Review: #781
Name: Mirage
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Generations - Studio Series
Year of Release: 2023
Size Class: Deluxe (Wave 22)
Mold Status: new
VEHICLE MODE:
Mirage transforms into a Porsche 911, and he stands out as being the first licensed Porsche vehicle (as they were notoriously adamant about refusing to give the license to Transformers due to the brand's depiction of "war" and "violence").
The vehicle mode is quite good from both the front and rear, there are no exposed robot parts. The robot weapon even stores beneath the vehicle.
There are some good attention to detail, such as the tiny Autobot symbol in place of a badge. You might also notice that Mirage is doused in paint, with plenty of silver and blue paint, which gives the figure a nice premium feel.
The vehicle is marred by transformation lines though, and whether through design or poor quality control, the vehicle relies too heavily on panels and tabs which don't perfectly align.
If you can get it right with some panel massaging, the the vehicle mode is fantastic.
TRANSFORMATION:
This is probably one of Mirage's weaker aspects, as the transformation is fiddly. It relies too much on panel massaging as the tolerances are not great, particularly when getting him into vehicle mode for the first time. Be prepared for the silver paint to chip after a few transformations due to this. Anyway, the sides of the vehicle split to form the legs. The roof folds back into the backpack and this is quite neat, but the vehicle windows are built as part of the forearms. Finally, fold the chest down and you're good. The torso is a bit fiddly as you need to collapse it for vehicle mode and extend it for robot mode, but it is tricky to get the right grip to do it properly. Similarly, getting the panels on his legs aligned for vehicle mode is a huge pain.
ROBOT MODE:
Is the fiddly transformation worth it? Mostly yes. Mirage doesn't rely on faux parts as least given that his chest is formed by the vehicle's fog and park lights.
He carries some kibble on his back, but it is not bad, and they give him a nice silhouette.
Unlike the artwork on the packaging, the head is accurate to the movie and is quite detailed.
For size, Mirage is a bit shorter than your typical Deluxe, but unlike his wavemate Nightbird, surprisingly, Mirage feels very solid and not at all flimsy like you would expect.
He comes with a cardboard stand that depicts the streets of New York, meant to represent the chase scene from the movie.
Articulation is good, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, wrist, waist, hips, knees and ankles. The legs are weirdly jointed in that the rotation is only available at his ankles rather than his hips or knees.
His weapon is a gun.
The gun pegs on top of either of his arms and is meant to look like his hand morphed into the weapon.
You'd might have expected with all the kibble (particularly the door panels on his thighs) that it would get in the way but surprisingly that isn't the case. However, his feet aren't the great as the heels are the back of the vehicle mode, which comes up just a tad bit shorter than the front bit, so there are times where he won't stand completely flat on the table.
This is a good looking robot mode, but to be fair, there isn't anything here that screams amazingness either.
OVERALL:
Mirage is a fine toy. He's much better than the mainline Deluxe, and being doused in paint makes him look good. However, his fiddly transformation drags him down a lot, marring the vehicle mode with panel seams and having a robot that's not bad, but felt like it could be better either.
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