Bot Reviews: Robot Masters Mirage

Time for something a bit more obscure. See, I think one reason that Kingdom Mirage bounced off of me (outside of that figures many, many flaws) was because I had another G1-style Mirage already I was more fond of, in the form of this guy.

So, some history. This tooling was first released, also as Mirage, in the form pictured above, in 1997, as a part of Transformers: Machine Wars, which was a brief, Kay-Bee Toys (a defunct American store) exclusive Generation One revival that came out in the middle of Beast Wars, at a time when just having classic Autobots and Decepticons on shelves again was, itself, a novelty. The bigger Mega and Ultra-class figures in the line were repaints of early 90’s European Generation One stuff that never saw US release, while the little Basic-class guys, like Mirage, were new toolings (or rather, unreleased Generation 2 stuff, apparently). With springloaded transformations, ball jointed articulation, and weapons that stashed away, these small figures were very similar to their Beast Wars Basic contemporaries. And while Mirage’s colors were a bit odd, both they and his sculpt were more normal than a lot of Machine Wars, which had pretty random design and color choices. And, because every Basic figure got a repaint to make the line bigger, Mirage was also repainted into Prowl, pictured below (the repaints often made less sense).

Anyway, the tooling got repainted a few more times over the years, and if you’re a Robots in Disguise (2001) fan, you probably know him as Skid-Z (Indy Heat in Japan), probably the most famous figure to wear the sculpt.

This version I’ve got here, however, is his final, 2004 release, as part of Robot Masters. Robot Masters is an odd little Japan-only 2000s toyline that, in some ways, feels like the prototype for Legacy, in that it’s a big crossover between multiple Transformers generations, and it’s also something I’ve looked at a few previous times (including their releases of Star Saber, Victory Leo, Sideways, and Optimus Primal and Megatron). While the line was partially new toolings, there was also a grab-bag of random repaints, too, including this version of Mirage, which aimed to finally give him more G1-accurate colors. So, let’s see how this release holds up a whopping 19 whole years later.

Robot Mode

For scale, Mirage is the same size as the Beast Wars Basics he’s aping the design of, so he’s a bit taller and bulkier than a modern Core-class figure, but not by much, though he makes up for that small size by being a lot more substantial in your hands, just really hefty and solid.

Unlike the modern design ethos of G1 Updates, this Mirage comes from an era where toys didn’t need to be slavishly accurate to their sources. And that’s fine, because Mirage immediately still scans as who he’s supposed to be, thanks to the big formula one front-end on his chest, his headsculpt, and a few other details, like the wheels on his feet.

The rest of him is a bit more loosely interpreted, like the details on his arms, his legs, and the spoiler on his back, but it all basically looks correct, and was arguably destined as an “upgrade” anyway. In particular, this slight new spin on his design makes the absence of a shoulder cannon not feel like the kind of issue it was on Kingdom Mirage.

Granted, the huge size of the front end makes him look a bit disproportionate to my eyes, but he still basically looks right. A shame about the gaps in the plastic on his arms, though.  Also, it’s a tiny thing, but the sculpting on his thighs amuses me, because they look like the kind of tubing you see air vents made out of.

Uptop, his headsculpt is basically a cartoon-accurate mirage, if a bit more narrow, including the ridged “sideburns” on the side of his helmet, and the crest on his forehead. He’s got some huge eyes, though, but that’s mainly because those eyes have lightpiping in yellow.

So, the colors are the selling point of this specific version of the figure, because he’s more or less G1-accurate this time. He’s mostly deep blue, with white (mostly on the the chest), and some silver accents, a little bit of black, and a red Autobrand.

He feels very well-painted, like, above Standard North American Retail. Like the sculpt itself, it’s not actually dead-on accurate to either the show, or original figure (the silver feet, and white fists, for example), but it’s mostly there, and looks and feels right. Sometimes better, even, like all the silver accents on his helmet and face.

He’s got a toy-style number and Autobrand on his chest, while they decided to get more original with the deco on the rest of him, with “Robot Masters” written on his arms, and “RM-23” on the spoiler on his back.

For poseability, Mirage has that early Beast Wars articulation, which means he’s mostly on ball joints, since they were the Hot New Thing at the time.

Specifically, his head, shoulders, elbows, and hips are all on ball-joints, and his knees are all swivels. It’s not quite up to modern Core standards, especially since his slightly bulbous torso blocks his head and limbs a little bit, but he’s a lot more bendy than you’d think.

The biggest issue with that articulation is simply that he doesn’t have much in the way of heel spurs, so his topheaviness leads him to fall over easily, making balancing him a more delicate matter than it ought to be.

For accessories, Mirage has a nifty little two-part blue gun, which stashes inside his lower legs, and you can pop out and assemble it (though it can be a bit tricky remembering which half goes in which leg, and which way, as it only fits one way). It’s a sort of shotgun-like weapon, with a comically huge barrel at the end, though the back half of it does look complete without it. It’s simple, but fun.

Unique to the Robot Masters release is an extra, larger weapon, entirely silver chrome, seemingly painted over translucent green plastic (a lot of Robot Masters repaints had extra translucent green weapons, I suspect they were all gang-molded).

It’s an oddly-shaped weapon, and I’m unclear on which end is supposed to be the front, but it’s got a projection coming down the bottom on one end that means he has to hold it with that way forwards, so I think it’s supposed to be, like, a magazine of bullets. It fits a little poorly with him (it’s still a bit too long, and collides with his arm) and has nowhere to stash, but it’s an optional extra they threw in.

And finally, I’ve got to mention his good old fashioned lightpiping, again.

Transformation

This is a selling point to me, a neat feature that all the year-one Beast Wars Basics also shared, a spring-loaded autotransformation.

In Mirage’s case, it’s actually spring-loaded when you go the other way, though it’s still pleasantly automated going into vehicle mode. It’s not quite a one-step transformation, you need to start by straightening his arms so the panels outside of them fit together, and pegging his feet together.

After that, you just flip the spoiler on his back down, and the front of the car (and his body) rotate and click into place, in an elegant, pleasant way.

All these years later, it’s just fun to do.

Racecar Mode

The additional length granted by his car front swinging out makes Mirage way larger than a modern Core-class figure in this mode, though you’ll still never mistake him for a Deluxe.

According to the Transformers Wiki, this is a real model of Formula-1 racer, a “Penske PC-18 Indycar,” and technically a different model than the original Mirage. But, Formula-1 racers are all very same-y, so all of the same details are there, he’s just proportioned a bit differently, thinner, longer, and sleeker, and it all looks fairly nice and detailed.

There’s almost not much to say about this mode. That sure is a Formula-1 racecar, and it’s more stable and solid visually and construction-wise than the Kingdom one.

It has really good “grab it and glide it across the table” energy, or The Thew-doot-dee-doo.

And it does roll nicely, on wheels that have proper painted rims, in addition to all the good-looking deco and livery from his robot mode.

Overall

Robot Masters Mirage is elegant simplicity incarnate, and more fun than some big, modern figures, especially the Kingdom one, which I really need to stop ragging on. What makes him work is the fact that he’s both a One (ish)-Step Changer and a proper, articulated, accessory-laden figure. Today, thanks admittedly to budgets being what they are, those two things are split out. But when they’re united, you get a small, simple (but not too simple) bit of fun, with an unobtrusive gimmick that adds to the entire figure.

In one form or another, I’ve handled all four small Machine Wars toolings over the years (they all got a lot of repaints), and sure enough, they’re all like this, simple ball-jointed little guys with spring-loaded transformations, and neat hidden weapons, and I can give a blanket recommendation to any of them because of it,  As for this guy, I like him more than a lot of modern Generations stuff, and while this is definitely the best set of colors he’s been released in, if you can find a good price on whatever repaint you can get your hands on, I’d say go for it.

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