(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 G1 Starscream. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of G1 Starscream here.)

    Unlike Thundercracker and Skywarp, Dirge is not just a repaint of Starscream, but also a partial remold. He now has four horizontal wings in vehicle mode, the front much smaller than the back. The back wings also have a small vertical notch on the ends, instead of larger vertical wings next to the engines like on Dirge's three predecessors. And although I prefer the style of Dirge's wings over the previous three, his plane mode looks oddly incomplete without those big vertical wings in the back. Especially since the peg for them is still there. Dirge's guns also don't fire any missiles, but are just pieces of plastic this time around. When they're mounted on his arms in robot mode, they also tend to bend a little because they peg in so close to the arms that the raised fists in the front put a bit of pressure on them. This isn't too major of a problem now, although after a few years it could cause the guns to permanently warp if you display him in robot mode. As for Dirge's color scheme itself, it's very nice in and of itself; blue, brown, and black, while not a very varied color scheme, does the job and meshes well. One thing I don't like about it, though, is that it's very similar to Thundercracker's scheme. I mean, if you're going to go through all the effort of remolding a toy, you're probably going to want to at least change the color scheme on the latter entirely. But one point in Dirge's favor is that he's $5 cheaper than any of the previous three seekers. Granted, $30 is still too much to reasonably ask for a plastic brick like this, but it's better than $35. One more interesting point to note; on the old TV show, Dirge's plane nose cone stuck out from the top of his head, while on the actual toy, the instructions, and the box art, it's bent backwards from the head like all the other seekers. Although I think the conehead looks dorkier, it does make him noticeably more show-accurate. But I can't really recommend one configuration over the other- it depends on whether you like show accuracy or looks more.
    Dirge is a nice remold and repaint of Starscream, but his lack of rear vertical wings in vehicle mode makes him look somehow naked (not that he's wearing any clothes in the first place), and his guns may warp over time. Not to mention the robot mode is crud, just like on the other seekers. Unless you're a big time seeker fan or a completist, though, I can't recommend him, even at the slightly-reduced price. Especially with so many other Transformers coming out nowadays.

Review by Beastbot

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