(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 Beast Wars Buzzclaw. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Beast Wars Buzzclaw here.)

    The Virulent Clones are, obviously, clones-- created from the genetic material of the Insecticons Buzzclaw and Dirge. Thus the clones, who are sold in $35 sets of two, share some major color scheme features in common with their predecessors, but still are thankfully different. The Virulent Clones still have the same wonderful red-and-black wing and tail-shield paint apps and the same red-purple eyes as the other two Insecticons, and they also share the same yellow paint apps that Buzzclaw has. Where they differ, however, is that instead of being a transparent purple or yellow, their bodies are a solid black-- and, instead of having their upper appendages and insect feet and arms black, they're now a dull blue. They actually look more different from Buzzclaw and Dirge than the latter two do from each other, if you ask me. The Virulent Clones' schemes are still close enough to the other two to defintiely be recognized as sharing the Insecticon color theme, however, and I think the black and blue goes together very nicely with the red and yellow. The solid black, though it still looks good of course, also doesn't look quite as "special" as the transparent plastic on Buzzclaw and Dirge, which is certainly appropriate, given that they're just clones. The only downside to making the plastic a solid black is that the dull yellow paint apps on the legs, which were just fine on Buzzclaw, now don't quite cover up the dark color behind them, so the black "leaks through" a bit. This is a rather small quibble, however.
    No mold changes have been made to the Virulent Clones from their predecessors; however, like on the other Botcon Buzzclaw repaints, the mandibles have been assembled the wrong way; to fix this, you need to unscrew the bolt connecting the insect head to the neck, crack open the halves (don't put too much force into it), switch the mandibles around so they're facing the other direction, and then reassemble the thing again. It's rather difficult, though, and you can break some of the pegs holding together the two head halves if you're not careful, so I only recommend doing this is you're experienced with taking apart and reassembling toys.
    Of note is that in addition to being a Botcon 2005 exclusive, you could only buy the Virulent Clones at the convention-- it was not available free to preregistrants or available at all to those who did not attend the convention. The Virulent Clones were limited to 400 sets (800 pieces total), so they're worth a pretty penny.
    The Virulent Clone is a very nice repaint of the Beast Wars Buzzclaw mold, with enough color similarities to Botcon Buzzclaw and Dirge to identify them as a group while still being different enough to stand apart. It irks me that the toy was only sold in sets of two, however-- definitely a factor that should weight on your decision to buy an already expensive exclusive toy. Color-wise, I rate the Clones a little better than Dirge, but worse than Botcon Buzzclaw.

Review by Beastbot

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