NOTE: All information and feedback presented regarding Classics Mirage comes from an early release Test Shot variant. Some comments made regarding certain aspects, or components, are likely to change for the final retail version. Images and photos will follow and ideally will be posted soon by myself. VEHICLE MODE: Like his G1 counterpart, Mirage is an F1 styled car. He is a closed canopy racer this time and like most F1 race cars has some sponsor logos on him. He no longer has the CITANES sponorship, but on his front spoiler there is Lithonian Drivetrain, a small Plasma Injection Energy logo on either side near the canopy section, F.P. Racing on the rear quaters and a very prominent Witwicky Sparplugs on his rear spoiler. ROBOT MODE: Transformation to robot mode is very straight forward. Here are the steps I followed, as mine did not come with instructions, to transform to robot mode: 1. Remove the front spoiler gun and set it aside 2. Gently holding the rear spoiler, pull straight backwards. Bring lower portion of legs back up. 3. Flip the rear spoiler halves to form feet and stand the figure vertical. 4. From the position turn around to look at the back or underside of Mirage. Rotate his arms out by 90 degrees. 5. Rotate the upper body by 180 degrees. 6. Flip the arms up, and rotate the piece down that sits under the canopy. 7. Flip out the hands, and flip up the small blue intake on the rear (on top of the canopy in vehicle mode). 8. Pull back on the upper body portion to allow proper alignment. 9. Pull down on the front of vehicle portion to bring down the front and head of Mirage. 10. Put gun in hand, and have FUN! In robot mode, Mirage stands taller then Bumblebee (appropriately so) yet a bit shorter then Optimus Prime. He is the tallest that I have (not including Grimlock, who I don't have) amongst the Deluxe Class of Autobot Deluxe figures. His large "feet" allow Mirage to hold many cool poses and make him very stable to stand on. Some have been concerned with Mirage's waist, but it has not come apart in my test shot version. It is a very tight joint and looks like it will only break if force is applied. It does allow him to have waist articulation. Mirage's weapon is a bit of a letdown as he only has a "crossbow" style weapon from his front spoiler. The original G1 figure had a gun, and a shoulder launcher. Above and behind Classic Mirage's shoulders are his wheels with no real additional hardpoints available for a shoulder launcher. Also, his "grip" has a smaller diameter hole then anyone else and as a result can hold only his gun or smaller weapons. SUMMARY: Overall there are very few complaints that I have with Mirage. He is a very solid figure with a lot of articulation. His head, although he has a ball and socket joint, cannot look up. He does have a light piping feature and his eyes light up when help up against a light source. His gun is pretty weak and doesn't do much for the figure. But, unlike his other "spy" associate Bumblebee, at least he has one! Mirage has quite a bit of articulation and with his large feet he can be put in many cool stances and HOLD them without tipping over.
I picked up Mirage this morning. I love him.. Car Mode: Very classic look. Love the Witwicky Sparkplugs on the tailfin. Kudos.. Also noticed a nice reference on the front fender.. It reads Linthonian Drivetrain.. Linthone was the planet Unicron ate at the beginning of the movie. Kudos again! Transformation: Good mildly complex transformation. Very nice. Robot Mode: A little bit lanky and his head can't look up.. Can be put in many cool stances. Too bad the backpack part can't be lowered or anything. I give him an 8.5/10 at the lowest. He is lots of fun, just a little lanky.. Guess he plays center in the basketball matches..
Love him. LOVE! P.S. His gun storage in the back, is it literally just inserting that tab on the gun into the blue piece in the back?
I think it looks good, but the tab fits poorly. Different strokes, etc. There's been a lot of debate over the extreme skinniness of this figure, esp. when compared to his original G1 mold. One thing is immediately clear with the toy in hand: it didn't HAVE to be that skinny at all. The designers could've clearly gone with a beefier look if they wanted to -- they had tons of room to work with. In other words, they MEANT for the figure to be this skinny, and I'm convinced they worked backwards from that look to get the final design. Love or hate the skinniness, he's got one huge advantage over the G1 model: posability. The shoulders are ball jointed, and allow ridiculous flexibility. The elbows are double-jointed (but don't pivot, unfortunately). There's a working waist (which has a tendency to pop out). Really, the only articulation I miss in this mold is knee swivels -- it would be damn near perfect if they had them. The transformation is a lot more complicated than the G1 mold -- and made worse by unclear instructions. Here's how I do it: - Remove the gun. - Unfold the arms from the undercarriage. Swing blue "26" panels outwards to form upper arms. - Pop the blue piece on the midsection. Tilt the spoiler feet, and unfold the legs. Swivel the waist 180 degrees and unpeg the legs from each other. - Looking at the underside (with completed legs), tilt everything above the waist backwards until it stops. Swivel the blue bits with the "Plasma Injection Energy" stickers downwards to form the upper chest. Bring the nose cose down to complete the body and reveal the head. - Unfold the arms and hands, and close the blue piece in the back. Peg the gun into the blue piece for storage. If you read between the lines, you now understand why the front wheels are so high: they're FIXED in place, and everything else unfolds away from them. If this was a slightly larger/more expensive mold, they could've easily spared an extra joint to fold the wheels back and away. Apart from the skinniness, it's the biggest thing that bugs me about this mold. Also, the head is clearly visible in the car cockpit -- and if you turn the head around to try to hide it, the nose won't sit flush with the rest of the car. Like the G1 mold, the spoiler feet strike me as flimsy and fragile. I wonder if they'll suffer from the same looseness/drooping problems over time; at the moment, they're OK. Dunno how well floor polish will work on the non-ball-jointed parts. I like this figure a lot more in person than in pictures. Posability makes up for a multitude of weird design choices. Also, his light piping works great -- the best of any Classics figure so far (probably due to the lightness of the color). He may end up playing shelfwarmer to Grimlock -- but it's not because he's a bad figure. More than Astrotrain, I think this guy is the true underdog of the Classics line. Final grade: B+ -XCN-
If it's done by the instructions way, then it kinda impedes the back of his legs. If it were flipped so that the gun was pointing upwards, it wouldn't hinder the legs, I believe. But yeah, the damned peg barely fits in the slot.
I figured it was supposed to be pointing upwards; the other way never occurred to me, due to the leg issues you mentioned. -XCN-
Grabbed him at Wal-Mart today. The one I found him at had two of him and no Grimlock cry). He's yet another rock solid Classic. Vehicle mode is an excellent F1 racer, far superior to the last deluxe F1 we got: Energon Prowl. The spoiler is adjustable, and he rolls very smoothly. The racing decals look great, and offer up some cute Easter eggs (Whitwicky, Lithonian). Transformation is fairly straight-forward. I like the way the legs fold out twice. robot mode is very nice. He's by far the tallest deluxe I have so far, up to Prime's shoulders at the tip of his wheels. He is a bit on the skinny side, but it doesn't look bad on him. Poseability is excellent, and his feet can be adjusted to hold him up in a variety of poses. A definite A.
mirage is the gem of this wave. while grimmy and JF are more popular, its amazing how they crammed him into his alt mode and the resulting articulation that comes out in bot mode.
Mirage is a clear winner in this line. Not the winner, but one of them. His articulation is maxed out for a figure his size, and his weapon integrates within his body well. His transformation's actually pretty cool too.
Ì wonder - I had started a thread about how redecoes of current TFs could be used to rep Guardian and Renegade figures, and one idea I had was that the Classics Mirage could be done up as the Renegade Crasher. To those of you who have Mirage, would you say that this would be a fair choice of model to use? Gary
I only have one complaint about this fig. His gun will not fit into the holding slot in his back. The gun's peg is too big and the slot is too small. Filing things down a little may help, but I'm reluctant. Maybe they'll retool it to work a little better ala Bumblebee's rubsign space.
yeah i cant fix it at the back slot too - its not really a slot anyway, more of a double ridge. i just put the gun away under his torso. also makes him look more like the g1 version.
also, can somebody tell me what does FP racing refers to? fairy princess? that and "PIE". i get the witwicky ref.
I just got this guy today, even though I hadn't origionally planned to, and he is awesome. He is much better in person than what the pics can show. He's actually a little more beefy than the pics could show for some reason. All his joints are nice and tight, and his paint is flawless. Classics Mirage is all over good in my opinion. I give him a 10/10, and he's now replaced Classics Bumblebee as my favorite Classics toy. His victory over BB should be short lived, because I'm predicting that Jetfire will soon replace him when I finally find one in stores. Peace out.
Just got Mirage - no Grimlock yet. Definitely better than my initial impression. gangly, but very well articulated and nice looking. The only problem I have with Mirage is ... his tiny miniscule insignificant HEAD! The noggin makes him look out of place next to other Classics toys, and overemphasizes his scarecrow physique. Still a quite good toy, like just about all Classics.
While keeping in mind that I don't have Grimlock or Jetfire yet: Mirage is the best Classic so far. I say that without hesitation. Alt mode is dead-on aside from the closed-in cockpit. 'Bot mode is PERFECT! I love the faux cockpit on the chest. I love the gangly build. I love the articulation. As an aside on the articulation, can anybody think of any other Transformer from any line or pricepoint that can both bend his elbows far enough to touch his fists to his shoulders and bend his knees far enough to touch his heels to his butt? I think Mirage is the first. And the transformation.... Mirage has to be the 9,573rd Transformer to turn into a car, and yet they made the transformation feel "new". Amazing!
ok in my humble opinion this guy sucks ass is bot mode. I love his alt mode they did a great job with the race car, but man why does he have to turn into a giant legged nini waisted hunch back freak? unless you are going total out on the classics line don't be too sad if you miss out on this guy.
