TF's: 2/6/10

By the grace of Wal-Mart I’ve added two newcomers to the collection of my ever rising debt problem. In a bit of a ‘holy shit’ moment since I hadn’t been doing research and didn’t expect this at all, I ran across multiple Bludgeon figures up north. Those who don’t know, Bludgeon (bio) is a comic book only character, never appearing in any of the animated series… and yet despite this (and being a Shell), extremely popular. Released in 1989, Bludgeon was originally a Pretender bot Green Tank hidden inside of a fuckin’ Japanese Skeleton Samurai shell that looks scary as shit! I’m not really into Pretenders, and see them pretty much as added baggage to the real toy. But I accept them in the continuity and all that trash...

Twenty years later. This mothersuckers making a comeback in the Revenge of the Fallen N.E.S.T. line, though, he’s more of a Universe figure seeing as he’s a classic character and doesn’t appear in the films (that’s only a packaging dispute however). His vehicle mode is a modified Japanese T-90 Tank, staying true to himself, and this time around, there’s no shell action… just straight conversion to Undead Samurai bot mode. His cannon barrel slides out to become his Katana, and inside his tank turret hides his Wakizashi blade. Both blades can connect at the ends to for a double-sided weapon. Also since this figure’s arms are so articulated, he can hold his Katana with both hands simultaneously. Badass. ‘Mech-Alive’ is a special feature they’re doing now where when you open something up, you can see gears rotating around and it’s pretty neat. There’s only a few problems with this guy: Head only moves slightly left and right, some of the paint apps could have been more detailed (though, the colors are definitely him) and he’s a bit hard to stand sometimes. ‘Voyager Class’ means that he’s basically a medium size figure (3rd from smallest), and comes in a box instead of in a bubble card. His tank mode is actually considerably smaller than his robot mode, which I found kind of strange. Here are galleries at seibertron.com for both his 1989 and 2009 figures.

Leader Class Bulkhead (bio) from the new Animated Series came as something of a surprise to me. I don’t really like the new series, as the character designs and the show itself is all a bit too goofy for my tastes. But damn this is one cool looking dude. Bulkhead is the bigbot of the show, and though he seems kind of dumb (likes to lounge, watch the tele, eat buffalo wings and drink beer, ect) he’s actually a pretty smart dude. He’s a thick, strong fellow with a “heart of gold” who also loves to fix things, as well as break shit.

I got this 2008 toy in the Clearance section for twenty bucks (smaller, yet just as tall somehow, Bludgeon was the same price). He’s got a red, push button Autobot symbol on his chest that activates flashing yellow LED lights in his eyes, shoulders and chest. Pressing the symbol also makes his head turn, mouth open and gives you one of three catchphrases: “Time for the big guns!,” “You can do it buddy!” and “Sorry, My bad!” Heh. When the non-transforming Headmaster helmet (bio) is locked in place, his lights flash red and he screams in an angry and British tone, “OWNAGE! Total OWNAGE!”… this is presumable while he’s ripping up shit and going on a rampage. The figure’s shoulder ‘kibble’ (extra vehicle parts that stick out awkwardly after transformation) is show accurate as it can actually fold down and become his chair. I’m not quite sure, but I think he’s the first Transformer with this lazy ass yet awesome feature (gallery). It’s definitely a thing of beauty. Though I’m not really into Autobots, this guy is really cool to just stare at. His design is badass, and his colors thankfully aren’t ugly, just a little boring (I miss Stickers...). Bulkhead comes packaged in Robot Mode and I haven’t transformed him into his S.W.A.T. Tank mode yet. I will sometime, but he’s definitely staying as a bot after that. And he just looks funny as hell with that purple headmaster attached. Ah, one last hidden sound effect... once Bulky is transformed into tank mode and his head covering is pressed downward, he lets out a slightly slow variation of the classic Transformation sound. OWNAGE!