This toy has a rather interesting name debacle. A few sporadic sightings of the toy had the packaging calling him Detour, but the vast majority of the first sightings-- and all later sightings-- had him with the name Dead End. Why exactly this is is unknown, but my personal theory is that they initally wanted to call the toy Detour, but for some legal reason had to change it late in the process. Why they chose to call him Dead End-- a name given to a completely different deluxe-class character in the same line just a few waves later-- is beyond me, though. Talk about confusing kids. Anyways, onto the review proper:
    Dead End/Detour's vehicle mode is a pretty darn interesting one. It's almost space-age-ish, given how smooth and "bubbly" the car mode looks. It's apparently based at least somewhat on an existing model, though-- which is to be expecting given the whole "realism" aspect of the movie aesthetic. He's still got some nice mold detailing so that he doesn't look TOO smooth and undetailed, though-- there's some really great detailing on his engine block, in particular, and on the interiors of his wheels. Plus, no robot mode parts are visible at all in this mode, which is always a nice bonus. The red and black color scheme may not be original, but it looks good, and the bronze detailing on the car and engine are quite well-done and add some nice contrast, as do the light silvery blue headlights and the gunmetal gray engine block. The bronze flame patterns on the sides blend in far too much with the red, though, and don't stand out nearly enough. It's rather easy to miss them if they're not under the light at the right angle. He also could really use some paint apps on his back end, though-- not even his license plate or taillights are painted in, even though there's mold detailing there.
    This toy's robot mode, though-- wow, talk about an aesthetic change! From bubbly little semi-cartoonish car to skeletal vampire monster-bot! Dead End/Detour is downright CREEPY, with extremely wiry, think and intricately detailed arms and legs. It's quite impressive the amount of mold detailing there, really-- little wires and "shards" of metal abound. The head also looks really creepy. It's a bit small and sunk into his chest, but that's not the creepy part-- what's creepy is that his mouth can open up inhumanly wide to reveal rows of (meant-to-be) sharp, carnivorous teeth! Wowza, talk about a Decepticon you'd want to avoid! I also like how most of Dead End/Detour's vehicle parts stay on his shoulders or back in this mode and out of the way, only adding a little bit of bulk to his body. The engine block-chest bit is also well done, but a bit too "smooth" for this toy's extremely wiry frame. What bugs me about this mode, however, are the car "shell" bits on the back of his lower arms and lower legs. They just really add bulk that completely contradicts the look of those parts of the robot mode, not to mention they hinder articulation some in those areas due to the increased bulkiness. There are also two minor QA/engineering issues-- for one, this toy's shoulders don't really peg into his chest or anything, so they can move about a little when you're posing his arms. Also, small pieces of the front part of the car that hang off the back of his lower legs in this mode can come un-clipped from their pegs rather easily during transformation. Dead End/Detour still has a pretty good amount of articulation, though-- he can move at the mouth (CREEPY!), shoulders (at two points), elbows, wrists, hips (at two points), knees, and ankles.
    Overall, Dead End/Detour has a really solid and unique car mode, and his robot mode is really creepy-looking as well (and in a good way). I especially love his lithe hands, feet, and vampire-maw on his head. However, all the car parts hanging off those skinny, skinny parts does sort of ruin the look in robot mode, and get in the way of some movement as well. He's not the best scout in the line, but he's still a pretty darn good one. Recommended (and over his later repaints, to boot).

Review by Beastbot

Back to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Index