This takes me back to the glory days when G1 fans complained about Optimus Prime getting redesigned for Armada, The Bay Movies, The Animated Series…

 

The name is the issue.

If I called Siege Barricade 'Dark of the Moon Barricade' everyone would go, "WTF?".

I am getting the figure. He's grown on me. But he won't be Prime Bulkhead. he will be G1 Bulkhead and be with Hot Rod and the Movie Cast. Simple as that.

 

I think the best part about this Bulkhead is the vehicle mode, It just reminds me of AOE Hound and the tarp is gold.

 

I was mixed about Legacy Bulkhead when it was revealed first. I kind of want a new Bulkhead, be it G1 or Prime. In person pictures from PulseCon increased my chance of getting the figure.

 

The only "reinterpreted" Bulkhead that really does it for me is MMC's Bedrock. This Legacy figure looks like a repaint from a decade ago, with a very uninspiring design. It has all of the complexity of a tiny Legends figure, merely scaled up.

I'm not saying it's bad... it's just disappointing. Like they could have gone for it on 4th down but just punted.

 

I frankly like the G1-y take on Bulkhead. My real gripe with it is just that I wish there were more to the engineering. It's a little too Inferno, but green.

 

I would've preferred a G1-fied Bulkhead that actualy had a well-done design that featured well his personality and details from TFA and Prime to be honest. Pure TFA and pure Prime design would never fit with the wider collection, but there is no reason on why he couldn't have had shorter legs and larger arms or the rising panels on his back or whatever. Arcee herself has SIGNIFICANTLY better likeness to the inspiration behind her design than Bulkhead got, Bulkhead just looks too obviously like an ocean of compromises meant to make him generic enough to work as a Optimus retool later.

 

He clearly doesn't make a good Prime Bulkhead for obvious reasons but as a G1 take on the character as a whole he works decently enough though I do get why others aren't happy on the new figure either way.

 

I want neither. I don't care for show accuracy, I'd rather have new interesting toy original redesigns for characters. I also want those redesigns to actually get across the feeling of the character and not look like some sloppy second re/pretool of something else. No one ever complained about the design of Rts Lugnut because even though it was a completely new original design in a different aesthetic it actually felt like the character.

 

I'm going to go a third route with my answer: a better approximation of Prime Bulkhead's design in WFC style. Not a straight-up remake of the Prime design and style or the generic Sunbowish block bot with a Bulkhead noggin we're getting, but a Bulkhead G1 reimagining that's actually true to the character.

And can we please get away from the idea that G1 was all stacked boxes? The designs were far more varied, with shapes usually derived from the contours of the altmode. So a more rounded or angular Bulkhead, which better approximates the Prime design, would not have been out of place for a G1 interpretation. There's no reason Bulkhead had to be a block with limbs and a head to be "G1".

 

I'd argue that a proper Generations toy should somewhat reflect the generation the character comes from. So a Prime Bulkhead should be a decent echo (not necessarily an exact reproduction) of the Prime character design and/or toys.

At least, that's how it used to work with the better Generations updates, before it became totally all about G1. Armada Starscream actually looked like the character, with some artistic liberties taken. Hot Shot, while a horribly unstable toy, actually looked like Hot Shot. They were in CHUG style rather than Armada, but still looked like the particular incarnations they homaged. I was hoping for "Prime Bulkhead in CHUG/WFC style" rather than "generic truck bot with Bulkhead head."

Legacy Bulkhead, while a good design in itself, just doesn't represent the character very well. Even just armoring up those chest windows rather than the Optimus-like glass pecs would have been a step in the right direction. It wouldn't give him the "chubby" profile Bulkhead is known for, but it would at least have made him less generic. Or have the front of the truck angle out a bit rather than straight up and down - that would really sell the toy as Bulkhead while keeping the reimagining feel.

Reimagining is good when some thought is put into it. Legacy Bulk looks like a pretool for another character that they just stuck a Bulkhead noggin on simply because the toy is big. Maybe I'll change my mind when I see it in person, but based on the pictures I just feel it doesn't fit the character.

 

Well, if he'd been billed as G1 Optimus Prime, the complaints would have been justified. Legacy Bulkhead would be fine, if uninspired, as a purely G1 version. But he's meant to be Prime Bulkhead though a G1 lens, so naturally people were hoping for more of the idea of the character to be carried over. The head is the only part that looks like Bulkhead at all, and that just doesn't sell it.

I wasn't hoping for an "accurate" Prime Bulkhead, just one that conveys the spirit of the character. This one looks like someone did a custom from Universe Inferno.

 

I was unacquainted with the character before this and I haven’t seen much or Prime so I judged this toy purely on how good I thought he looked. I liked the look a lot I’m both modes, so I preordered.

If I’d been brought up on Prime and been more invested in the character, maybe I wouldn’t have been as pleased. I can’t say for sure (I wasn’t that fussed at seeing Bayverse Optimus change in style and different style truck cab for example, despite my background with G1. I much prefer the Bumblebee movie version though) but I can understand why those In that category would be peeved.

 

If by “spirit of the character” folks are suggesting a G1 interpretation should have those dumpy, squat little legs, then I vote “no”. The unusual, cartoony proportions characters wore in Animated only worked in Animated. I wouldn’t want a G1-ish Bulkhead that was shaped like an orangutan. No thank you.

 

I really like the toy. It's pretty much what I'd expect out of a G1-ified Bulkhead, and I'll gladly add him to my collection. If they got rid of the Prime subtitle for the figure, I feel like people would generally be a lot more receptive, and when one of the designers apparently made this guy with a "G1ification" of Bulkhead in mind, I'm not sure why Hasbro went this way with it.

 

I think the “Prime Universe” clarification is for G1 fans wondering why they got this guy over finishing up the handful of the 1984-1987 characters they still need to collect.

 

I'm a bit confused by Bulkhead and Arcee. When I first saw the pics I thought they were part of the line geared towards younger children. I don't mean younger than 45, younger than the mainline figs.. I'm not sure what that line is called.

They are part of the Legacy line though, so are they supposed to be on par with Dragstrip, Kickback, and Skids? Because if so they look like shit to me. Ideally I would want Prime figures based on Prime designs, but I'd be interested in the characters redesigned if they were at the current wfc standard.

 

im personally warming up to bulkhead and arcee, i'm actually starting to like the both of them and might pick them up at some point in the future