Revenge of the Fallen Dead End

Series: Revenge of the Fallen
Allegiance: Decepticon
Categories: Deluxe
Year: 2009

Creepy, dark, and depressed, Dead End has few friends, even among the Decepticons. He usually hangs out in the darkest corner of the room, where his eyes can glow to their greatest effect. He never speaks, unless it's to say something gloomy. The other Decepticons avoid him, which suits him just fine. The only time they're useful to him is when they are recharging, and he can sneak up on them to drain energy.

Review by Caked-Up:

Overview: This figure is yet another that my darling wife, Melissa, purchased for me. I really liked Sideways in the ROTF video game for the XBox and I looked forward to his figure. Then I saw his figure and his role in the movie, and I put him back on the shelf, disheartened. Dead End uses the same mold, but with a retooled head. However, this has breathed a little life into it for me.

Robot Mode: Dead End is an odd-looking bot. He is creepy and menacing at the same time, but he doesn’t look evil. The paintjob here adds some magenta, silver, and one odd gold tab. The detailing on each of his limbs is above average, but it could have used some paint. He has the standard hood for a chest, but it is different than most, because he has posable pectoral muscles. He has an ungainly backpack with the roof and trunk jutting from behind his head, but if it is folded like I have it, it becomes much more manageable. I just fold the rear window at the joint, and then point it down with the trunk by his butt.

Unfortunately for Dead End he retains the poor choice for a mech-alive gimmick as well as the weapon, but he does sport my favorite automorph gimmick. Pressing his grille in vehicle mode flips the abdomen out while the front wheels flip in under the torso. He has a good deal of posability in all of his joints and the kibble does not interfere with the poses. Plus he does have waist articulation, but it is difficult to see. But if you choose to go the official route on the backpack, the doors on his arms will hit the trunk when raising his arms.

As with the arms and trunk, how you position his legs will determine his stability. If positioned the way Hasbro does, he has a very small foot print only supported by a ball joint. However, he can easily fix this by having chicken legs, so the wheels on his lower calves become heels. One of the best things about non-movie characters is that they don’t have to resemble anyone from other media. Therefore, I have altered the way I transform Dead End to my tastes, plus it cleans him up a bit. Add the much better paintjob and you have a better figure as a repaint than the original.

Alternate Mode: Dead End turns into a black version of the same car loosely based on the Audi R8. I am not an expert in European sports cars, but I like it a lot. I almost expect Jason Statham to step out of it. There are many details including hood vents, exhaust pipes, mirrors, etc. He is nearly all black with red racing stripes on top and red ground effects, plus his windows are a translucent purple. The blacked out grill and rims jive nicely. While most car-formers have detailed headlights, Hasbro went farther with clear taillights commonly seen on European cars. However, they did not paint the exhaust pipes though. There is little more to say here except he looks damn good in vehicle mode.

Key Transformation Points: If you look closely, you will notice a set of triangles on the back of his hood/chest. They flip up to frame his collar. This also allows his backpack to fit better.

Conclusion: As I said before, the Sideways mold was a serious let down for me because of the inexplicable color contrast and the epic fail in accuracy. My wife was unaware of that and bought Dead End. Yet again my wife gets lucky and I get a more than decent figure for my collection.

Rating: B