Transformers Review – Dead End (ROTF Deluxe)

Intro:

 

Dead End, along with Bludgeon, is some of the few characters to have received double treatment in the Revenge of the Fallen line. Bludgeon, as we all have known, was initially given a mediocre Deluxe outing, before the marvelous Voyager-class outing that gave me a fully deserved redemption. 

The name Dead End itself shouldn’t be a stranger to TransFans worldwide. The name Dead End first appeared in the G1 era, as part of the gestalt team called Stunticons. Here, he transforms into a Porsche 928 car, who forms the left arm of the awesomely strong Menasor. Another character with the same name would later appear in the Armada universe, and would be given the ultimate bad guy’s honor of being the herald to Unicron, as the moon that revolves around planet-eater.

In the Revenge of the Fallen line, Dead End was given a Scout-class outing earlier. Here, he was small red-colored 2-seater sports car, which was a decently good figure. Somehow, the good people in HasTak decided that that wasn’t enough, and thus, Dead End would receive yet another treatment in this particular movie line.

Alternate mode:

 

            A departure from your normal movies figure, the box itself never specifies what type of car that Dead End supposed to transform into, so it’s literally up to your own discretion. I’m not much of a car buff, but by the looks of it, to me Dead End looks to have hints of Audi R8 to him. 

His Allegiance is no Secret...

            The car mode looks really slick and fast, and the deep blue translucent plastic as windshields really blends well with the rest of the black-colored body. 

            At the bottom, 2/3 of the car looks not to bad – kinda filled up quite good and the kibbles ain’t so bad, but under the trunk, the kibbles are quite bad, and the empty space looks kinda awkward. 

            I don’t know if this is just an isolated case or a common issue, but Dead End’s back wheels cannot roll freely as I would’ve like it to, as there aren’t enough leeway between the wheels and the chassis.

 

Robot Mode:

            Typically for a Decepticon ROTF figure, Dead End tends to look like an insect. In fact, the robot mode reminds me so much of an insect(icon) that he even reminds me of Kickback – just look at the wings. 

Doesn't he look like Matt Trekker's Mask?

            Apart from the name, nothing else reminds me of the G1 Dead End. Even the head sculpt (which is quite good on its own right) reminds me more of Matt Trekker’s mask (of M.A.S.K. fame) than Dead End. 

 

 

            Articulation-wise: the head turns 360° and cannot tilt up or downward; the shoulders are on a combination of swivels and ball joints; the arms turn slightly below shoulders; the elbows bends as if they are double-jointed; the waist rotates and the hips are ball-jointed; the knees bend; and finally the ankles can tilt upward and down. 

 

            My main gripe of this figure is easily the lock-ability of the backpack (or lack thereof) to the robots main body. The instruction manual is as useless as they come and didn’t mention anything about it. There’s probably a locking mechanism in there, but I just haven’t found it yet.

            The legs are again designed to look insect-ish – very grasshopper-like. Probably he ain’t gonna be everybody’s cup of tea, and to me, he’s only a below average figure.

Overall:

            Like I said, Dead End isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. He’s not a major character in the movies; articulations too have been severely lacking in all departments – Dead End has everything working against him. I really don’t think that a character like Dead End really deserve to get a double-release treatment. Get this figure only if you are a completist or a huge fan of Dead End figures. 

            Final verdict: 4.5/ 10

*Please leave constructive ideas, valuable thoughts and more at the Comments section.