Dead End - Alternators - Figure

DEAD END

ALLEGIANCE: DECEPTICON
SUB-GROUP: ALTERNATORS
FUNCTION: WARRIOR
"We are all just food for rust."

Introduction:
When the Stunticons were first introduced, Dead End's depressing outlook on every situation appealed to me and he instantly became my favorite of the team. Flash forward to 2004 where the Binaltech/Alternators Sideswipe gets remolded into what appears to be his brother Suntreaker. In fact, the powers that be end up giving him a different color scheme than expected as well as a different allegiance. Dead End returns to the fold as the inaugural Decepticon to the Binaltech and Alternators lines and looks good doing so.

Packaged in traditional Alternators style, Dear End features some nice artwork, though I feel it's not terribly accurate to the character. Also of interest is that he's labeled as #6 in the line. His cross sell, shown on the bottom of the box, is Tracks. Contrary to what Hasbro has said, Tracks is pictured in hie yellow color scheme which leads me to believe these boxes were printed long in advance of the decision to use blue plastic for the upcoming Autobot. But, this review is about Dead End, not Tracks.

Vehicle Mode:
Dead End has changed from a Porsche 928 to a Dodge Viper SRT-10. His primary color is clack with two silver stripes running down the top of the car. They meet at the middle of the front grill which has the Dodge Viper logo above it. The running boards on either side of the car are also silver as are the words "Dodge Viper SRT-10" on his rear bumper. The headlights, taillights, and windows are a clear read-orange and his front turn signals, like he's ever use them, are a bright, clear red. His license plate reads "Dead End" with a Decepticon logo between the words.

His Cybertronian Radial tires are black, accompanied by silver-chromed hubcaps. Though it's part of the transformation process, each rear view mirror is positional and actually reflects. The doors open, though the passenger side door on my toy won't without attempting to break the running board away from the rest of the car for some reason. The interior is very nicely detailed with silver paint applied to the various parts of the instruments, dashboard, and the gear shift. Silver also adorns the vents that become visible when the doors open and is also used to decorate the gas intake.

Transformation:
As should be expected, Dead End transforms identically to Sideswipe, with only one change to take the roof and rear window into consideration.

Open the hood and remove the engine.
On the underside of the car, there are clips on either side that hold the doors to the front of the car. Push these sections in a bit to unlock them.
Split the front of the car in half and pull them out slightly, then down to form the legs.
Rotate the front part of the car 180 degrees.
Swing the front most sections of the car down and around to form the feet.
Flip the magnetic, cylindrical piece down and the black panels the robot feet are attached to inward.
Swing down the heel pieces of the feet to stabilize the feet.
Lift the rear piece of the door connection section up gently.
Flip the back piece back and away and swing the lower robot arms and hands up.
Bring the arms out to the side and down. Now you have some options, you can position the car doors so they are on the side of the arms facing outward or rotate the wheels so that they face outward. This allows for the door to run down the sides of the arms like the G1 toy. You can also swing them up and out as wings if you prefer.
Flip the steering wheel down and pull the dashboard and windshield section forward.
Fold the section with the seats down and swing the robot head down.
Swing the back piece against the main body with the roof flipped into the trunk section.

Robot Mode:
Standing at 7 1/4 inches, Dead End is ready to take on the Autobots. He'll need all the luck in the world in that regard, at least for the moment. In addition to the black that dominates his color scheme, Dead End has red on arms. His legs and feet feature gold, silver, purple, and red highlights that are nicely spaced out and give attention to the details there. Despite his gold face and red eyes and vents, his helmet and face are more reminiscent more of Sunstreaker than Dead End, lending more evidence to that this color scheme may have been a somewhat last-minute change.

Dead End is no slouch in the articulation department. His head rests on a ball-socket joint, allowing for a wide range of positions. Each shoulder rotates around and swivels in and out. The elbows bend up and down as well and in. His wrists are also on ball-socket joints and his fingers can bend with the index finger independent of the rest. Dead End can swivel slightly at the waist, but it's hindered due to the windshield's position. Each hip bends back, forth, out and swivels as well. The knees bend and his feet are connected to ball-socket joints.

Overall:
Dead End is a vast improvement over Sideswipe. He doesn't feel nearly as breakable with the exception of the running boards along the doors. He does suffer from the same articulation restrictions, which is a shame. However, the color scheme is a very nice one the detailing is equally nice. My only real complaint is that the head is clearly not designed to represent Dead End.

Reviewer	Richard C. Mistron
Date	August 21st 2004
Score	(8 out of 10)
Reads	18442

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