Dave's Ultra Energon Rant: Bulkhead Quickstrike Okay, I got the recolor in a moment of weakness. CAPSULE Bulkhead: The main figure is very nice. A bit kibble-y in vehicle mode and a tad garish, but generally good. The backpack drone assistant has some problems, and doesn't really look right with the vehicle mode. Still, despite the problems, a good toy. Recommended. $24.76 at Wal-Mart (I think...I left the receipt at the office in the box of the new answering machine I bought for work.) Quickstrike: Fire rescue recolor in mostly red, white and black. The drone is more color-coordinated with the helicopter. Drone doesn't have the problems I had with Bulkhead's. Overall better than Bulkhead, so if you've been putting off buying this mold, het Quickstrike. Recommended. $26.47 at Wal-Mart (yes, there's been a price boost). RANT In the absence of an official name for it, I'm going to call his drone buddy "Springer". :) Standard Ultra packaging, mine came with volume 2 of the comic/catalog. Bulkhead is packaged in helicopter mode, twist-tied to the cardboard tray with a plastic bubble over the helicopter to keep it together and also give the rotors something to be twist-tied to. Springer is twist-tied to the tray with a cardboard box underneath it to give support in addition to the plastic tray under the gunbarrels (oddly, the box isn't taped on, and can be removed for, um, purposes). There's a "remove me" tab sticking out of the battery compartment, keeping the gun from firing (not that there's a "try me" window in the package). Springer has 7 twist-ties and no rubber bands. Only four ties secure Bulkhead to the tray, but two rubber bands hold the shell over it, and you have to remove the shell with rotors attached (by two ties) to undo the ties around the rotors. The instruction sheet is double-sided, but most of the front is taken up by trilingual warnings about the batteries, FCC stuff, etc. The four missiles for the toy are in a baggie inside the bag holding the instructions and comic/catalog. Oh, I thought of a purpose for that cardboard boxlet. It makes a decent display stand for the combined vehicle mode. AUTOBOT: BULKHEAD Altmode: Attack Helicopter Powerlinx Cog: Red Function: Reconaissance In Force Quote: If I don't blast you out of the sky, I'll knock you into the ground. Bulkhead is a strong and seasoned Autobot. His primary function is air defense at which he is second only to Jetfire. In helicopter mode, Bulkhead is capable of great speed and maneuverability. His aerial skills have been a valuable source of defense against the frequent Terrorcon attacks on the Autobot's Energon spots throughout Earth. Although Bulkhead is a seasoned tactician and marksman, he never backs down from a good old-fashioned fist fight. STR 8 INT 10 SPD 9 END 9 RNK 8 COUR 10 FRB 9 SKL 8 Avg 8.875 Statmonger, yes? Homage: Clearly some homage is being paid to G1 Springer, what with the green helicopter mode (plus, in Superlink it's called Sprung, the Japanese name for Springer). However, the face has only a passing resemblance to the original's, and he's obviously not a triplechanger, although he can combine with his drone to be a walker. So where does the name Bulkhead come from? I suppose Hasbro's lawyers put it on a trademark list a few months before the toy was designed, and had to use it on *something* in order to keep the trademark. Helicopters have bulkheads, but it's not really a term associated with aircraft. And the Decepticons must tease him terribly, calling him Fathead or Bulkyhead. [Later Note: Ian Welch pointed out to me that the shape of the head looks kinda like a guy with goggles and a big droopy mustache...that's right, this is quite likely an homage to GIJoe's Wild Bill, too. That makes it the second GIJoe homage I'm aware of in Energon (Snow Cat being the first).] BULKHEAD Vehicle Mode: Sort of an Apache-style gunship helicopter, with strange growths. The robot arms and legs form big bulky cruft on the fuselage and above the wings. The fact that this cruft is not the same color as the main fuselage makes it stand out even more. Essentially, they kinda cheat on the vehicle mode. Anyway, the cheatocopter is 9" (23cm) long, 4.75" (12cm) wide, about 3" (8cm) tall with the landing wheels out. The rotor is 7" (18cm) wide, more or less (depends on how you position the rotors, but the best-looking version IMO is pretty close to 7"). The main body of the helicopter is a sort of olive green with black and chartreuse trim, a clear blue canopy, yellow paint at the nose, a white "upside down house" pentagon with a red raised Autobot symbol behind the canopy, and a red Powerlinx cog on the tail. The main rotor is chartreuse and the stabilizer rotor is black. The stubby wings that hold the missile launchers are chartreuse plastic with olive green paint, the launchers themsevles are black plastic with chartreuse endcaps and black missiles. The triggers are, oddly, transparent blue. The sticking-out robot arms are chartreuse (I'm really getting sick of that word) with black upper arms and cannon barrels (which are neither Powerlinx hardpoints nor Lego-compatible cones). The robot leg chunks are light gray with red-orange paint accents. The very tip of the helicopter (robot feet) is black with chartreuse paint. Black landing wheels fold out of the leg chunks. And, most importantly, the rear wheel strut is black. And pulling it like a trigger makes the main rotor spin, whee! Using a complicated procedure known as "crank it up in front of the TV until I can get the blades to look like they're standing still, if really curved", I established that it's possible to get the blades up to 360rpm. The rotor chunk is nicely secure, and can only be pulled out while the trigger is pulled all the way, and even then it takes a little work. If you look inside the canopy, you can see the front gunner position, but there's no pilot seat. This is because Bulkhead's head takes up that slot. Kinda like now X-Brawn's head was in the driver's position. The missile pods have two missiles each, which can be inserted in any of the four possible orientations (as opposed to the type that blocks partway in unless you have the one correct orientation). The launchers aren't terribly touchy (I was able to transform the toy with the missiles loaded and not have them fly off at random), and fire a decent distance (a meter or so). There is only a single dead hardpoint, on the other side of the tail from the stabilizer rotor. There are six 5mm peg holes for mounting Energon weapons: one on either side of the cockpit on the leg cruft, one on either side of the tail section, and two on the bottom that are mainly for connecting to Springer. The spark crystal/energon chip holder is on the port side cannon/arm. Transformation: The legs are simple, they just swing down and you twist them to face the right way while unfolding the feet. Turn the waist to align the rest properly. I suppose at this point you have a sort of gerwalk mode, although the combined mode does it better. The fuselage tips up 90 degrees and then folds to become the torso and head, with a tail sticking down the back. This involves a lot of fiddly folding. The shoulders/flanks fold together at the sides, and the missile pods flip up to be on the outsides of the hip plates. The forearms open to let the fists swap out, and you're basically done. Removing the rotor chunk to become a hand weapon is optional. If you do, there's a chartreuse handle that flips out. Robot Mode: This is a very Gundam-y design, down to the large boots with big kneecaps, the shoulderpads and the pelvis design. The missile pods on the hips add to the Gundam feel. The robot is 7.5" (19cm) tall. The upper body is a mix of the two greens (ha, bet you thought I'd type that color again!) plus some black parts, red-orange paint on the shoulderblades, and the canopy colors. The head has an orange face with a clear blue visor over the blue light-piped eyes, nice effect if a bit hard to get to light. The helmet itself is the lighter green with an olive crest. The legs are mostly light gray with black feet and red-orange paint on the knees. The head turns on a swivel, but the waist joint is completely blocked once the toy is fully transformed. The shoulders are very stiff universal joints...so stiff that the folded stuff unfolds sometimes when you try to lift the arms to the sides. There are upper arm swivels and standard hinge elbows (range is from straight out to 45 degrees acute). The wrists do not turn (they can wiggle a little, though). The hips are universal joints that swing smoothly to the sides and ratchet forward and back. The thighs have swivels, the knees ratchet (although the thighs are kinda short, another Gundam-y element). The ankles swing forward and back, plus have limited side to side hinges. The feet are long enough to support the figure in a variety of poses, but the ankle joints are a touch loose for the Brute Mode. Overall: Some of the connections are touchy, and a slightly less garish green would have been nice. Still, a very nice figure on its own. SPRINGER Unfortunately, one of the ratchet joints in mine was misaligned by about 15-20 degrees. And the problem was with an immobile metal pin...something I didn't find out until trying to move the cog around the pin *broke* the cog. Once I glued everything back together and reassembled it (losing one screw and much of my patience in the process) I found it no longer ratcheted, no matter what I did (taking it apart and reassembling several times). So I just packed it with poster-tack and white glue to try to get it to at least have some decent friction in turning. Sigh. And before anyone suggests returning it, it's probably the only one that's gonna show up in my area any time soon. [Later note: It's looking like this problem is not limited to just mine, and that a lot of people have misassembled hips that can't be fixed. One reader suggested wrapping the clear rubber bands that come in the packaging around the joint to act as washers/gaskets.] Vehicle Mode: This is a vaguely tuning-fork shaped fuselage made of blue plastic with silver and olive green paint, with two guns on the "handle" part facing forward, and a big blue (with black and silver paint) thruster unit on either side, attached to chartreuse struts. A red circle is painted around the screw for the battery compartment, but the red paint for the front (as seen on the package) is not present. It's 8" (20cm) long and 6.25" (16cm) wide in this default mode. This is the mode that connects to Bulkhead's helicopter mode to form what I call Flying Brick Mode. An olive button on the top center activates the guns, with flashing red LEDs shining through clear blue barrels while machinegunny sounds play. There are two shots for every flash, a trifle disconcerting. The guns themselves can elevate and lower independently. The clear blue plastic bits can be pulled off their black frames, probably a breakaway feature to prevent actual breakage. The sound box is between the guns. On the underside, below the firing button, are two circular buttons flush with the surface. Pressing the one further to the rear causes the toy to play the classic G1 transformation sound. Pressing the one further to the front generates the "de-transforming" sound. There are two 5mm pegs on top of this mode, intended for connecting to Bulkhead for Flying Brick Mode. There are no hardpoints or *dedicated* pegholes, but the screw holes are about 5mm in diameter, and there's a LOT of those. Drone Mode: The big thrusters have venturi at the rear that fold open into four-toed feet on a moderately poseable ankle joint. Spring-loaded panels can be pulled open to reveal upper legs, with the thrusters becoming the lower legs. The resulting official mode bears some resemblance to ED-209, if flatter. (Even with its damage, mind can stand stably in this mode.) It rises 5.5" (14cm) tall, 7" (18cm) long, and kind of looks like a technobeetle on two big legs (in fact, you can stow the upper legs and adjust the thrusters to make it look even more beetle-like). The lack of the red paint on the intended eyes actually helps the beetle resemblence, since now the silver paint on the sides of the guns now takes the obvious eyespot role. Lots of joints, all things considering. The feet are significantly poseable, and there's many joints in each leg, several of them ratcheting. With a little leg repositioning, this mode can also be attached to Bulkhead and form a sort of super-Gerwalk mode. Or Sky-Lynx-ing mode. :) Other Modes: Fairly flexible if you have a bit of imagination. I've found an acceptable monkey mode, with the drone legs as monkey arms and the split torso piece as stumpy legs. There's also a sort of improved flight mode with the thrusters further out to the sides, or a Star Trek mode positioning them as nacelles. Overall: Aside from the fact that I can't fix the defective ratchet, I'm reasonably pleased with this part of the toy. The transformation buttons don't actually activate in any way during transformation as with Landmine, but it's nice to have them anyway. BRUTE MODE Note: it is NOT called Brute Mode in the instructions. They just call it Powerlinx Bulkhead. But I will call it Brute Mode because it is one. :) Transformation: There's a gap behind Bulkhead's head in robot mode. A pair of raised bits inside the "U" of Springer clip into that gap pretty snugly. Springer's legs extend as additional "Brute" arms, and the guns swing down to flank Bulkhead's head. The firing button tends to get pushed by Bulkhead's head, which can be annoying. It's also necessary to fold out some of the panels on Bulkhead to make room. Assembled: Ignoring the reach of the brute arms, the new height is 8.75" (22cm) tall, and it's very topheavy. The opened panels on Bulkhead's sides make it harder to move his shoulders, although they do make his overall look more solid from the front. It's hard to push the transform and detransform buttons without also triggering the firing button, and the firing button takes precedence in the "brain" of this thing. Overall: While I like Landmine's Brute Mode and prefer to keep him in it, I prefer Bulkhead in regular robot mode. The Brute Mode *looks* nice, but Bulkhead simply doesn't have the ankle strength to support it. FLYING BRICK Springer, when flattened out, also connects to the helicopter mode of Bulkhead. As crufty as the helicopter already is, this increases the bulk to insane levels, but adds firepower and speed (via the big thrusters). However, you can also extend Springer's legs to make a Mega Gerwalk mode, woot. Still, it's not terribly impressive. Where Landmine's extra stuff forms a totally reasonable trailer, this chunk of gun and thruster doesn't really look like it belongs on Bulkhead. And the firing button is hidden between the pieces, so you have to squish the parts together rather hard to get the guns to fire. OVERALL The main robot is almost worth the price of admission on its own, so Springer is gravy. And presuming you don't get a bum one like I did, Springer's not too bad of an accessory. AUTOBOT: QUICKSTRIKE Quote: A solid plan of attack is more powerful than the cannon or sword. QUICKSTRIKE is one of OPTIMUS PRIME'S greatest offensive strategists. His brilliant attack patterns have earned the AUTOBOTS many victories against the DECEPTICONS. In helicopter mode, his speed and maneuverability are matched only by his cousin BULKHEAD. Unlike BULKHEAD, QUICKSTRIKE will never enter a conflict without a well-devised plan of attack. He likes to get in and out during an offensive and avoids brawling whenever possible. MEGATRON regards QUICKSTRIKE as a dangerous threat and has offered a substantial reward to any DECEPTICON that can hunt down and destroy him. First, they'll have to catch him. STR 9 INT 10 SPD 9 END 9 RNK 8 COUR 10 FRB 9 SKL 8 Avg 9 Even bigger statmonger! All-new art on the card, no recoloring of old art here. The art emphasizes the mustache, but the actual toy does not. Mine came with the volume 3 comic/catalog. Instructions are identical except for the name. The "mystery box" in the tray is now taped into place. The co-sells on the bottom panel are Grimlock/Swoop, Alpha Quintesson, and Superion Maximus. The box calls the combined mode "Power Arms" rather than Brute Mode, but I'll still use the old term. First impression: remember that fire rescue red repaint of Charlie Chopper from the Tonka 1-2-3 line? This is him all growed up. Vehicle Mode: Mainly red on top, including red rotors, and black on the underside kibble. The tail section is mostly painted white on top, with blue "rescue service" crosses (not, as some have suggested, helicopter rotor icons). Along the sides of the tail are Japanese characters that I'm guessing say something like "fire rescue". Plastic that was black on Bulkhead is still black on Quickstrike. Both types of green become red, and the light gray becomes black. So QS only has two main plastic colors instead of four. The clear blue plastic is still clear blue. The cockpit bars are painted silver, and there's a lot of silver accent paint on the front half of the vehicle. The yellow nose paint of Bulkhead is replaced by the metallic blue used for the rescue crosses. There is, as mentioned earlier, a lot of white paint on the top of the rear half. Robot Mode: Despite the reduction in the number of plastic colors, this mode doesn't look bland. The upper torso, head and forearms are red, the lower torso, pelvis, upper arms, upper legs, fists and feet are black. The lower legs are heavily silver painted, and there's gold on the thighs and feet. The central torso is mostly silver and clear blue. There's white paint on the top of the shoulders and on the helmet "eyebrows", silver face and blue visor with lightpipe eyes. There's some gold arcs on the shoulders as well, emphasizing the Gundamosity of the design. Brute Mode: While the colors of Bulkhead are complementary, Quickstrike's colors are unified. The brute arms are inverted from the robot arms, with red claws and upper arms, black body and forearms. Combined Vehicle Mode: The dominant black of the folded up drone blends into the black underside of the helicopter. Some like this blending, others dislike it on the grounds that it makes the vehicle mode less realistic...at least with Bulkhead, it was obvious that a more or less real helicopter was hauling a non-helicopter attachment. I don't mind, myself. Drone: All the blue plastic is now black, other color swaps as per Bulkhead to Quickstrike above. The silver paint masks are about the same, but with more silver on the "head" area, and the silver on the knee joints replaced by metallic blue. The black paint masks on Springer are silver on QS's drone. The orange paint around the battery compartment screw is now gold. The dark green paint masks are simply gone, probably replaced by the secondary silver mask on the head. The "eyes" are gone. Sound effects are identical. The ratchet misalignments that plagued the first shipment of Bulkhead (mine included) do not occur in this copy of Quickstrike, hopefully the problem has been licked. Overall: In every way superior to Bulkhead, I'm glad I broke my usual policy of avoiding the more expensive recolors. Dave Van Domelen, wishes the Quickstrike color scheme came first.