Dead End is one of those characters who is better known for appearing in other lines with different uses when he's not regarded as being a Stunticon. He's gotten two repaints in Revenge of the Fallen, a radical reuse of the Prime Wheeljack mold, and even popped up as a surprise character in the Cyberverse show! His name was also used for different characters not entirely associated with the Stunticon, whether it's an ammonite from Beast Wars Neo or Unicron's Minicon, but now we have a more traditional take on what a Dead End usually is, and the figure itself is certainly a glow up from the shite G1 limb! Let's see how well it holds up!
Here is Dead End in his vehicle mode. It's a very sleek design that takes him far away from the dated rectangles on wheels with the G1 toy into this fresh, bold car that screams attitude. Sure, it might not entirely fit his personality all that well, but to his credit, he deserves it a lot as a carformer. The deco used for the car consists of some nice silver for the rims and headlights, an orange stripe, a Decepticon insignia, gunmetal gray for the bumper and side doors, and black for the windows. It's apparently based on a Ferrari 458 Italia, which makes him feel closer to Dark of the Moon Dino than the Studio Series one does.
In general, it's a nice vehicle mode, with the only flaw I'd bring up being that what will become the biceps of the toy have no red on the top and bottom and result in making the toy look unfinished; this is due to the biceps being made of an unpaintable plastic that is used for the tougher parts of a toy that usually involve articulation.
As far as the weapon storage is concerned, the pipe can be plugged onto the sides and sort of add a new look to the vehicle mode while the hand/foot/gun can turn into a roof weapon.
For a vehicle mode comparison, here he is next to Earthrise Prowl. Dead-End is certainly a bigger car than Prowl was, what with how wide it is and how massive it feels when working as a combiner limb. If you wonder why I put him next to Prowl, find out later in the mold history!
The transformation has been covered on a review for Titans Return Chromedome, though this guy is not only the first figure to use it but actually has no shared parts that Chromedome borrows. It's a neat transformation that gives him a little more to work with than with Dragstrip, but I do have to crop some points for the windshield panel being both too stiff and somewhat thin. His chest flap goes over the combiner joint to hive him a unique look, too! The resulting robot mode is nice and chunky, as it gives him the right amount of bulk missing from the G1 toy while changing things up from Dragstrip with things like the chest flap, the slightly less clunky backpack, and the way the legs transform. Only thing I don't like apart from the windshield is how half-assed the weapon port is on the inner right leg, as it looks kind of cheap and may not be integrated as nicely.
Head sculpt is nicely made and has a good selection of paint apps (orange for the mouthplate and purple for the visor), both of which contrast the gray used for the helmet. As far as detailing goes, it's alright and does give him a little more identity than the G1 toy, though it's still too cool-looking compared to his misery-guts. His articulationn is mostly the same as with Dragstrip's, though the biceps swivel a little differently and the toes lack movement.
His accessories he comes with are the same we covered before, and while the HFG is the same as before in terms of function (though it's loose on the hand rather than the hand being loose), the pipe he has makes for some nice beatings towards unlucky Autobots.
Let's go over the reuses of this mold. This is the Takara version of Dead End is an attempt at being more accurate to the G1 cartoon, but while the robot mode torso and arms have some noticeable differences, the vehicle mode looks even more plain (though the doors look nicer) without the compromised biceps.
This is the G2 version of Dead End, giving him a brighter red, blue highlights, black thighs and hands instead of gray, and a blue pipe. He definitely feels like a bootleg toy attempting to look like Optimus Prime, but that's how it looks for the most part!
This is Brake-Neck, who is a reuse of the Dead end mold and is basically Offroad's replacement as a proper Wildrider homage...which ends up being a lot more disappointing than expected since he's too similar to Dead End apart from the colors and new head. Sure, he's a car that may not be all that different from the guy he's a reuse from, but I've grown to prefer Offroad more. Also not a fan of those colors, what with the random splotches of red on the robot arms and the like.
This is the Takara Unite Warrior version of Wildrider, which looks nicer than the Hasbro version in terms of coloring yet is not retooled to be entirely different from Dead End's shell.
And here is the G2 version of Breakrider/Wildneck! This is a yellow repaint of the character based on the canceled toy. He's got a bit of a Bumblebee feel to him with the yellow and black, but the blue makes him feel like a 90s toy or a bootleg. That purple face looks funny, though. That being said, why can't his pipe be a different color from Dead End's?
Now we have Streetwise! He's decent-looking in robot mode and looks kind of unfinished in his vehicle mode. Of note is that apart from his gun and head, he has been retooled to look more like an Autobot while also having an aggressive vehicle mode look that distinguishes him from the traditional likes of Prowl.
Next up we have the Takara Unite Warriors version of the character, giving him a more focused deco, a nicer shade of white that's on the gray spectrum, painted rims, and while he may look a little plain in his vehicle mode, at least it's not as unfinished as the way the Hasbro version is.
And now we have Prowl, who spices things up from Streetwise by having a deco and a new head that better suits him. While he may not make the definitive CHUG Prowl for an accurate display, he totally works well for a collection after seeing how cool he was in Forged to Fight, and it weirdly works for him!
Let's go over the Takara version of the character, which is practically a more premium version of the toy but is otherwise the same as far as recreating Prowl's look is concerned.
And now here is another Datsun brother, that being Smokescreen! He's pretty plain in robot mode but looks very nice in his vehicle mode apart from the missing decals. He is intended to go with Sky Reign, and his gun looks very nice!
If that's not enough, we've got Bluestreak, who is in one of the first few instances of looking like the G1 package art! It's a very nice deco and does do the job pretty well, and I want to see this deco in a WFC Bluestreak.
And if you thought that was over, this is Lightsteed, a renamed Lightspeed in the Technobots set...and he looks like crap! Seriously, the two-tone deco mixed with the gray being so cheap makes this feel like a prototype than a proper release. Also, why the lightbar? That's not really where the name Lightstpeed came from...
And now we have Unit-3, who is a very obscure homage to a McDonalds Beast Wars Happy Meal toy of a lion that turned into a black Optimus Prime...the lengths they go to homaging everything are insane! He feels like one of those Tiger Force repaints that would go well with G2 Hooligan.
We're just two reuses down, with one of them being an Autobot Fembot in the form of Torchbearer Dust Up! She is one of the two car limbs included with Victorion, and my-oh-my does she look awful with the faint green and predominant red making her look extremely unfinished! I know that's how she looked but could it be any redder than it already is?! Sure, her head, chest, and hands are new, but that doesn't excuse the lackluster nature of the limbs (don't get me wrong, Victorion does look fine as a set, but as six robots, their colors are pathetic).
And finally, we have Flowspade! She looks pretty slick with the black and lavender colors on top of having a slicker deco for her weapon. She comes in the Mega Empress set, which is basically a Decepticon repaint of the Victorion set. I don't really see myself getting this set anytime soon because of other figures that interest me more, but I think Mega Empress is better than Victorion as far as deco is concerned.
For a comparison with Prowl in their robot modes, Dead End is bulkier and is slightly taller! Yeah, I think Dead End is a pretty slick figure overall, and is the strongest Stunticon in the line-up so far as well as one of the most reused in the Combiner Wars series. Cool car mode, nice transformation, slick robot mode, and just a great take on what is otherwise a meh character. So not bad, Mr. Doomed!
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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