bulkhead. He actually looks more like Age of Extinction Hound or Universe Hardhead to me than any incarnation of Bulkhead.
Alternate Mode: Speaking of Age of Extinction Hound, Legacy Bulkhead transforms into a Rába H18 military truck, which somewhat resembles Hound’s vehicle mode from the movie. The transformation looks pretty straight-forward (chest becomes the front, legs become the back), but folding in the arms is a bit more complicated than it first appears, especially on the back. But overall it’s really not that complicated and you end up with a decent-looking military truck.
Now let’s start with one very positive aspect of this military truck: all his weapons are integrated and concealed. This is not something we see all that often anymore, most of the times Transformers figures attach their robot mode weapons on the outside of the vehicles these days. In Bulkhead’s case, though, they are hidden underneath the canopy that is formed from his SWAT shield. Very nice. The feet form the back of the truck and can fold down like a loading ramp. You can also remove the canopy and have Bulkhead be an open-bed truck, but here you clearly see the robot’s hip. Also a nice detail: the see-through windows show the interior of the driver’s cabin, where the folded-up arms kind of look like driver seats if you squint a little.
So overall this is a pretty nice vehicle mode, but – again – it’s not Bulkhead. Depending on continuity, Bulkhead transformed either into a police SWAT vehicle or into a big SUV. Military trucks are more live-action Hound’s thing. If you had shown me this truck without any knowledge of who it’s supposed to be, I’d have guessed Hound. So bottom line here: a nice vehicle mode overall with no real flaws, but with zero character recognition (or rather, the wrong character recognition).
Remarks: While we’ve had Transformers characters called Bulkhead as far back as 2004, it wasn’t until Animated that the character we’ve come to know and love as Bulkhead really hit his stride. And when the cast for Transformers Prime was announced, no one was all that surprised to see Bulkhead among the main team. Also, the First Edition Bulkhead figure remains one of the all-time great Transformers toys in my mind.
Now I didn’t expect the Legacy version to match the brilliance of the First Edition figure, nor did I expect it to be as much fun as the various Animated figures, but I expected it to be Bulkhead. In that regard, I was disappointed. So bottom line for this figure: it’s a nice, very poseable, and fun figure, but it’s definitely not Bulkhead. Not Prime Bulkhead, not Animated Bulkhead, none of them. It’s a very G1-like robot with a head that does look like Bulkhead’s, sure, but that’s really the only point of resemblance, because otherwise he really does look more like Age of Extinction Hound. So if you’re simply looking for a nice Voyager-class figure, this guy’s worth a look. If you’re looking for a nice Bulkhead figure, you’re better off looking elsewhere.
Rating: C+
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