Quick look: ROFT Scout Dead End
 

Warning: this thread is all about RIF*. Because RIF is cool. RIF is fun. RIF is the new BIF.

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http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...F/100_5185.jpg
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http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...F/100_5191.jpg

As you can see, this toy is a Scout/Basic. In car mode, Dead End is mostly red (the red is darker in person - blame the flash for the pink-ish red here) with black (cockpit, stripes, Con logo), metallic blue (headlights), copper/metallic orange (rims, flames & engine) and silver (engine) paint apps. The design of the car seems to have been more or less inspired by the Peugeot 9009 concept car.

Transformation to robot mode is relatively simple: swing the rear side sections out, move the panel with the Con logo over the engine portion, split the front of the car, lift the hood halves, straighten out the legs, unfold the feet and the heels, slide the cockpit up so it automatically pushes the chest piece down and reveals the head and move the shoulders toward the chest. Done!

In robot mode, Dead End is fairly well articulated: shoulders (ball joint), elbows (ball joint), wrists (ball joint), hips (ball joint), mid upper leg swivel, knees and feet/heels. The head cannot turn, it can only move up and down. As for the deco, some bronze-ish parts are revealed (lower torso, lower legs, shoulders, neck, head), and you can see additional black paint apps on the shins and the face, silver on the backside of the rear wheels and red for the eyes. Feet, forearms and hands are molded in black plastic. If you look closely, you will find some cool mechanical parts molded in the lower torso and on the backside of the rear wheels (some kind of sprockets/discs). My favorite part? The hoses connecting the elbows to the wrists and the creepy looking skinny open hands. Also, notice the similarities between him and Cybertron Ransack.

PROS

-nice little alt mode
-satisfying transformation sequence
-creepy look in robot mode
-automorph-like feature
-very good overall articulation

CONS

-head cannot turn
-no weapon
-panels are a bit hard to align in car mode

I like Dead End a lot. I was really disapointed with the Real Gear line for the first movie and I'm glad to see they're returning to vehicle-based molds for ROTF.

NOTE 1: Dead End can NOT combine with other figures. Absolutely no connector piece or anything similar.

NOTE 2: It's a Scout/Basic, NOT Fast Action Battlers.

NOTE 3 : Lifting the head up, Dead End sure looks birdsy with that strange neck piece.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...F/100_5188.jpg

RIF: Reviewing it first. :p

Re: Quick look: ROFT Scout Dead End
 

cool review pascal!despite his small size i'm definately picking him up when he comes here!

Re: Quick look: ROFT Scout Dead End
 

Remember the days when a transformer was a typical car that you could find on your street or your city? Sure the design is cool, but how is Dead end a "robot in disguise" if he is a non-production, concept car?

Re: Quick look: ROFT Scout Dead End
 

I had the same beef with concept BB and the flames on Prime... 2 years later, not exactly the type of vehicles you see on a daily basis.

Re: Quick look: ROFT Scout Dead End
 

He's more than likely a non-movie character. And remember that toys are just that, toys. Maybe Dead End's job is to infiltrate car shows to learn about the latest in human car design and technology? :)

Re: Quick look: ROFT Scout Dead End
 

Oh yes.

Re: Quick look: ROFT Scout Dead End
 

Nice review, Pascal.

If you saw this guy on the road, would you say, "That car doesn't exist yet! It must be a robot!"?

A disguise is a disguise as long as it fools people. It doesn't need to be an exact model of something that's real, it just needs to be believable.

I don't really see cars on the road with giant Autobot symbols or copcars with Decepticon symbols, but if I had never heard of Transformers and saw it, I wouldn't think that it's not a real car or that there was more to it than meets the eye. And yet, tons of TFs have had faction symbols in vehicle mode and it's not a matter of concern.

Re: Quick look: ROFT Scout Dead End
 

I suppose if my name was Sam Witwicky and I saw this car I would be a little curious...:p I may need to check the rub sigh to be sure though.

I'm also not hating on the Moive. I have always been a big supporter, but I just question the choices of the movie makers to feature these over the top, non-typical Cars for the movie. I suppose it comes down to commercialism and it's impact on the Transformers franchise, but I guy can wish that his Chevy Aveo turns into a robot right?

Re: Quick look: ROFT Scout Dead End
 

Very nice, Pascal.

Re: Quick look: ROFT Scout Dead End
 

he looks pretty cool! but how are we certain that this is Dead End?

also, i'm wondering he is
a) a full sized car in the film
b) the rumored remote control car in the film
c) not in the film