General Information: Images:
It is important to note that this figure is not a direct reissue of the Botcon 2007 exclusive figure. Instead, it has different parts than the Botcon Dirge (which was a straight forward redeco of Ramjet) and a different color scheme, though both toys were inspired by the same Generation One character.
Vehicle Mode: Another contrast to the Botcon 2007 version of Dirge can be found with the choice of weapons. Whereas the Botcon version used the large missiles that came with Ramjet, the designers opted to use the sleeker, more laser cannon like missiles that originated from the Classics Starscream sculpt. I do prefer these particular missiles as they also look like they can double as cannon barrels. Dirge is cast in four primary colors: metallic blue, a metallic tan color, black and clear plastic. The blue plastic color used here aligns a lot more with the G1 figure than the blue used in the Botcon figure (which aligns more with the animated model). The wings are the perfect color. They are a bit lighter in tone than the Generation One figure, but they still evoke the same color range. Several smaller parts such as the rear thrusters are black while the cockpit is translucent plastic. The deco pattern on this figure is rather striking. The nosecone is black, but the wings have fantastic deco patterns on them. The larger wings have huge Decepticon symbols on them with white outlines. On the inner edge of the wings are red and white line details inspired by the G1 figure. Overall Dirge's vehicle mode looks fantastic and he's instantly recognizable as the Generation One character in an updated form. The wings on this figure look fantastic and the deco works very well. The Botcon version did manage to work in a couple more details from the G1 figure than this one, but overall I'm very happy with the figure's vehicle mode. Transformation to Robot Mode:
Robot Mode: The deco on this figure is fantastic. The blue plastic dominates much of the figure including the "conehead" section, the torso, upper arms and lower legs. Black plastic offers heavy contrast to the blue on his forearms, missiles, missile launchers and feet. As nice as those colors are, the paint deco is what's really awesome. His face is painted grey with red eyes, taking influence from the G1 cartoon series where Decepticons mostly had red eyes. A bit of gold plastic is found on his shoulders on the "L" shaped details. Black paint is used on the chest, covering the vents on either side of his head down to the mid-body area with a bi tmore on the waist. Silver paint is used on the vent sections, small details on his torso and his lower legs. Red paint is used for smaller details such as vertical lines on his waist and the top parts of his feet. Finally, a small Decepticon is tampographed on the center of his chest. In many ways, this color scheme pays a lot of homage to the Generation One figure. G1 Dirge had silver on the vents on either side of his head, silver on the torso and red stickers on the feet. His forearms were also made of black plastic, just like the G1 figure. With the colors already looking good on their own, having them pay homage to the G1 color scheme just adds a lot to the appeal of the figure. In terms of the sculpt's functionality, I was happy to see that there were no loose joints like those I found on Universe 2.0 Starscream. All his joints are tight and the weapons fit into his arms and fists nice and snug.
Final Thoughts:
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With its latest Seeker release, the original "six" Seeker circle is complete. Dirge was the last Seeker jet from the original Transformers series that was heavily featured but not made into a mass release figure. A retool and redeco of 
