Transformers: Masterpiece Dirge

At this point, there have been so many Masterpiece Seekers released that it is difficult to find anything to say that could even give the appearance of being new, and the shame of that is that this condition accompanies Dirge, arguably the best looking of the Masterpiece Coneheads. Another repaint of the MP-11 Starscream mold with different wings and a cone head, Dirge, like Ramjet and Thrust, simultaneously offers excitement for being something new and a sense of fatigue and completion, having now finally reached the end (for now . . . ) of the molds’ tenure in the line. No other mold has given as much as this one, from the beginnings of the Masterpiece line until the present day. So, in a way, I’ve come here not to praise Masterpiece Dirge, but to bury him.

For Dirge himself, there is much to say on a small number of topics. This is a mold that has either been experienced before in any of its myriad releases, be they the original MP-03 or the updated MP-11 version, and if a person has gotten this far in the life of the mold without handling or owning one, it cannot be said to be caused by reasons of scarcity. Even the Coneheads, which were all Takara-Tomy Mall exclusives, have not been difficult to come by, and are still available without difficulty yet still at their higher prices. All of the very, very familiar features of versions past are retained on Dirge, as should be expected by now out of the line itself. This base mold has been the subject of a lot of complaints over the long years, but for the most part it has always performed admirably at whatever tasks it was asked to handle.

Dirge carries an all-new pair of bombs that, like Ramjet, can be mounted over the standard issue Seeker arm blasters. These bombs are new, they are not repaints of the ones that came with Ramjet, although on quick glance, they can be mistaken for the Ramjet ones. While such a new, original part may be expected from an entry in the Masterpiece line, a Seeker or Conehead, by definition being a repaint of another figure, could be expected to come with simply reused parts. Dirge also has the regular, non-collapsing arm blasters that all the other Seekers and Ramjet came with, and does not reuse the folding ones that came with Thrust. This is great. The weapons that came with Thrust were a letdown overall, but it is good to see the collapsible arm blaster did not make the move from the last usage to the next figure. The outer bomb parts fit tightly over the null rays, and are molded in the same light grey color that Dirges’ hands and hips are, so they unify that particular color over the course of the figure.

 

In general, the color choices are great, and the main blue color is really spectacular. It is a color that harkens back to the strong white of Ramjet, and actually succeeds in turning Thrusts’ rather bland and dull maroon into a color that, in a group shot, pops a bit more for being so dull. The grey of the hands and hips and shoulder intakes, which is the only other color of note aside from the golden plastic of the wings, compliments this blue very nicely, with the same white and lavender kneecaps that Thrust had being the only other real bits of color on the figure.

Whereas Thrust felt floppy and loose, a generally reported condition, not one that was found only in some samples, Dirge is solid and tight everywhere. It almost makes one wonder if Takara produced an entirely new mold to produce Dirge, rather than reuse an old one: if Thrust used the same base figure mold that produced Ramjet, then some looseness and flop could be expected, as the molds wear out over time. But Dirge is rock solid, so much so that the null rays on the arms are a little stressful to manipulate, as the ball jointed connector arm between bicep and null ray is very thin, and the resistance is very high. As a general statement the figure feels solid and strong. But, if a new mold was produced for Dirge, would it not point towards an additional Masterpiece MP-11 using Seeker for the future? More on that in a little bit.

As with the other two Coneheads, the biggest difference with Dirge is the pair of unique wings he has, and Dirges’ are terrific. They are long and wide, sticking out behind the figure as they should, creating that somewhat odd profile that we’ve come to expect from him. Like Ramjet, there are questions as to what the wings are supposed to evoke visually: are they a cape? Since they hang so low, not at the shoulders the way the normal Seekers, or in the middle, as with Thrust, are Ramjet and Dirge wearing robot capes? Because that would be awesome. At any rate, the wings are awesome. The small vertical panels at the ends of the main wing can be tilted toward or away from the body of the figure, and the smaller, midsection canard wings are mounted on a swinging armature that lets them connect to the jet fuselage as well as contract in robot mode. A common anti-Conehead argument has always been that they are just pairs of wings, and nothing much else. If that is the case, then all three of the Masterpiece Coneheads have done a marvelous job of being unique pairs of wings.

Jet mode is, again, beautiful, as has been the case since the very first version of this mold. The Coneheads were originally all based off of real airplanes, an oft-overlooked fact dating back to the G1 days. The new and larger wings make the entire jet mode larger, localized toward the rear of the plane, but not in a way that causes it to look disproportionate or anything. The jet mode lacks the detailing or stickers that the original MP-03 Seekers had that attempted to contextualize the jet as something plucked right out of the real world: the Coneheads are mostly devoid of jet mode detailing or the like. The original three Seekers, in their MP-03 forms at least, came with sticker sheets and tampographed details, things like the ever-ubiquitous “NO STEP” command, or arrows pointing to intakes or hatches, the same type of thing that always came with G.I. Joe vehicles, in an effort to walk that line between Transformer and real world representation. This was a goal of the original, initial iteration of the Masterpiece line. But as time went on and the line morphed into its current form, its goals changed to fit more cartoon accurate depictions of characters, and while vehicle modes have retained a true to life representation of the vehicles themselves, the goal of looking like that vehicle in application seems to have been discontinued. That is a positive development in terms of the Seekers, as the extra decals and such always made the jet modes feel extra busy, and added nothing to the robot modes.

But if I may for a moment, I’d like to say a few personal things about not only Dirge, but this mold in general. It has been difficult trying to find things to say about Masterpiece Dirge, as it is a figure that we have seen so many times before, but what he represents may be more important than what he actually is. I bought my first Masterpiece Seeker in 2006, the original MP-03 Starscream. At the time hailed as an absolute marvel of a figure, it was an oddly colored attempt to do what the Masterpiece line at the time wanted to do: create realistic looking high end ultimate versions of G1 characters. Over the next eleven years, the Seeker mold would be one of the most used in the line, if not the most used, and until Soundwave and somewhat random repaints of Autobots into Decepticons came along, was the only option for Masterpiece Decepticons outside of the maligned MP-05 Megatron. When MP-03 arrived, it felt like a whole new ballgame in terms of collecting. MP-06 Skywarp would reignite the feelings that accompanied Starscream, and a Walmart exclusive MP-03 Starscream in G1 accurate colors meant that the Seeker squad was on the path to completion. There was talk abound in that 2006-2009 corridor that, with simple modification, Coneheads could be made from the existent MP-03 mold to complete the six member group, but that never materialized. Third parties made overtures at such a second trio, but were always too expensive to be considered for my collection. MP-07 Thundercracker came with a similar response that Dirge is getting in this article: so nice, wow, it’s the last one.

Then, following the “reboot” of the line with MP-10, a new Seeker mold was released, being a redesigned or retooled MP-03 body, and the Starscream cycle began anew, without Coneheads. A Sunstorm and Acid Storm were produced, and still no Coneheads. Then we got Coneheads, and it would seem that the saga of the Masterpiece Seeker mold is finally complete. Who else is there to be made, aside from Sun/Acid Storm-tier non-characters or Exhaust-level new characters? There is an MP-03Ghost Starscream, but as of yet, no MP-11 Ghost Starscream. I would totally buy that. I’d postulate that maybe Takara Tomy is tired of releasing MP Seekers at this point, but that even sounds ludicrous, given how many there already are (11, if you’re counting).

Opening Masterpiece Dirge, there was a real sense of it being the last time I would cut the tape on a Masterpiece Seeker, barring an MP-11 Ghost Starscream or were I ever to manage the Takara version of the MP-11 Sunstorm. I’ve accumulated eight of the mold (nine, if we posthumously count Toys R Us exclusive Acid Storm, which was recently sold) and have never experienced the kind of QC issues that are reported for it, and aside from Thrust never had a copy be loose or floppy feeling. It is a mold that has been very good to me, and that I have loved very much over these 11 years.

Finally.

In a fitting tribute to his name, Masterpiece Dirge is the end of the long line of Masterpiece Seekers, and a very fitting end at that. From the announcement of Ramjet, this figure was either going to appeal to you or it wasn’t, and there’s really nothing about Dirge that would change that, one way or another. Dirge is the realization of a long-sought after goal: a complete set of six G1 Seekers in the Masterpiece line. As had been a long running joke in Transformers toy lines from the end of G1 until 2011 when “Classics” Dirge was announced, lines would contain a few of the Seekers, but never all of them. Starscreams were pretty much a given, and for a while Skywarp was generally the repaint. Armada had all three, as did Cybertron kind of, if you accept Seekers comprised of two entirely different molds. From the first time I held Masterpiece Ramjet in my hands, I held my breath that we’d get all the way to Masterpiece Dirge, so the set would finally be complete. The end result is a really beautiful figure, and that awesome feeling of having a complete team. Whether you’re interested in another Masterpiece Decepticon jet or not, Dirge is an absolutely gorgeous way to end the mold for the line.