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Transformers Toy Review Archive (older series, 1984 to date)
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Weird Wolf's review of: Beast Wars II Dirgegun

Name: Dirgegun
Function: Destron Aerial Captain
Sub-Group: Cyborg Beast

Powered up in all respects, Dirgegun specializes in attacks that drive computers crazy. He wields a Needle Launcher, which injects powerful computer viruses into his enemies. His Needle Shot, with its incredible rate of rapid fire, launches spears that paralyze his enemies. And his "Blaster Leader" is a sonic attack that yields tremendous results. Dirgegun has sworn loyalty to Gigastorm who rebuilt him.

Alternate Mode
Dirgegun’s alternate mode is a cybernetic-enhanced blue and silver wasp, with pink eyes, and black stripes. The main “enhancements” on the wasp are the wings, the head, the stinger/robot-mode gun, the right side of the abdomen, the back left leg, and the cannon on the back of the wasp‘s thorax.

The wings, which are made of a dark-grey translucent plastic, look sharp and dangerous, which make me think if Dirgegun was ever captured, and man-handled by Lio Convoy’s Cybertrons, he could just quickly flit his wings, and rip them all to shreds. The bladed areas of the wings are painted in matte silver paint, and the detail I particularly like are the little V.T.O. rotors in the wings. There are also little clips on the underside, into which you can store the missiles used for the stinger gun and the back cannon.

The head is, in my opinion, a little cliché. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, it’s an excellent piece of remoulding from the Waspy/Buzzy mould, it’s just that the right side is totally cybernetic, and the left side is totally organic. It would’ve been nice if the two different sides couldn’t merged into each other more, but considering the actual transformation sequence (and the cost of remoulding), the ideas probably just wishful thinking on my part. But I do really like the colours; blue, pink, and two shades of silver may not work for some people, but for me, looks interesting and eye-catching.

The stinger on the abdomen, which becomes the robot-mode’s gun, is silver-grey on top, with some copper paintwork, looking like four small buttons, and two pipes. The right side of the abdomen also boasts some cybernetic gubbins, but it’s just a small piece of unpainted grey plastic, and looks like a half-arsed attempt to make the wasp look less organic.

The left-side back leg, however, screams mech-detail out the whazzoo, with what look like wires, vents, pipes, and pistons. The paint job is also nifty for such a small part of the toy, with both copper and gunmetal paint being used for the detail.
And the cannon… well, it’s an impressive B.F.C. (Big Flamin’ Cannon) mounted on his back (about 1/3 of his overall body length), and makes him one wasp you do not want to piss off!

Overall, I really like this mode, with it’s interesting colours, and detailed (and sometimes not-so-detailed) mix of organic and robotic parts… which brings me to a certain point about the toy; the robot’s arms are clearly visible when looking at the wasp straight on, and if you turn it over, you see Dirgegun’s face grinning at you. But these are minor points, and do not really detract from the aesthetic of the toy.

Robot Mode
Dirgegun has an interesting robot mode. Doing away with Waspy & Buzzy’s “robot-AND-mutant-head” gimmick, his robot head has similar colouration to his beast-mode head; the main colours are still blue and silver-grey, with pink eyes. I look at it, and am kind of reminded of the Borg of Star Trek, or Erik from Le Fantom de l’Opera, with a metal ‘mask’ covering the left side of his face, leaving the rest of it organic and…grinning. Yes, that’s right; Dirgegun, like his partner Thrustol, has a big fat smile on his face. But it doesn’t look cheesy, or stupid; it’s both fitting with Dirgegun’s character as a comedian, but also looks somewhat sadistic. (To me, at least…)
The robot’s chest is dominated by the split halves of the wasp’s head. It looks big and powerful, and as if Dirgegun could deflect bullets of it, just by puffing it up. Which is a bit of a shame, really, when you see how scrawny his arms are. They’re the right proportion length ways, but look way to thin to do any real damage in a fistfight. Good thing his got the stinger-gun to shoot down anyone who disses his arms. Also, going back to the chest, right in the middle, on the centre ‘column’ is his heat-transfer sticker, which shows his allegiance. (“Predacons, forever!” to paraphrase a certain G1 kitty.) Again, a problem with the arms is that the wasp’s legs get in the way of everything, which makes posing him a bit of a pain. His legs can also be a bit fiddly, too; you can decide when transforming him whether to give him knee articulation, or not.

Overall, he does cut a very mean figure on the shelf, but can be difficult to pose, and look right, but even with the B.F.C on his back, he is stable and balanced.

B.F.C. Mode
This mode, I don’t really like, as it’s just the robot mode with the back-cannon where his head should be, and looks somewhat (i.e. VERY) stupid

Transformation: 4 - not difficult, really, but all the small details, like with the robot legs, or the flipping down of the wasp’s legs on the arms might catch some people out
Durability: 7 - very sturdy, but can have the usual popping-limbs syndrome. The only thing that worries me is the way the wasp head is attached to the body
Fun: 8 - good fun for the boys (and gals) who like their Beast Wars toys
Price: 2 - I got mine MISB for only £15.50, including P&P, from eBay. (Which may or may not be a bargain. *shrugs*)
Overall: 7 - I’m not disappointed with my Dirgegun, and think it is an interesting Transformer. Peace out, ‘bots & ‘cons! ^_^\/

 
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