BIRTHDAY BLOG PART 2- BLOOD, THE DARK WARRIOR (BLUDGEON)

This is my second birthday figure

This figure came out in early 2010 as part of the Revenge of the fallen N.E.S.T global alliance line.
He is a Decepticon. The head robot Blood, The Dark Warrior upgrade kit makes Bludgeon a hundred times better than was.
In the Revenge of the Fallen comics, Bludgeon took command of the Decepticons after Megatron disappeared after the battle of the fallen. In his first appearance he fought the Autobot cadet Jolt. He cut off both of Jolts Electro Whips but Jolt still managed to electrocute Bludgeon by grabbing hold of his arm. Bludgeon was taken prisoner by the Autobots. He eventually manged to escape with the help of  Dr Scalpel, Bludgeon escaped with a load of other Decepticon prisoners including Reverb and Breakdown. The Autobots eventually managed to track him down in Russia? The Autobots were betrayed by the former Decepticon Wheelie who lured the Autobots into an ambush set by Bludgeon. Bludgeon killed the Autobot Slapdash by running him through with his sword from behind. he then killed Hubcap by throwing energy discs at him and cutting him to pieces. Megatron returned at that point and found that his Decepticons were being commanded by Bludgeon. He went to destroy Bludgeon and remove him from command. They fought but Bludgeon was no match for Megatron and soon Megatron had Bludgeon down to his knees. Megatron transformed to tank mode and blasted him to pieces with a single shot.

BIO;" Decepticon Bludgeon was nearly destroyed by a fight with the Metallikato master Autobot Whirl. Forced to retreat and hide he scanned a new vehicle mode and disappeared into the Southeast Asian Jungle. He is desperate to prove himself against an Autobot. However, so he has caused just enough chaos locally to attract the attention of Ironhide. Now he lies in wait for the Autobot ready to spring his trap and destroy his victim in an instant"

Strength 6, Intelligence 5, Speed 4, Endurance8, Rank 8, Courage 8, Fireblast 7, Skill 10

Robot mode

Robot mode with sword and dagger

Swords in scabbards

Skull face

Damaged face

Tank mode front view

Tank mode side view

Without the head robots Blood the dark Warrior upgrade kit Bludgeons original  sword is made from very cheap plastic it even effected by gravity and is basically terrible. his dagger is not much better.

I am glad they fixed these problems for the Banzaitron repaints.

The original head is not bad but people  have complained that it is too fat but I have always thought it suits banzaitron as it looks more like a Samurai mask than a skull.

The new head has a great looking skull face which reminds me of Skeletor from He-Man. If that was not enough they also give you the damaged face from the IDW comic.

In tank mode his sword was made from his tank barrel but the grey looks ugly on the green tank. His sword is also hard to fit into his hand. The upgrade one has a smaller handle and fits nicely into his hand and can also be the gun barrel.

The actual gun barrel itself is a separate piece which pegs onto the turret machine gun on his back while he is in robot mode.

On early releases on the upgrade kits his gun barrel fitted very loosely onto the gun barrel. This meant that it span round and could fall off.

I have a later release one and it is now tight and the problem is fixed.

I have always loved the way that the kibble forms the samurai armour. He has three different scabbards. If you don't want him to hold his main sword you can store it on his left hip but you have to rotate the turret to the left to do this . The swords are chrome which is a nice touch. This is a big improvement to the originals.

There is also a smaller scabbard on his hip for his dagger. I prefer not to put it here as he has the hidden one in the turret.

Something that is a bit weird is that his feet are at an angle and do not line up with the rest of his leg which is odd looking. His heel spur has to be at the right angle or he will stand at an angle which looks stupid. There was not problem with Banzitron in this respect.

When you are upgrading the figure you have to unscrew the old head which can be tricky as the screw is at an angle and is tiny.

It is worth it though

The Mechalive gimmick on this figure is great. it is simple but I like the rotating bones in his legs. His feet and hands are skeleton like but it would be nice if they were bone colour.

When transforming him transforming his head can be a problem as it is rather tight. I am hoping with time is will loosen.

The central bar section on his body is painted to look like his spine which I love.

When you are transforming him back to tank mode with his new head it can be tricky as his helmet can come off. You have to backtrack to rectify this.

he has rubber tracks which is nice on this mould as well.

He is still a great figure but the upgrade kit is a must because his original weapons are so bad.