Mirage - Beast Machines - Figures

A car by any other name... would still be a Vehicon, at least in the world of Beast Machines. Mirage wasn't this toy's first name though. Preliminary names included Burnout and Skidmark. And, truth be told, I would have preferred either of those names to Mirage if only for the reason because that particular name was used long ago and far away for the Autobot Spy; Mirage. Strike me as old fashioned, but I just prefer original names over rehashed ones. Except in the case of [Beast Machines] Scavenger, but that's another review.

Vehicle Mode
Mirage resembles a futuristic Indy car. Mostly a greenish-blue with some yellow in spots and gray highlights, this Vehicon is decked out for action. Along the rear spoiler are a total of four missiles, two that are stationary and two that, by rotating the tips away from robot head, cane be fired by pushing on the rear of the missiles. I find this a nice feature in that you don't have to worry about springs wearing out, though having the plastic break is a possibility if one isn't careful.

Trasnformation
Normally, I would go into the transformation between vehicle and robot. However, Mirage has a rather complex transformation for his size and I doubt I could do it justice. There is a feature not documented in the instructions though. The laser gun that sits atop his head in robot mode can be removed and placed into either hand. Thus, Mirage is the only Vehicon (or Transformer in general for the current line) to be released with a hand-held gun.

Robot Mode
As a robot, Mirage stands 4 1/4" tall (slightly higher with the gun atop his head). His lower legs are rather long which makes him look a little odd. There's also the matter of his robot head. While it looks fine, the joint it sits on is different than most. It's positioned on a ball-joint that can also slide forward and back. If you have the head positioned toward back, so he faces straight ahead, there is a thick, yellow neck that just looks out of place. When positioned forward, he looks as though he's staring at the ground a few feet in front of him.

Overall
Other than the odd legs and neck, Mirage is a solid toy with lots of fun and potential. The only thing I can think of to caution against would be the hand-held gun which smaller children could choke on.

Reviewer	ViceGripX
Date	October 31st 2001
Score	(7 out of 10)
Reads	6661