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