TRANSFORMERS MP-26 MASTERPIECE ROAD RAGE REVIEW
From TFWiki.net: Road Rage (ロードレイジ Rōdo Reiji) is the bodyguard/advisor of Cybertron ambassador Crosscut. She is well-versed in alien cultures and generally cheerful, making her a very good diplomat. However, a chronic short-out in her vehicle mode causes her to live up to her name; in car mode, she is a snarling, swerving speed machine with little regard—if not utter contempt—for anyone else on the road with her. This is pretty embarrassing for her once she reverts to robot mode.
Up for review is the Transformers MP-26 Masterpiece Road Rage action figure. This figure was released by Takara Tomy in late December of 2015 and was a mass release in Japan. This figure retailed for 7,560 yen (about $70.00 USD).
This figure is originally based off the Takara's Diaclone robots toy first introduced in 1982.
The back history on the original is pretty extensive as the original car robot was issued in a red color and was recolored in blue to be used in the popular Transfomers line as the character, Tracks.
While the blue Tracks had a mass release in the North American market, there are some copies of a red Tracks in Transformers packaging that were available for the European market. The 1985 artwork that traditionally appears on the back of some Transformers packages, also depicted Tracks in a red color scheme instead of blue.
When Takara began reissuing some of the original Transformers in the early 2000's, they also released repainted versions of the figures as exclusives with some of them based on their Diaclone colors. Takara also included tech specs biographies to give the figures backstories and to incorporate them into the Transformers G1 continuity, including Road Rage
So, the history of the red Tracks has come full circle with the recent release of Masterpiece Road Rage. To also note, this is the first time a female Transformer has been released in the Masterpiece line. I'm hoping this paves the way for future female characters down the road.
PRESENTATION
Road Rage comes in the standard Masterpiece style box with its basic black design and similar graphics to previous Masterpiece figures. This version is designated with MP-26. The Masterpiece figure is pictured on the front of the box with both his robot and vehicle modes being shown. The front of the box also has the licensed Chevorlet Corvette car company logo along with text describing the vehicle mode for Road Rage. In this case, she is a Corvette Stingray C3.
On the back of the box, Japanese text is shown along with several more pictures of the figure in both modes, with pictures demonstrating some of the features along with her accessories.
FIGURE
Once removed from the box, Road Rage comes in vehicle mode inside her plastic tray along with her tech specs biocard, instructions manual, and some accessories.
In robot mode, the figure stands about 7 inches from head to foot. If you add in her back piece in robot mode, she gains another 1/2 inch in height.
In vehicle mode, the figure measures in length about 6 inches from front bumper to back bumper. In flight mode, the wing span measures about 5 and 3/4 inches.
DESIGN
Road Rage is a heavily retooled and repainted figure of the Masterpiece MP-25 Tracks mold. While the vehicle modes are virtually the same, most of the changes were made in robot mode to give Road Rage a more feminine look to the figure.
Like Tracks, Road Rage has a very slender look in robot mode with many of the parts being retooled. Those parts include a completely new head & face sculpt, collar, biceps, hands, waist plate, and thighs. Some of the parts were made to appear thinner or rounded to convey a more female look.
Road Rage still retains a lot of Track's recognizable features including the overhead missile launchers, large wings from the flight mode jutting out behind each shoulder, and the large flaming autobot logo adorning the hood of the car.
The windows on Road Rage are done in a slightly tinted translucent plastic to help hide some of the robot bits in vehicle mode. They're a little darker than Tracks, and it does a nice job breaking up the mainly red color.
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PAINT
Road Rage is mainly done in red plastic with some minor paint applications. Most of the applications are done silver, white, red, light blue, and orange Road Rage also has two Autobot symbol tampographs with the flaming symbol on the hood of the car, and the other on a flip panel located on her chest. The chest symbol can be flipped over to hide it in vehicle mode.
Overall, the paint apps are well done, but minimal compared to Tracks. I state that, because the main body for Tracks has been painted with a blue metallic flake paint. This gave a Tracks a premium look that I really like to see on the Masterpiece figures, and I feel Road Rage would have benefited with similar red paint applications. The red plastic color just doesn't pop as well when comparing the two.
ARTICULATION
Road Rage sports a good amount of articulation with at least 26 points counted including the ball jointed head, shoulders, elbows, arms, wrists, fingers, waist swivel, legs, thighs swivels, knees. and feet.
The arm articulation can be limited due to the way the back portion of the car attaches to the upper back of the robot mode. Along with the wings, these can press against the back of the shoulders hindering their movements. Also, the chest tabs into the shoulders at an odd angle and can pop out when moving the arms.
TRANSFORMATION
Road Rage transforms into a Chevorlet Corvette Stingray C3 vehicle. The transformation is somewhat straightforward, as it mimics much of the transformation with the G1 figure. You mainly flip up the back top of the vehicle to reveal the arms and wings, the side doors fold out and tab into the back of the figure, the hood of the car splits in the middle while folding out some panels to reveal the legs & feet. and the head flips out from underneath the chest of the robot mode.
Like Tracks, Road Rage sports a flight mode. The arms and wings fold out to the sides of the vehicle into her flight configuration, with the arms tabbing into the sides of the car. She also has tailfins that unfold from the back of the vehicle to give her a more aerodynamic look. Missiles also unfold from the back underside of the vehicle mode, and her laser ram accessory can attach to the front of the vehicle. To add to her arsenal, the plasma discharger rifle accessory can attach to the underside of the vehicle.
Some observations about the transformations: When placing the head in robot mode, I noticed the base of Road Rage's head doesn't lock into any particular position. With Tracks, there is a point where the base of the head will lock into position and will stay that way. While not being floppy or loose, the head can still move in and out of position, when trying to pose it.
ACCESSORIES
Road Rage comes with some accessories including a Twincast boombox accessory, 2 sets of side mirrors, plasma discharger, and the laser ram.
One advantage that Road Rage has over Tracks is the plasma discharger rifle accessory. This accessory is a homage to the original accessory that came with the G1 Tracks toy. Many collectors were hoping Tracks came with the weapon, rather than his small pistol. Takara Tomy played it smart by including it with Road Rage making the figure more attractive to collectors if they wanted to give their Masterpiece Tracks a more "toy" look.
Also, be sure to remove any excess plastic when removing the side mirrors from the sprue. The side mirrors may fall out of the side doors, if there is excess plastic on them and can easily fall out. I'm glad extra side mirrors were included.
QUALITY CONTROL
Overall quality is good with tight joints and good paint applications (for the little that is there). I would say more about the shoulders not locking in well, but I believe that is more of a design choice, rather than a quality control issue.
Once back in car mode, everything tabs in nicely and securely.
OTHER FEATURES
While compatible with the flight stand that comes with Masterpiece Tracks, Road Rage does not come with one. Instead, Takara Tomy is now offering a similar stand to purchase that can be used with Masterpiece Tracks, Road Rage, Ironhide, and Ratchet.
OVERALL
Your mileage may vary with her. I didn't get that "premium figure" feeling, like I did with Tracks due to the lack of paint, and the flaws of the mold stood out more because of it.
Still, I would recommend Road Rage if you are either a completist or a Diaclone enthusiast. I am both, so she'll go nicely with my Diaclone team!
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