ROTF Bludgeon

I've been looking forward to this guy ever since we got pictures of him last year. Many people have complained that, while he looked awesome in photos, his head looked plain and unappealing and he had too much kibble. Everyone who complained about this guy is dead wrong.

Tank mode:

Bludgeon's a pretty basic tank. He's big enough and molded well enough to be intimidating, but the lack of play features and how poorly he rolls makes it a pretty unimpressive mode. The colors also don't do it any favors, with an out of place orange poking through the treads and the front of the tank.

The tank isn't an appealing mode, but it's not the reason you get this guy. I give it a 7/10.

Transformation:

Bludgeon's transformation is simple, sweet and effective. It makes use of every bit of the tank to give Bludgeon his Samurai armor without using any awkward, over complex mechanisms. The only part that's frustrating is sliding his chest down onto his pelvis for robot mode and pulling it up for tank mode: the locking mechanism is extremely tight and sometimes you'll have to pull so hard that you'll worry about breaking Bludgeon.

I give the transformation a 9/10. It's engaging and well executed, but it doesn't do anything to make me think I'm doing anything more than transforming a box.

Robot Mode:

This is where Bludgeon shines. This is why you buy this guy. Bludgeon looks badass. The green and the orange work well together and he has paint on most of his wonderfully sculpted detail.

Of course, he'd be pretty poor if he couldn't hold any decent poses and his Samurai armor looks like it can get in the way pretty easily. Fortunately, the legs are all but unhindered by his battle skirt, which is nice and roomy and is designed to let him move around. Also, his arms have TWO outward hinges with a normal back and forth shoulder swivel in between. This means that he can have extremely natural looking poses and arms that easily dodge the battle skirt kibble. I'm really impressed with the number of swivels and hinges in Bludgeon's arms and how they all work well together, unlike Mixmaster's overly poseable arms: Aside from the two outward hinges and the back and forth swivel, he has a lateral swivel above the elbow, a double jointed elbow and a wrist hinge.

The only complaint I have about Bludgeon's robot mode is that the sword and knife are too damn hard to get in and out of his hands, but that can easily be taken care of by shaving down his thumb a little.

Bludgeon's robot mode is fantastic. I give it a 10/10.

In Summary:

The tank mode's underwhelming, but it's worth it for the transformation and his robot mode is fantastic. Bludgeon deserves a solid 9/10, rounded up from the average for a job well done.