General Information: Images:
Tech Specs:
The character of Mirage has flown under the radar for a long time. Most people will remember various incarnations of say, Optimus Prime or Starscream, but Mirage? Maybe not so much. Truth is however the character has been around in one form or another for years now. In Generation 2 he was one of the Go-Bots. During the Beast Wars years he managed to pop back up as Machine Wars Mirage. During the "Robots in Disguise" era, Mirage reappeared in his Go-Bots form, this time as a Spychanger in several color schemes. Later he would reappear (in his Machine Wars body but with G1 accurate colors) as Robotmasters Rijie. More recently Mirage was added to the Alternators line. However, his Classics form is perhaps the most pure return to his original self.
Vehicle Mode: Despite being smooth in detail, there are some nicely sculpted details as well. The front section has sculpted details that look like pistons attached to each front wheel. The sides have vents arcing back to the part that slopes upward. Each wheel cover has eight lines sculpted inside angling inward. There are line details all ove rthe figure from horizontal lines in rows to rectangles towards the back. Mirage is cast in four basic plastic colors. Blue and white (staple colors of the character), grey and black. The front end is mostly white, the back end is mostly blue. The grey can be found on the rear section with the exhaust pipes. The black is used for all four wheels. Of course, it's the paint applications and tampographs that make things interesting. The front section has blue trim around the edges of the T shaped piece. The pistons connecting the front wheels are painted metallic silver. The sides of each wheel are also painted metallic silver. The spoiler is cast in white, but the edges on either side are painted blue. Contrasting with the white in the middle is the cockpit cover, cast in translucent blue. The designers had some definite fun with the various tampographed details on this vehicle. The very front has "Lithonian Drivetrain" in orange script, a reference to the unfortunate planet Unicron eats at the beginning of Transformers: The Movie. The number 26 can be found in black against a silver oval on the front nose and on the sides towards a middle. This is a direct carry over detail from the original Mirage, who also had the number 26 on him. On either side of the vehicle towards the back is a checker flag tampo with the words "F.P. Racing". According to Dave Van Domelen's review of Mirage this is a reference to fellow fan Dave Willis' RPG group. The checkered pattern is in black and bright orange. The spoiler itself has a very G1-centric reference, with the words "Witwicky Sparkplugs" boldly showing. "Witwicky" was the last name of the father and son whom the Autobots befriended from the original Transformers series. "Sparkplugs" holds a double meaning. While it of course can refer to the car part, it also refers to the nickname of Spike Witwicky's father: Sparkplug. Small tampos near the cockpit that say "Plasma Injection Energy". While this sounds very scifi (and really , it is) it is also a humorous reference to "Pie", which seems to tickle a lot of fans when used in reference to Transformers. This entire deco was well thought out and pays homage to G1 in multiple ways (as well as fans). Despite looking fantastic, there is one slightly bad functional aspect to the figure. When you try to roll it along on its wheels, if the front section isn't pushed in enough (it detaches to form the weapon) the front wheels don't touch the ground properly to roll. I don't really "roll" my figures around so it's not a problem as a display piece. However it is worth mentioning. Transformation to Robot Mode:
Robot Mode: Since the transformation involves taking Mirage's compacted form and expanding it, a lot of new details are revealed. The robot head is perhaps the most iconic part. The design is based on Mirage's animated appearance - which had a much more human look to it than its G1 action figure counterpart. He has the partial dome on the back with the front part of the helmet coming out at a curve and a regular robot face. His arms have sculpted details such as thin and thick horizontal lines sculpted in. The chest is formed from the front portion of the car, and even though this part is not where the cockpit is, there is an indented and angled section that very much resembles a driver's cockpit. Mirage's feet are also very reminscent of his G1 form with the halves of the spoilers becoming his feet. Mirage is not cluttered with detail. He has just enough to look good. On a figure this sleek, too much detail would distract from the overall form. Among my favorite details are the circles and line details on the sides of his upper legs. The others are on his knee joints, where the exhaust pipes now look like joints instead. Mirage's primary blue and white color scheme carries over. However a bit more black and grey shows up on his arms and waist. Bright red paint applications appear on his upper arms and on his waist panels there are blue details painted on. Because he carries all the various "Sponsor" labels from the vehicle mode, any more detail would clutter things up a bit. Mirae carries a rifle that is a different design than his original gun. This one looks more like a tube ocnnected to the front "T" shaped section of the vehicle mode. At the very end of the barrel is a small blue spot painted to indicate where the weapon would discharge. Unfortunately the size of Mirage's hands made it difficult for the designers to create holes that could hold standard Energon weapons could fit into. They're just a bit too small. This figure has twenty points of articulation, which is excellent for a deluxe scale figure. The best part is that most of these points are useful. The arms along each have five points of articulation including ball joints at the shoulders and swivel joints on the upper arms. Combined with the wide width of his feet, Mirage has fantastic stability in a variety of poses.
Final Thoughts:
 |
|||||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
|
