Post by CkRtech on Dec 1, 2004 22:50:39 GMT -5
![](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/tfreviews1/Mirage1.jpg)
Sue Storm’s other brother.
Mirage added another warm, friendly type of fun to the early (pre-movie) episodes of the original Transformers. He had to face adversity caused by Cliffjumper and considered himself not to be a fighter. His name has meaning. In the cartoon, he was capable of making himself invisible in order to sneak around and spy on the Decepticons.
![](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/tfreviews1/Mirage2.jpg)
I can’t think of a better word to describe the Mirage toy than the word “bittersweet.” His color pattern is done very well with a red, white and blue scheme. Due to his transformation style, he has articulation at the waist. While this is an advantage for playability and posing, it would turn out to be his Achilles’ heel. (More on this later)
I never had a Mirage toy when I was younger. Since I started collecting, I have been through two and one half. I had a friend down the street who had one….or maybe it was just one half of him. In any case, I didn’t really get to even hold a true Mirage until around 2000.
![](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/tfreviews1/iron3.jpg)
Toy Facts:
The Mirage toy mirrors the cartoon extremely well. The spoilers make the feet and therefore cause him to be one of the few first-year Transformers to have feet that look almost normal (for a robot). He has elbow, wrist, waist, and “foot” articulation. He is proportioned well and looks good on display. When in robot mode, he has chrome on his knees, shoulders, and toes. The missiles from his missile launcher are chrome as well as his gun. Transformation takes a little tweaking sometimes, but it is simple for the most part. The face has very nice paint detail, and the stickers complement his dark blue color very well.
Disappointments:
Mirage could go down as one of the most disappointing Transformers of all time for a single design mistake. His waist, which pivots a full 360 degrees, has a pivot joint made of very thin plastic. It is extremely hard to find a Mirage with a waist which is still intact. He is usually broken in the center. Sure, there is ebay – but I have yet to find a Mirage at a local hobby shop or comic book store which has a waist still intact. So far, I have seen one Mirage with an unbroken waist when I have been in a store & that was because he was in the box. The spoilers which become his feet can break off and be lost fairly easily. My first Mirage was broken at the waist and was missing both feet. The current Mirage in my collection has been through intensive surgery and is made of a few key miscellaneous parts from another Mirage which was bound for the junkyard. Chrome wear can turn him from sharp-looking to dull pretty fast, so pray that whatever kid owned the toy before you did took good care not to ever touch the toy.
![](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/tfreviews1/Mirage4.jpg)
![](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/tfreviews1/Mirage5.jpg)
![](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/tfreviews1/Mirage3.jpg)
Collecting Mirage:
Obviously – check the waist. Be careful! It is quite possible that his waist is almost entirely broken & all it needs is one little twist to break. You may even want the person selling the toy to transform him for you. Of course, this depends on if you trust the seller or not as well. Quite a predicament, is it not? Make sure both spoilers are there. Check for chrome wear. See if his chest piece is loose. Hold him up in car mode and see if the waist or the chest piece (nose of car) sag. Mirage is one of those Transformers which tends to have his stickers misapplied. Check official images of the toy to make sure you are familiar with the proper sticker placement before you buy him. Finally, check all joints and wheels. If you find a Mirage with an unbroken waist which hasn’t been repaired, buy it! Even if there are other parts missing, you may want one with an unbroken waist as a base for building a genuine Mirage. I ended up piecing one Mirage together out of two – One had a good top and bottom while the other had an unbroken waist. With the exception of maybe a sticker here and there (I found an original sticker sheet for him too!), he is in pretty good shape.
There is no G2 incarnation for Mirage.
The copyright for Mirage is located on the backs of his legs. The rubsign is located under his right foot.
Accessories – No accessories are ultra-expensive for Mirage, but check the launcher. The clasp that holds it on Mirage’s shoulder tends to break easily.
Mirage, when in good condition, is a must-own Transformer – just like almost all the other 1984 Transformers.
![](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/tfreviews1/Mirage6.jpg)