Originally written November 2019. Were I making this today, I’d take photos that didn’t make his pinks look like purples. I assure you, there isn’t a speck of violet on him.
I certainly have a type when it comes to the odder Transformers, both official and Third Party, that I collect. That type is modern figures that homage Transformers: Generation 2, the early 90s version of Transformers, with its love of gaudy colors and x-treem attitude. Somewhere along the way, most of the major Third Party companies seem to have decided that TFCon, the fan-run Transformers convention, is the venue where they all release exclusive versions of their figures in Generation 2-homaging colors, and there’s typically a couple of show exclusives every year with that theme. Sphinx Regenesis was exclusive to TFCon DC, down in the US, earlier in 2019, and while I didn’t attend it, resellers were offering him up at the Ontario Collectors Con, though at a pretty high, 100-plus price.
Sphinx, in his standard form, is Ocular Max’s take on what an official Masterpiece Mirage would be. Mirage is, of course, one of the original classic 1984 Autobots, known for a) turning into a Formula 1 race car, b) having the ability to go invisible and project holograms, c) being an aristocrat, according to his bio, and d) really, really wanting to go back to Cybertron in the first few episodes of the 80s cartoon. It’s surprising that Takara hasn’t made an official Masterpiece Mirage yet, and so Ocular Max stepped in to make Sphinx as an alternative. Ocular Max’s Sphinx has, according to the back of the package, been repainted a ton of times already, into a bunch of variants, so it seems to be a popular figure.
As for Sphinx Regenesis, the original Mirage toy was supposed to be repainted and re-released in Generation 2, like a few other classic toys were, but was cancelled at some point along the way. All we have today are a picture of some packaging art, and a hand-painted sample toy, seen here in these images taken by fellow reviewer Maz. And yes, this is really the colors they were going to release him in:
So, naturally, for TFcon, Ocular Max decided to release Sphinx in new colors homaging this abandoned concept. Generation 2 homages are like candy to me, particularly when they come in such lovely retro packaging, so naturally I had to have him. Let’s see how he stacks up.
Vehicle Mode
Sphinx’s altmode, beneath the loud colors, is a realistic Formula 1 racer. He’s Masterpiece scale, so about the size of a Voyager. I was worried when I saw several panels loose and out of place in-package, but once I got him out, he snapped together solidly, and he holds together pretty well. Also, you need to extend the little “wings” on the nose when you get him out of the packaging, and move his front wheel assembly slightly backwards along the rails it’s on.
Speaking of wheels, his tires are made out of real rubber, and there’s a surprising amount of diecast in him, though not to insane Fanstoys levels. There’s just enough to make more parts of him chilly to the touch than you’d expect. Speaking of materials, this definitely has the feel of an official Takara Masterpiece, both in terms of plastic quality and construction. If I have one complaint, it’s that his wheels don’t roll very well, thanks to how close they are to the ground. He can still roll, but it often feels like you need to fiddle with the wheels a bit before he does so.
That being said, the wheels have a nifty gimmick, in that they’re all actually independently steerable, moving left and right unlike…..well, every other Masterpiece I’ve handled. In terms of the rest of his gimmicks and accessories, he’s got a little transparent holographic driver that can fit in his cockpit, which is removable, though it’s not a full body, just an upper torso. He’s also got two weapons, a silver gun, and a pink-and-silver missile launcher (though it’s non-firing). They can both mount in holes on the sides of his spoiler (though the smaller gun is a bit of a tight fit), and the spoiler’s actually a bit articulated, so you can raise and lower them into a position that works.
Alright, enough delay, let’s talk about these colors. Sphinx is primarily a bright, neon green, and a hot pink, mostly, distributed in a few big, uniform chunks across the car body. It is what it is, and what it is is bright, loud and striking. I’ve been calling him “Watermelon Mirage,” but it really makes me think more of Hubba Bubba gum than anything else. That, or Splatoon, one of my favorite game franchises ever, which also has a bright 90’s color palette. In fact, he matches my Splatoon-themed Nintendo Switch controllers almost exactly.
To break up the two colors, he’s also got silver accents, and tampos on him that are crocodile-themed, like in the packaging art we saw. Specifically, he’s got scales across the sides of the car, a full-on crocodile along his side, and the numbers “188” in several places. The original hand-painted prototype looked kind of plain, but these splashes of other colors make sure he’s got a lot going on with his looks. That’s something I really like about this deco in particular: They slavishly followed the original, while still making sure there was enough extra color to make him visually interesting.
Transformation
While Sphinx’s Transformation certainly isn’t fast, it’s still on the easier end of Masterpiece transformations, and, refreshingly, doesn’t involve any fake parts (i.e. his Formula 1 car front actually does make his chest), feeling more like a 2010-era Masterpiece, compared to the current faux-parts nightmare of hyper cartoon accuracy most current releases have. It’s simple enough that the instructions are barely half of the size of most official Masterpiece instructions sheets, too. It’s mostly straightforward, but there are a few fiddly bits. It took me awhile to figure his head and neck out, and I also couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to attach his shoulder launcher for the longest time (turns out you need to put the clamp around the metal rod just to the left of his neck).
Robot Mode
Once again, Sphinx is roughly Voyager-sized, and I must say, comes together really solidly. Everything on him is just rock-solid and stable, and forms a proportionate robot man. It’s hard to put my finger one one thing about the sculpt. He just really gels, and forms a solid-looking, mostly kibble-free robot. I’d say the only bothersome bit is a pair of panels hanging off of his upper arms, though you can rotate them in whatever direction you need to get them out of the way.
His kind of odd-looking head is the one aesthetic quibble I have with him. It’s supposed to be a toy-accurate head, instead of the animation-accurate head some other versions have come with, but the sculpt doesn’t really feel “correct” to me, and seems shaped wrong. The recent Holo Mirage, from Transformers: Siege, seems to have gotten it right, in comparison:
That being said, Sphinx still looks really cool on his own terms.
Sphinx is madly poseable, with ankle tilts, a waist twist, swivel wrists, and even an ab crunch, something a lot of official Masterpieces don’t have. His big feet mean he’s actually really stable, too, and can stand proudly in all kinds of crazy 90’s attitude poses.
He’s also got poseable trigger fingers, with the rest of his hand being fused into a poseable grabby-mitten. He’s got one stability issue with his hands, though: His thumbs are just pegged into his hand, apparently so they can rotate out of the way when you give him his gun. However, they have a tendency to pop out of their pegholes, and go flying if you’re not careful. Better that than breakage, I guess, but surely a mushroom peg would have done the trick. His head’s got kind of an odd setup, too, with his neck being on a very long, thin strut instead of a regular neck, with a balljoint at the end deep into his torso. Between that, and a small panel designed to approximate a neck that his head can bump into, I had to fiddle with it for awhile before I found a setup I liked. On the positive side, though, shout-out to his shoulder launcher for managing to stay really firmly attached to him, after Maketoys Maestro’s loved to come off.
While he’s got the same colors as his other mode, his transformation makes the greens and pinks get mixed together more, instead of being stuck in solid chunks, and I like the contrast. I particularly like the little “grid” on his chest. I also like that while the face is solid green, like the toy and art, they decided to give it two subtly different shades of green, and yellow eyes to break the color up. Again, I appreciate the thought put into this deco, to make it visually interesting on its own merits, on top of the homage it’s already doing.
In terms of gimmicks and accessories, the aforementioned missile launcher clips securely onto his shoulder, and his gun can nice and securely peg into his poseable hands. Also, according to the instructions, you can unscrew part of his head to remove his face to change it, which I’m not a fan of. But on the other hand, this version doesn’t COME with any alternate faces (other versions apparently do), so it’s kind of a moot point.
Overall
I really like this figure, and it’s not just because of the wild colorscheme that appeals to my niche Transformers interests. The core mold itself is a really strong, solid figure, that holds together well in both modes, has a good transformation, and just manages to be really stable, poseable, solid, and full of personality. And, yes, they put a lot of work into making these bright, unreleased colors really work, and I appreciate it. I highly recommend some version of this mold, even if it’s not this one (and again, you have a lot of options), but I also specifically recommend this one if you want something bright, cheery, and really unique. It does the concept really well, and uses an excellent base mold to do it with.
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