Intro:
Our
review of the Combiner Wars Stunticons series continues with their 3rd
member – Dead End.
Even
from back in the G1 era, it was kind of difficult for me to identify Dead End,
and Wildrider, mostly because I really suck at identifying cars. Dragstrip and
Breakdown were easier because they were yellow and white respectively.
Anyway,
if you are ever a part of a gestalt team, Dead End is definitely one of those
guys that you really wish to not have on your team, mostly because he’s an
extreme pessimist, as well as being a fatalist.
He
doesn’t have the motivation to fight battles, because he believes that either
way, everybody is going to die anyway.
His
latest characterization does not fall far from the tree either, and that he is
still a pessimist and a fatalist.
Alternate
Mode:
Originally
in G1, Dead End was a Porsche 928.
This time
around… I have no idea what car is this, or whether or not it is based on any
real life car model. Having said that, I guess you can assume him to be an
updated Porsche model I guess.
I did a little
of digging, and found that Dead End actually resembles a concept Porsche,
called the 2017 Porsche 960 – a 600-plus-hp, mid-engined bridge between the
legendary 911 and 918.
Anyways, enough
with the technicalities...
I really like
the maroon color on this car, and I think the color suits it well. Everything
seems slick and fast. The racing strip on this car isn’t exactly symmetrical –
it’s kind of more to the right.
The kibbles are
minimal, which is quite good.
Just as with the
rest of the Stunticons sans Motormaster, Dead End too comes with a little bit
of accessories: namely the hand/ foot piece and a tailpipe. Of course,
attaching these accessories to the car may somewhat ruin the look.
Anyway, I still
like the car mode very much.
Robot
Mode:
Transformation
is very easy, and you probably won’t have to rely on the instruction manual.
The
robot mode, in my opinion, looks the best amongst the Stunticons san
Motormaster. He seems well-proportionately built – having said that, the feet
are a bit strangely-designed.
The way the legs
are designed, it is as if Dead End is meant to have the A-stance only, i.e.
with slightly opened legs. If the legs were to be closed together, Dead End
will stand a little bit wobbly – having a loose hip joints make things even
worse, which we’ll get more into it shortly.
The
head sculpt is alright – no mouth, only faceplate and visor.
Articulation-wise:
head rotates 180°, from left to right and vice-versa. It can’t rotate 360°,
mostly due to how the head is designed.
The
shoulders are on a combinational hinges and ball-joints. The arms rotate
slightly below the shoulders; elbows bend 90°; waist rotates; ball-jointed
hips; legs rotate slightly below the hips; and finally bendable knees.
The
hip joints are very loose, and Dead End tends to do leg splits very often,
which makes certain poses very difficult.
In
this mode, Dead End wields the hand/ foot piece for Menasor, as well as his tailpipe.
The tailpipe doesn’t exactly look like a blaster, but rather looks like a melee
weapon – a nightstick. However, unlike how you would normally wield the
nightstick, i.e. holding in below your arms, you can only wield it like a
normal blaster. It fits slightly tighter – just slightly tighter underneath the
right fist; but as far as the left fist goes – epic fail.
Or,
of course, you can wield it based on how the box says – as just a stick.
Still,
it’s a good-looking Deluxe-sized robot.
Accessories:
Apart
from the dagger/blaster and the Menasor hand/foot piece, Dead End also comes
with a copy of the IDW Combiner Wars comic, as well as the instruction manual
on how to transform him to either Menasor’s arm or leg.
Overall:
While
Dead End may look the best amongst his teammates, he does have a lot of minor
issues plaguing him, which kind of made him as the worst of the bunch.
I
think the execution on this figure could be a little bit better. Unless, you
are planning to complete the entire Stunticons lineup, then I guess you can
skip him. However, I doubt that you’d skip him, because Menasor is a fan
favorite nonetheless.
Final
verdict: 7/10.
