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Every month, Seibertron.com brings you a Top 5 list related to all things Transformers written by me, your fellow editor. These are my opinions (just like movie or game reviews hosted by sites are still just the opinion of one person) so what matters most is what you guys think of the topic or list, and I hope to see your own lists or comments on omissions and ranking. Let's have fun! All previous lists can be found here.


Top 5 Best Dirge Transformers Toys


So we made a list for the three main seekers already, now we tackle the coneheads! Dirge is first simply by random choice. Since many of these molds have already been visited in the past, the blurbs for each will be rather brief. While writing the lists for the coneheads, what I did find interesting was that each of them had at least one toy where only that specific conehead was used as a redeco. Like this first one here...


5. Transformers Universe - Classics 2.0 Dirge

It's thanks to this release that we can actually call that wonderful Cyberteron voyager Starscream mold a seeker mold. On the show, Starscream and Thundercracker didn't share the same body type And that happened way later in a different line. Of course, since the Starsream toy had 2 different decos (standard in Japan and Thrust like maroon in the US), there was some variation, but Dirge (of all characters) was the only other character to use this mold. It's too bad there is 0 remolding to make him distinct, especially for his head, but the deco does give us a different looking face. The deco is stellar all around, giving us the right blues and browns of the G1 toy but onto this Cybertronian design. And as stated, you can still have a nice mix of colours to make it look like you have a group of seekers with this mold on your shelf.












4. Transformers G1 1985 Dirge

It might be a controversial statement but here it is: I much prefer the G1 coneheads over the three main seekers. I love how different they are from one to the next in terms of wings and weapons. Plus, with that conehead you reduce your kibble in robot mode.






3. Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Dirge

This one is super fun and it reminds me of an era I really miss. Ever since G1, going into Beast Wars the Transformers brand has a rich history of giving us toy only characters. These toy were not a material representation of a character from a show, it was just a toy to be enjoyed for what it was with it's own distinct design. ROTF Dirge is one of those toys. And it's pretty awesome since it is a movie verse interpretation of the coneheads. And I would say it is much more in line with what fans would have liked from these movies. While the design is still busy for a more "real life" aesthetic, this Dirge feels a lot more like a reimagining of the G1 design/character rather than a name slapped onto a bot. They give him the bare essentials like his conehead, the cockpit chest design and the right colour scheme and then just go wild after that, but in a fun way. There were several movie toys from that era which were of non movie characters and they often were far more interesting than the toys representing on screen characters. It's something I miss from movie toy lines.








Masterpiece MP-11ND Dirge

The masterpiece mold was dated by the time it came out but that didn't stop Takara from releasing all the coneheads with it. And I feel my thoughts on the pros of the G1 toys also work here. I like the variety that the coneheads offer with the wings and weapons. And while I really like that the cockpit chest rotates to be in the right direction in robot mode, it's unfortunate that the remainder of the jet nose juts out between his legs, which also removes the illusion that his head is the nosecone. It's a really nice representation of Dirge regardless.








1. Transformers Earthrise/Generations (classics) Dirge

Honestly, I think both are great. The Earthrise mold refines a lot of aspects of the classics mold and improves on articulation but I still think classics Dirge looks amazing. And without it, we wouldn't have the Earthrise one. And once again the same reason I preffer the G1 coneheads over the other seekers applies to these molds too, with the better treatment of kibble (on the Classics one) and variety of distinguishing features from one remold to the next. These molds rock. I know it, you know it, easy number 1 pick.

The nose cone sticking out from the back like something inappropriate is shameful on Takara engineering. I'd personally remove it from the list and just stick with the 4 toys (and put the Cybertron Voyager at number 1). Also "name slapped on a bot" has been frequent at times in other franchises but nobody seems to bring it up because wishful thinking!

I think classics wins out slightly. I don't mind the visible nose Cone on the mp but it's the visible screws that let it down a bit for me (picture angle covers it well though and it's pretty much the only thing that let's down my mp thrust).

To be honest, I think Universe 2 Dirge is a better Dirge than all of these guys. (Except maybe the Revenge of the Fallen.) He just has everything that makes Dirge great, from the gloomy face to the striking deco.

Oh, that universe figure is dirge lol. Good to know. I’ve legit had him since I was 7 and after all this time I just figured it was skywarp or something. The more ya know.

Dirge was one of my favorites as a kid, and one of the few that actually I bought with my own Money. I would have absolutely loved to been able get the ER version, unfortunately that will not come to pass with the current prices.

Till-all-R1 wrote:Dirge was one of my favorites as a kid, and one of the few that actually I bought with my own Money. I would have absolutely loved to been able get the ER version, unfortunately that will not come to pass with the current prices.

Really sorry to hear that. My amazon.ca order cancelled on me, they never delivered to any of their customers (in Canada) but they only cancelled after a year of delay emails.

However, I then found the earthrise coneheads available for $97 Shipped, so I went for it. If it happened to me, it could happen with you. And Hasbro could always reissue them one day.

That cybertron mold is fantastic. The Universe Dirge and Roadbuster set that Dirge comes from is one I love wholeheartedly.

Its very odd we never got a TC or SW repaint at some point from that mold. Yes, I know the Cyberton versions of SW and TC used a different mold, and I own the SW repaint of the TC mold and its not great. In fact is quite bad. The rubbery fins and missiles are warped beyond repair. The super long spring loaded missile launching arm is just awkward. And the overall design is bad. The jet mode is fine, but the robot mode... And yes I know that's what he looked like in the cartoon, but still sheesh.

If I ever find the Earthrise Dirge and Ramjet two pack for a decent price, I'll jump on them, but not paying $100 bucks for them, when TC and SW cost me $35. 50 or 60 I'm willing to pay. No more. As much as I'd like to eventually get a complete set of Earhrise seekers, I just don't have that much attachment to Dirge or Ramjet to justify spending that much on them.

I can only hope Hasbro eventually re-releases them in a 3 pack with Thrust or something more readily available like they did with the classic seekers.

Another fun list! While Thrust is the coolest conehead seeker, Dirge is probably my favorite. Interestingly I do indeed have two toys from this list, one is that Generations Deluxe and the other is the Galaxy Force Voyager (albeit as the dark red two pack Starscream). Both are great but it is still endlessly hilarious to me that on the Generations figure his head is just eternally peaking downward And nobody seems to mention it!

william-james88 wrote:And Hasbro could always reissue them one day.

Entirely possible, we've seen quite a few store exclusives get reissued for general online sale. The latest appears to be the Amazon exclusive Galactic Odyssey Micromaster six pack showing up at BBTS and the like.

Emerje

A good list. I too prefer the G1 coneheads because of the variety. I really think the first three Seekers suffer from being too much the same.

I like that the classics one is getting some love. People like to crap on that mold now, but they forget how great we thought we had it back then. The Dirge was one of the best painted examples of it.

Hell, even the Earthrise is just a upscaled redo. They really didn't put much effort into it.

I like the Classics mold too, but the ER mold replaces it. IMO, they shouldn't share a spot on a list like this. Even if they're similar, they are two separate releases.

It's like listing the Supreme class Cyberetron Starscream alongside the voyager one or the Leader Energon Megs alongside the voyager one. Even if the molds are similar, size matters a lot. They are just not the same toy. They can't be recommended with the same weight.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:I like the Classics mold too, but the ER mold replaces it. IMO, they shouldn't share a spot on a list like this. Even if they're similar, they are two separate releases.

It's like listing the Supreme class Cyberetron Starscream alongside the voyager one or the Leader Energon Megs alongside the voyager one. Even if the molds are similar, size matters a lot. They are just not the same toy. They can't be recommended with the same weight.

I wouldn't equally recommend supreme starscream and Voyager stsrscream, one is clearly better. But I equally recommend classics Dirge and ER Dirge. Both are as good for their respective sizes.

I have exactly 1 Dirge toy, so I cannot comment too much on this, but ranking the Cybertron Starscream repaint behind the G1 toy is criminal, even without the conehead, that voyager cybertron seeker mold is a really fun and really good toy