Dead
End (Prime)
(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to the original Prime "Robots in Disguise" deluxe Wheeljack. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of the original Prime "Robots in Disguise" deluxe Wheeljack figure here.)
As opposed to being an
homage to the G1 Stunticon of the same name, this redeco named Dead End
is more of a completely new beast. "Dark Energon" has given him some BRIGHT
colors-- he's got a fair amount of light orange, yellow, and VERY light
green all throughout both of his modes, the former two mostly layered about
in a stripe-like layered pattern with the light green more used for his
wheel hubs, swords, and headlights. If it were JUST these colors, it would
make Dead End entirely too loud, and in a bad way-- however, all these
bright colors are (for the most part) broken up by a pretty good amount
of black and very dark gray plastic to give him a good amount of dark coloration,
too. The end result is an incredibly unique paint job, particularly in
the 2012 Prime "Robots in Disguise" toyline, where the color schemes are
largely realistic. The darker colors are a bit more apparent in robot mode,
with the bright colors more prevalent in vehicle mode, making the modes
look a bit more different, as well. There's also a bit of moderately-shaded
gray plastic on some small "connector" bits in robot mode, which look semi-metallic
given their swirled pattern and that they're a bit darker than the usual
milky gray plastic, and I think it serves as a nice complementary color
to the darker gray. His windows in vehicle mode are the only color choice
on this toy that I don't think works-- they're a bit too pale and transparent
to go with the very loud colors around them, and in vehicle mode you can
also see the light green-painted "fake windshield" piece behind it, which
looks weird since it's only behind some of the transparent light green.
On a lesser note, Dead End's yellow plastic is also noticeably duller than
his yellow paint, though thankfully the yellow plastic isn't used on much,
so this obvious difference doesn't rear its head often.
Dead End has a new head
sculpt, and MAN is it freaky. It looks like some robotic vampire creature
with a wide open fanged mouth. The light green plastic works marvelously
well as light piping for both his eyes and mouth, and I just love this
head design, which adds to his originality even more.
Prime Dead End is one
of the more original, unique redecos out of the line, though it's not for
everyone. If you're one who likes more realistic color schemes, the amount
of loud paint on Dead End's vehicle mode will probably (justifiably) push
you away; but if you're like me and usually enjoy colorful TFs that almost
look they came right out of the early '90s, this is definitely a superb
redeco worth picking up.
Review by Beastbot