I got Boulder the same day I got Blades, leading to a little something that I’ll note later. Due to financial concerns regarding my final semesters at grad school, I was initially going to limit my collection to just Heatwave and the Rescue Hose set. But I got some coupons for Playskool products in the fall of 2012, and so I decided to expand my collection via the Jet Pack set, Prime, Blades, and Boulder. Funny how these things happen.

            In vehicle mode, Boulder is a tracked bulldozer. Right away, there are two things that attract attention in this mode. The first is his overly large dozer blade, which is so disproportionately large that in real life there would be no way for the operator to see beyond it. The second is his robot mode hands, which are blatantly visible. But if a person was to get distracted by these things, they’d miss the fact that, like Blades, he’s got quite a bit of molded detail. Individual window panels. Individual treads. Lights in front of the cab. Caterpillar suspension. Even his many screws add to the detail, as the two on the sides of his blade is where the blade mounts to the supports (thus making them plausible as real-life connector bolts) and the other screws – in his light assemblies and in his blade – could be ignored as additional lights. It’s too bad that the blade is so disproportionately large and the hands so obvious, as they detract from an interestingly unique alt mode.

            Being a Rescue Bot, transformation consists of nothing more than gripping his treads gently and moving them in and out. In robot mode, Boulder has himself a fairly dynamic pose going, with his arms out and his legs spread; it almost looks like he just came off of a ski jump. His dozer blade becomes his feet, helping to explain why it’s so large compared to the rest of the vehicle bits. He suffers from the same general lack of articulation as the rest of the Rescue Bots I’ve reviewed so far, the trade-off for his simplistic design. He’s also got a silver Autobot symbol painted on his torso in this mode, but it’s practically lost against the green. His head is seemingly designed after Animated!Bulkhead, but as the name was already taken for the Prime series I’m guessing that the design team had to go with another name. Perhaps the biggest feature of the robot mode, though, is the fact that his hands are completely unobstructed; he can hold the Rescue Gear freely, either overhand or under-slung, without anything getting in the way. His arms being at his sides like they are limits what all he can do with them (the card back shows his Rescue Saw being able to twist and pivot to compensate for this), but such freedom of how to hold everything practically puts him head and shoulders above some of the other figures in terms of play value.

            As a figure in his own right, Boulder is a pretty good choice even if he’s not quite so proportional in vehicle mode. But since he’s part of a team, completionism is eventually going to kick in and you’re going to want him. It’s a good thing if you get him, too, as he’s got some nice little bonuses – especially the bit with his hands – to recommend him. Rating: 9 / 10. Note that some releases of the figure came with a DVD containing an episode of the TV series; my figure came with “Under Pressure” (like I said – it was fitting that I got him the same day as Blades). These DVDs are packed “loose”, in that they have no envelope or case; rather, they are held in place by a plastic bubble and a spindle made from the exact same plastic.