Toy Review of ROTF Bludgeon

I cannot say that this figure makes a strong impression on me.

The head sculpt looks pretty close to Bludgeon (I can see the "little too nice" as mentioned in the review) and the colors are vibrant enough, but a few things:

1) The tank mode seems to be a a mixture of Movie deluxe Brawl and Universe Galvatron. I understand there is only so much you can do with a tank, but when we've seen 2 figures released in the last couple years that look the exact same, it just warrants a "meh".

2) The arms look awfully spindly.

3) The feet are ugly. A reversal to the blockier feet of yesteryear would be welcome; way too many Universe and Animated figures had human-esque feet which not only look odd, but create balance issues. Bludgeon's feet look like they belong on a bird of prey, not a robot-skeleton.

4) The unpainted sword. Yeah, yeah, the usual cost savings of a few cents to apply some paint on a narrow piece of plastic...I get why they don't paint the whole figure. Still, it looks bland in robot mode and worse in tank mode.

Still, a figure I'll add to my Classics collection (note: I am a hypocrite), but I won't love ye, Bludgeon!

*drools on keyboard, shorts out laptop*

no death for prowl, I think the spindly arms you mentioned are intentionally that way to better invoke the G1 image of a skeleton wearing Samurai armor. All in all I do think the face could have been a bit creeoier, but is still skeletal nonetheless. I have to say that, for me,this figure is a WIN and as soon as I see him I'm snagging him.

This looks like it could fit into the movie line or the Classics/Universe line. The limbs look skeletal which works for Bludgeon. How big is he compared to Classics Megatron?

I too couldn't resist snapping up this figure (MISB, but no instructions), and I am enjoying this toy very much.
First of all, I'm a tank fanatic, so the alt mode ticks the right boxes (BTW, various sources say it's actually a Japanese T-90 tank, rather than a Leopard-2, which makes a lot more sense considering Bludgeon's Samurai theme). The molding of details is excellent, and I especially like the brown mudguards on the front. The one I got was actually mistransformed in the box, with the arms which make up the front of the tank turned the wrong way. This also causes the front tracks to be much looser than need be, although this is an easily accessable and fixable problem with a small screwdriver. I wonder if this will be a recurring problem, though...

Conversion to robot mode is indeed somewhat simple, but non-frustrating, intuitive and fun. I didn't miss the instructions at all.
The look of the robot mode is excellent. The face might indeed be a little too 'friendly', but the skeletal samurai here is still very evident. Like Ravage Eject states: the spindly (whitish) arms are definietly a conscious design choice to make them look skeletal, and look much better when seen in person. Posability is good, especially in the arms, although the legs are hindered by the armor flaps hanging from the sides. The hands are the biggest problem in 'bot mode: his wrists don't turn and he has a 'deathgrip' which tends to dent and scratch the hilt of the soft plastic katana when it is pushed with necessary force into his hands (the smaller knife can slide in from the top). The soft plastic (and the unpainted gunbarrel/hilt of the katana) is of course also a slight letdown.

As has been stated before, another 'Mech Alive' function is in the turret, which opens up with a sheath coming up and out while a wheel turns inside the turret halves. It looks interesting, but it does take up the entire turret, which has no further function in the transformation to robot except becoming a backpack. A Samurai flag flipping out would have been icing on the cake.
Luckily the smaller knife can fit entirely into the closed turret if pushed into the sheath well enough (in the box it is mounted in the side of tank mode, which just looks weird).
All in all, the bot mode works on several levels. First of all it's a good solid 'bot, well proportioned. More importantly, there's no doubt who this is: it SCREAMS Bludgeon. The green tank mode from the G1 Pretender's inner robot altmode and the orange skeletal samurai from the G1's shell. Although I've read quite a few ideas for repaints for this 'bot, I'd say very few consessions (if any) were made which would allow this Transformer to look like another character than Bludgeon.

Although there are some issues with the toy, the cons in no way outweigh the pro's of this excellent new mold. I highly recommend it.

@Trikeboy: Peaugh has done a pictorial review of Voyager Bludgeon over on TFW2005 which also contains a picture of Bludgeon side by side with Classics Megatron. The way Bludgeon fits in with both the Classics / Universe line as well as the in the movie line is an intentional choice and has been officially stated by the designers, I believe.

Wait for the henkei version? Maybe it will look more bad@ss?

Photoshop Len Flarability: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

fenrir72 wrote:Wait for the henkei version? Maybe it will look more bad@ss?

I thought (and was hoping) the same thing too but according to Mkall, for the movie line, Takara just repackages the Hasbro versions. So what you see is probably what you get.

alldarker wrote:@Trikeboy: Peaugh has done a pictorial review of Voyager Bludgeon over on TFW2005 which also contains a picture of Bludgeon side by side with Classics Megatron. The way Bludgeon fits in with both the Classics / Universe line as well as the in the movie line is an intentional choice and has been officially stated by the designers, I believe.

Thanks for that. He will definitely be going in my Classics/Universe collection.

Can't wait!

I only wish the skull came off like a helmet. That would've been a great callback to his Pretender days.

One thing I note... Previous images have had the turret either straight up or straight down in robot mode. I think I like the look of it here, best, with the turret open but at an angle, and the wakazashi scabbard pointing straight up.

I will be getting this fig when he hits the shelves.

Cyber Bishop wrote:I will be getting this fig when he hits the shelves.

I pray I can find this fig when it hits the shelves!

*drooool*

i want him so bad! he would make a fine addition to any collection!

I love the tank mode so I will be buying this guy. I dont read comics so I am not a fan of the whole Samurai concept. (This is supposed to be the movie line) But overall a great looking toy. I wish Hasbro would stop using grey as a substitute for silver or black. All they have to do is add a touch of black to the grey when mixing the molten plastic to create a better color to represent metal.

I've been on the fence about this one for a while, but I think I'll get him. Glad I managed to snag a preorder at BBTS before they sold out.

Hi everyone, just for your info ROTF Bludgeon have been sighted in a couple of stores in my country, Singapore. So it seems that it is coming out real soon, however the packaging is lacking the side short knife in alt mode.. hmm anyway did not get it as I'm not sure if the knife is there.

freaky777 wrote:Hi everyone, just for your info ROTF Bludgeon have been sighted in a couple of stores in my country, Singapore. So it seems that it is coming out real soon, however the packaging is lacking the side short knife in alt mode.. hmm anyway did not get it as I'm not sure if the knife is there.

The small knife is inside the tank turret..... Open up you will see it....

@ Devastattor IIRC the japanese version of ROTF Optimus has a slight difference in his smokestacks plastic. Hoping beyond hope maybe a slight difference in plastic shading?

Oh thx real devastator then I can get it with a piece of mind. Once again thanks.

freaky777 wrote:Oh thx real devastator then I can get it with a piece of mind. Once again thanks.

No prob.
Get it if u like it, nice toy to me....