MP-26 - Masterpiece Road Rage

We all knew that Masterpiece Tracks would be repainted as one of the many versions of the mold that have been seen before but the repaint into Road Rage was not only a repaint but a slight remold to make the figure more feminine.

Road Rage was an eHobby exclusive release from around the start of the 21st century. It was a repaint of the original Tracks molds which itself has it's roots, like a lot of G1 Transformers toys, in Diaclone. Originally some of the European release of Tracks figures were actually reboxed red Diaclone toys. But Tracks was meant to be blue in the Transformers fiction and so the oddity that was red Diaclone Tracks in a Transformers box became legit when eHobby released Road Rage.

Anyway, let's see what we have got.

The standard Masterpiece box

The Contents

The box contains the usual plastic shell to hold the figure as well as the accessories. Sadly, unlike Tracks, you don't get a nice flight stand to go with the figure but luckily most Japanese flight stands work a treat and if you are lucky enough to have bought one of Takara Tomys new official flight stands then you will be rocking a 100% official display piece.

You don't get as much as Tracks this time

Once you remove the plastic shell you get to see the contents in the flesh, as it were. The figure comes with a new weapon which is an upscaled version of the weapon that came with the original Road Rage release. You also get a repaint of the Broadcast beatbox from the Tracks figure, this time it is Twincast. Also in the package is the same nosecone that came with Tracks and 2 sets of wing mirrors which can be applied to Road Rage to complete the vehicle mode look.

Personally I would love the wing mirrors to come attached to the vehicle to begin with. Trying to get them to sit securely in the holes for them is a challenge at best and an exercise in frustration at worst.

Everything out of the box

So with everything out of the box and the nasty wing mirrors kind of attached to the figure, let's see how the camera likes it.

Vehicle Mode

Yummy. I am loving the colour of this figure. 

Zoom Zoom

From the front the mold is still as impressive as it was when Tracks was released. The bonnet still doesn't quite sit flush for me and I haven't yet worked out if that is my fault or a fault of the mold but either way, it isn't too bad and certainly not a deal breaker.

Visible undercarriage is fine by me

Side on, the figure looks lovely. The red just seems to pop and, even though is not metallic like Tracks was, is still great to look at. When you consider how average a job the red paint work on Masterpiece Sideswipe was, you have to admire how wonderful this figure looks.

No junk in this trunk

From the rear the vehicle mode looks fantastic. I love how the dark colour of the grills hides the fact that a lot of robot mode is hangout out the bottom of the car. The sound choice of colour scheme creates the illusion of the car being a lot thinner than it actually is.

Still Zoom Zoom

Another shot from the front as the camera just seems to soak up this figure and it's lovely paintwork.

Robot Mode

The transformation to robot mode is identical to that of Tracks. There isn't much to complain about it once you have done it a few times. In fact, when you become familiar with the figure you will find yourself switching modes in a couple of minutes.

Road Rage is just as posable as Tracks and also benefits from these lovely feet which are really quite flexible and able to hold a pose that balances the whole of the figure with ease.

Balancing is not a problem for this figure

Look how much range those feet have

Flight Mode

So let's discuss the sore point that is the lack of flight stand. Tracks got one. Road Rage didn't. A part of me thinks this is something to do with Takara Tomy releasing their own official Transformers flight stand but that may just be my paranoia creeping in.

It's certainly worth getting a flight stand because this figure looks lovely in that mode.

 

The Differences

Let's take a closer look at the main differences between Road Rage and Tracks.

Firstly the face has been remolded to make it more similar to the original release and also more obviously feminine.

Compare this to the Tracks face sculpt to get an idea for just how much work was done to realise the Road Rage character facially.

It's really great to see Takara Tomy going to this length to differentiate the two characters.
 
Also, the thighs have been remolded to make Road Rage's more curvy and feminine.

Whereas Tracks thighs were kinda boring and traditional for a Transformer.

Once again, it's the little details like this that really make Road Rage stand out and not just another repaint.

Summary

For me, Road Rage is a much better figure than Tracks in a lot of ways. I love the face sculpt and the remolded thighs. For some reason they seem to fit the figures better than the original Track face and thighs.

The colour scheme works as we as Tracks but I do wish the red was metallic like the blue on Tracks. That kind of finish really shines when seen through the lens.

A flight stand would have been a great idea - if Tracks gets one then why doesn't Road Rage?

Other than that, it's a buy from me. In fact it's a buy twice from me as I liked it so much I want to display one in vehicle mode and one in robot mode.

Postscript

I always take more shots than I need to let's take a look at some of them.

Broadcast and Twincast

Something is not right here

Those damn wing mirrors just don't want to fit flush for me

Road Rage and Red Bobby

You can buy Road Rage, Bumblebee Red and other Masterpieces at Masterforce

The Darker Side of Transformers #10

Transformers are primarily marketed at children with some figures and media aimed firmly at adult collectors but there are elements, from the creation of characters to manufacturing to storytelling that really aren't too wholesome. Here's a look at some things that are a little bit on the unpleasant side.

10. Bumblebee

Bumblebee has always been our way into the Transformers universe: the character is the smallest, weakest and most affable of characters which makes him easiest for children to identify with. Most adult collectors aren't big fans of the character for those weaknesses and it seems writers aren't either as the poor little guy has been riddled with blasters, been destroyed on at least 3 occasions, had his face crushed and had to walk with a cane for a while. In nature we know that the weakest of the pack is the one singled out by predators and Bumblebee is the Transformers equivalent. However it's worth noting that there is something else darker about Bumblebee.

While we think of Volkswagon Beetles as being cute cars (mainly thanks to the Herbie films), it was actually the brainchild of Adolf Hitler. With Germany's new autobahns (motorways/highways) in place Hitler wanted an affordable car available to the people so they could enjoy their new high speed travelling option. Adolf would approach Ferdinand Porsche about creating his Volks Wagen (People's Car) with strict instructions that it should be able to sustain a relatively high speed, have low fuel consumption, have easily replaceable parts to keep repair costs down and be able to seat 2 adults and 3 children. Volkswagens were to be available to the German public via a payment scheme to help people afford them.

With the outbreak of World War 2 the Volkswagen was instead used as a military vehicle (don't laugh) because it's air cooled engine made it perfect for use by the Afrika Corps and a variation was used as an amphibious vehicle. During the war the Beetle design was a status symbol driven by high ranking Nazi officers but post war Volkswagen made vehicles for the British army and finally started producing Beetles for the German public in 1945. By 1972 the Type 1 Beetle was the most produced car in the world and immediately recognisable, thanks in part to the Disney film The Love Bug, a film about a sentient Volkswagen Beetle. The Volkswagen had finally lived up to it's People's Car moniker and the loveable car was a perfect choice for the loveable Bumblebee despite it's dark past.