Dirge
(Animated)
(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 Activator Starscream. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Activator Starscream here.)
Dirge shares a bit in
common with the G1 Seeker of the same name--
such as having blue as a main color, as well as some black-- but it differs
a bit more in other respects. Some interesting fuchsia stripes are added
as decoration in vehicle mode, and instead of a straight light brown, a
large portion of his vehicle mode is a mustard yellowish color. I have
to give them some points for originality and "mixing up" Dirge's color
scheme a bit, but the mustard yellow just does NOT work with the rest of
the color scheme. Maybe as a small accent color it might have done alright
with the black, but in my opinion it just clashes with the blue and fuchsia
a bit in as large an amount as it's used. However, ignoring that, the color
scheme is pretty nice-- the blue is a pretty nice-looking shade, and the
black goes well with it, as does the vibrant orange paint used for the
vehicle mode cockpit and the fuchsia stripes. I also like the bluish tint
to the metallic silver on Dirge's face-- it's a nice touch that helps to
differentiate his face a little from the other Starscream clones'.
No mold changes have
been made to Animated Dirge.
Animated Dirge is made
from one of the best Activator molds, but unfortunately the addition of
that horrid mustard yellow really clashes with what is otherwise a fine
color scheme. This is the only Starscream clone to get an Activator and
NOT a larger Voyager-class figure (though no, you're not missing anything,
Dirge isn't in the show), so if you only want one of each character I'd
pick this up in lieu of the other versions of this toy, but otherwise get
Activator
Thundercracker instead-- he looks much better. (Though I would recommend
Dirge ever-so-slightly over Activator Starscream, due to Starscream's really
dull and boring color scheme.)
Review by Beastbot