dlx Dead End mini-view

[onslaught86]

I got Dead End (Two, actually, girlfriend wanted him too), and rather like him. Sideways is definitely a mould worth owning multiples of, it is to ROTF what NewBee was to the first movie line - although I dislike NewBee for not being a very fun toy, I do appreciate his engineering and the execution of the design at the Deluxe scale he represents.

Dead End gets definite points for actually being G1 Dead End interepreted for the movie, I love the new headsculpt's off-centre black stripes that mirror his G1 namesake's vehicle mode, an awesome touch there.

Speaking of vehicle mode, I take a bit of issue with the paint matching, his gloss black painted parts don't look too nice against the duller black plastic. On the plus side, the purple windows glow nicely under most lights, almost looking like they're glowing with UV. There's a sense that they tried hard to swap the light and dark colour balances from Sideways, and I do dig his burgundy, but wish for the life of me that they'd chosen a colour other than that nasty pukey brown. Not least because the pukey brown is flexible, and my Dead End's shoulder struts aren't as solid as I'd like.

Aside from that, joints are an improvement, especially the hips and elbows. I'd rate him higher than Sideways on the hip-not-popping-out merit, but Sideways looks better.

[onslaught86]

Further notes, having fiddled extensively today while quiet at work – I like to rearrange the kibble some to make him more distinct from Sideways, found a neat config that I’ll snap a pic of later. One of the major advantages to the decorative kibble many movie toys have is the ability to make a repaint or retool more visually distinct from the original, I do like this, and used it extensively with the many varieties of original flavour MovieScream.

The intended configuration for Sideways had the window-wings up like Barricade’s, which tied in with the grasshopper legs and swept-back door wings to give him a real insect aesthetic. I do love this, and wouldn’t mind a retool of Sideways as Kickback, heh. However, as JT mentioned, it contrasts with Dead End’s buff Stunticon head. The arms look the part, side they’re bulky thanks to the mech alive gimmicking (Which I do rather like, I wish they’d gone with more external components like the elbow discs rather than the internal ones they seem to favour with other toys in the line).

So I position the doors pointing down behind the arms, with their insides facing forward. Originally had them out to the sides like regular door-wings (Well, like backwards door-wings), but the screws face forward that way. They don’t fit quite right over the bulky elbow discs, so I’m not as fond of just covering the upper arms with them.
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Also just folded the window-wings back down into his backpack, and arranged the ball-jointed chest chunks differently, pointing down instead of out to the sides like Sideways’, Gives Dead End a more buff look, and the purple window-wings still stand out on his back, it’s rather neat. Also makes it harder to dislodge the backpack, a good thing since my Dead End’s backpack is loose and a little annoying.

I dig JT’s idea about swapping the saw blades, shall try that out sometime. Currently Dead End is fighting Jolt on my desk. Woo!

[JediTricks]

I wish that Sideways hadn't even been a Decepticon, and Sideswipe is just an idiot and killed an innocent civilian by chopping his car in half.

To me, that's how the movie played it out, he's not doing anything Decepticon-like and the Autobots merely hunt him down for not being an Autobot. It's only later in a small piece of dialog does the script explain why Sideways was a danger, and to me that is piss-poor writing (or editing or directing depending on whether that disconnect was always in the script or whether it was addressed in the script but cut out somewhere along the way). I know someone felt they could get away with using the shorthand of "he's a Decepticon, therefore he must have done something bad" while making the film, but it's never really been a good enough reason to kill an enemy before so even here it's bullshit. Hell, did Sideways even fight back? I don't remember him doing so, I remember him smashing through a building but that's in defense of his life. This is why making him Barricade would have worked, because the audience would already know of Barricade's crimes (although that too is sloppy sequel writing, one should always write a sequel as much for a new audience as the original).

Further notes, having fiddled extensively today while quiet at work – I like to rearrange the kibble some to make him more distinct from Sideways, found a neat config that I’ll snap a pic of later. One of the major advantages to the decorative kibble many movie toys have is the ability to make a repaint or retool more visually distinct from the original, I do like this

Same here, which is why I was a little frustrated that the backpack on my Dead End only locks well in the highest position.

So I position the doors pointing down behind the arms, with their insides facing forward. Originally had them out to the sides like regular door-wings (Well, like backwards door-wings), but the screws face forward that way. They don’t fit quite right over the bulky elbow discs, so I’m not as fond of just covering the upper arms with them.
.
Also just folded the window-wings back down into his backpack, and arranged the ball-jointed chest chunks differently, pointing down instead of out to the sides like Sideways’, Gives Dead End a more buff look, and the purple window-wings still stand out on his back, it’s rather neat. Also makes it harder to dislodge the backpack, a good thing since my Dead End’s backpack is loose and a little annoying.

Yeah, I tried that as well, although I found that the tabs aside of his neck-plate get in the way of rearranging the windows. And mine also has the loose backpack as well.