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And the hits just keep rolling from 'Energon'. After the first pieces came out, Hasbro hasn't look back and 'Armada' is a distant memory. The new products are an awesome combination of re-introducing old characters, like Omega Supreme, and busting out new ones, like this piece. AND another reason for me to gush is this baby is a helicopter. Granted, pieces that are jets like Starscream and Megatron are cool, but I've waited for YEARS for a nice, big chopper piece. Well, a toy-geek at Hasbro felt the same way because Bulkhead is an Autobot chopper that's Ultra-sized, i.e. it's the same size as Skorponock! Is this piece worth it? Preliminary shots all over the place say 'HELL YEAH'!
First, of course, is the size. Helicopters always tended to be smaller Transformers pieces for some reason (get your mind outta the gutter!) but that's changed with this one. In robot mode this thing is about 7" tall, but throw on it's special weapons pack and it's almost 12" high. 'Weapons pack?' you ask? Ah, give me some time here.
Another promising sight is the sculpting on this piece. The vehicle form is based loosely on the AH-64 Apache; stub-wings, long tail, even a sensor-pod on the nose. Add on the typical futuristic flourishes 'Energon' pieces have, and you get a butt-kicking helicopter loaded with a ton o' weapons to blow away any Decepti-creeps. Woohoo!
And finally, like Landmine, Bulkhead comes with multiple modes, including an armored mode that uses the weapons pack! At first, pics of Bulkhead showed a pretty butt-kicking chopper. Ok, cool. But now we see a chopper with a removable weapons pack mounted on it's belly. Both pieces can be separated so that the weapons pack can act on it's own like the Scout Walker from 'Star Wars'. The chopper section naturally turns into a robot. Then both pieces can re-merge into an armored mode, with the weapons pack mounted on the 'bot's back.
There is one tiny problem with this awesome piece... what's WITH THE FREAKING NAME???!?!?!!!! Um, Bulkhead is a NAVAL term. There's gotta be SOMETHING that could have been used! Oh, I don't know, 'Screaming Falcon' or something. Ok, maybe I shouldn't mention that because that sounds like the name of a horrible football mascot, but you get the idea.
Oh well, aside from the name, Bulkhead sounds like another amazing piece for 'Energon' and all Transformers fans! Woohoo!