Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! I spent most of today watching all 5 NBA games and opening some TF figures. My beloved Lakers got embarrased by the Heat. No effort and thus no holiday cheer for the Lake Show.

On this day exactly a year ago, I reviewed ROTF Dirge. So in keeping with that strange holiday tradition, today I will review Generations Dirge.

There’s been so many figures made out of this mold already, so I think by this time everyone already knows what the CHUG Seekers are all about. So I’m just gonna point out some differences between Generations Dirge and Henkei Dirge.

First some background info. The first CHUG Dirge produced was the Botcon 2007 exclusive Dirge, which is really just a repaint of Classic Ramjet. This was extremely limited and online dealers wasted no time asking $150+ for the figure. Then in 2009, the Japanese only Henkei line released a new Dirge that had a more G1 accurate wing mold. This was also a limited release so most likely you would’ve paid between $60 to $70 for one, but getting one from an importer was not difficult. Generations Dirge is the first CHUG Dirge produced for mass retail, MSRP at $12.99, though usually you can find him at around $9 at Target or Walmart.

The following compares Henkei with Generations Dirge. I apologize for not taking pics of the two Dirge side by side. I am home for the Holidays and I left Henkei Dirge in my apt, so the following comparisons come from me looking at the Generations toy and old pics of Henkei dirge on this blog.

JET MODE:

• Generations Dirge has red and white stripes in a pattern that is more G1 accurate on the wings, as opposed to Henkei’s blue and white stripe patterns.
• Generations shade of blue seems a little more G1 accurate. The blue on the Henkei figure looks too bright.
• The Henkei figure has a nice Decepticon logo on the nose cone. Generations does not.
• The grey bits on the Henkei figure is painted black on the Generations figure. I think grey is more G1 accurate here.
• The wing Deception logos are painted closer to the body and in one orientation on the Henkei figure (crown towards the nose) whereas the Generations figure has it farther out and in the opposite orientation (crown towards the rear). Honestly, half the time they go one way and half the time they go the other way, so I really don’t know which orientation is the right one. However, Henkei Dirge has a smaller Decepticon logo on the nose, and it doesn’t match the orientation on the wings.

ROBOT MODE:

• Henkei Dirge has some nice chrome bits on this guns. Generations Dirge gets no love on the bling.
• Again, most of the grey bits on Henkei Dirge is painted black on Generations Dirge. I think grey is more G1 accurate.
• Generations Dirge has a small Decepticon logo on the chest that Henkei Dirge does not.
• The Henkei figure has stripes painted on both sides of the wing so in robot mode you can still see the pattern from the front. Generations figure has stripes painted on one side only.
• There are other minor color scheme variations between the two figures, such as the locations of the blue, red, and black/grey. These are two separate interpretations of the character. Generations Dirge has black forearms which is accurate to the G1 toy but not the G1 show (grey forearms). Henkei Dirge has blue forearms.

So which one of these is better? I really can’t say. Construction wise, I think the Henkei figure is a little better, though the Generations toy is also very good. Neither of these is like Henkei Thundercracker in terms of mold quality so it’s a non-issue here.

If you can only get one, I definitely recommend you get the Generations figure since it’s so much cheaper and they’re really about the same. If you already have the Generations toy, then I would not recommend getting the Henkei because spending $60 for something so similar is not a good investment in my opinion. Conversely, if you got the Henkei and is considering getting Generations, I say go for it since its so cheap. But you won’t lose either way. Both figures are great interpretations of the character.

On a related note, I think I have a total of 13 figures of this mold if my count is right. They are: Classic Starscream, Classic Ramjet, Classic Skywarp x 2, Universe Starscream (G1 color) x 2, Universe Acid Storm x 2, Henkei Thundercracker, Henkei Thrust, Henkei Dirge, Generations Thrust, and now Generations Dirge.

That’s all for now. I hope all TransFans got all the TFs they wanted for Christmas. Transform and Roll Out!