General Information: Images:
*Images and text below from Hasbrotoyshop.com: Add this devious-looking DECEPTICON teammate to your collection! Convert from robot mode to a sleek sports car in vehicle mode and recreate exciting movie scenes – or stage new battles of your own – right there in your living room! Super-cool robot-to-vehicle figure converts from robot mode to sleek sports car in vehicle mode! Ages 5 and up.
Robot Mode: Dead End is an interesting design. His body form shifts from large parts to very skinny parts. Most of the large parts are formed by the car bits such as the armor over his shoulders, over his ankles and his torso. The skinny parts include his upper arms, legs and feet. While his vehicular altnerate form relates him with his G1 namesake, a lot of his details are very bird-like, reminding me instead of G1 Laserbeak. First is the head design, which is triangular with bird-like angular eyes. For some fun creep out factor, raise the top of the head up and you'll find it's on a hinge that is his jaw. At that point you discover the gold piece under his head is not his neck, but rather the lower piece of the jaw, revealing a triangular lower jaw with some nasty looking teeth lining them. I love this hidden detail as it adds a lot of character to the figure. The other detail that evokes a bird to me are his hands, which have fingers set in an open palmed position with very claw like fingers. Looking at his feet, they are split into a long front end and heel piece, which looks very much like the clawed feet of a bird (minus a toe or two of course). I'm always pleased to see intricate details on a Transformer, and more so when the figure is of a smaller class such as a Legends or Scout class figure. Both Dead End's arms and legs have details that look like pistons, giving the impression of a real piece of machinery operating within each joint. Dead End isn't just about exposed machinery however, he has armored bits such as his lower arms (which look like segmented armor gloves) and his upper legs which have intersecting vertical and horizontal sections. His feet have a combination of armored sections and sculpted pistons, continuing the aesthetic of the arms and legs. Another neat bit of detail are his "abs" (for lack of a better term) which feature six overlapping layers of armor that look like a "six pack". Dead End is cast in red, black and gold plastic. In this reviewer's eyes this links it to G1 Laserbeak even more. All three of these colors were present on G1 Laserbeak, with red and black being his feature colors. Black, copper, silver and red paint is used for the detailing on the figure. His engine is painted copper and silver while black is used for a lot of detail including the Decepticon symbol on his chest and details on the lower legs. His eyes are painted red, giving him a slightly more demonic look (as if his mouth didn't already do that). The area around his eyes is painted black, both enhancing his eyes and making look more like Laserbeak than he already did. Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
Vehicle Mode: All the colors form the robot mode carry over to the vehicle mode with no surprises. The copper color is now used on the sides of the wheels and the headlights are silver. The cabin section is black with red lines painted on the cage on the sides. An interesting design can be found on the sides of the doors, where light gold paint forms a wing like design with points that curve outwards, up and then down and back. It's a really beautiful design and it adds a cool detail without being overwhelming.
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As part of the initial waves of "Revenge of the Fallen" figures, a line of Scout Class figures has been released. Unlike many of the Scout Class figures from the first movie line, these are all new sculpts. Among them is Dead End, a Decepticon whose name has its origins in the original Generation One line. There, Dead End was a member of a team known as the Stunticons who transformed into a dark red Porche sports car. While this new Dead End also transforms into a car, he seems to take influence from another classic character as well: Laserbeak, the G1 bird-like Decepticon. Note: in some markets this figure was released as "Detour", possibly so he won't be confused with the deluxe class Dead End figure being released later this year.
