Here we have Firage in his neatly spot-on Ferrari 458 Italia, an alternate mode HasTak are seemingly cursed with never getting the license for given it's exclusive ownership history with Mattel and now Maisto. While the entire altmode may not be 100% 1:1 with this being unlicensed given its third party nature, it's only a Ferrari logo close to passing off as an official item. The general shape is definitely closer to the actual car than what we had with the Studio Series version, from the overall design of the front end to the rounder profile, and that's not to mention the design of the rims being spot on to how they were on an actual Ferrari. That being said, all of the car is molded red plastic, which a coat of paint could have helped elevate the altmode as it stands. Not that what we have looks bad, per se, but given the price this thing went for, especially compared to the HasTak equivalents we would get down the line, I would have loved seeing a more premium touch on this toy. At least the separately made headlights beat having molded ones like on most toys, and the inclusion of rubber tires when all HasTak MPMs don't have them at least gives him a collector-friendly edge.
In general, the altmode is gorgeous as one would expect the actual Ferrari to look, and I have little to no complaints with how this turned out beyond the need of an additional coat of paint as well as an extra bit of weight. I'll get more into the overall quality later, but one extra thing I like is that the rims have a sense of being layered compared to everything being molded as a single piece like in the average Hasbro Transformer.
For a size comparison, here he is with the Studio Series version of ROTB Mirage, just for a throwback at how we nearly made these two the same character just because some media called Dino as "Mirage". While the scale between these two altmodes is great, one must keep in mind that this is meant to fit in with your Masterpiece line instead of your Generations-scale figures, or your original Bayverse trilogy-era Deluxes...
...and that brings things to the first red flag: his scale with Bumblebee. While a Camaro is normally going to be slightly bigger than a Ferrari, it's not meant to be this extent! As a result, this means Firage is likely going to be smaller than Jazz, when a Solstice should be smaller than both a Camaro and a Ferrari.
Transformation is very complex as one would expect for an MPM-style figures, but perhaps he is too far in the spectrum given his size. While there have been figures that are reasonable with their conversion level combined with their size, Firage is far too intricate for a toy with a scale comparable to a 2010 Deluxe. To give him credit, I like that the wheels on the hood are able to shift the stars of the rims outward, and his use of the actual car parts for the chest beats the faux alternatives we had with Unique Toys Red Dasher. However, one thing I need to raise as a red flag is the plastic's cheap quality. It's not bootleg quality, but it is closer to a lesser tier model kit than something meant to be tactile. Add to that is the smaller scale of the components making up this figure, which are either too frail to last long or very dependent screws to adjust how tight or loose some joints can be for transformation. I also have to sadly report that part of the backpack, the part that holds the rear bumper and part of the rear windshield, broke off at one point because the plastic can't withstand much pressure. The area that the part I'm referring to was previously pinned on two close yet separate hinges, with a gap in the middle for the windshield to slide down. Those hinges aren't thick enough to tolerate any pressure from slightly flexing the toy, and combine that with there being very little wiggle room because of its size for a figure as frustrating as Hybrid Style Prime (the G1 version). And it sucks to say all this because the robot mode is generally good when it comes to movie accuracy. Beyond his chest sticking out more usual, this Bunblebee-esque design was given much better justice than what HasTak could offer back in the pre-Studio Series days. I especially love how segmented and compact the back manages to be for a figure with this kind of engineering despite feeling thin. I kind of feel like Alien Attack might have been inspired by the level of engineering used for MPM Bee while designing Firage,
His head sculpt is also very accurate, though to be fair, all of the Dino figures we had with the 2012 Cyberverse Legion and the Movie Advanced exclusive, both of which were retooled from Sideways. Honestly, a heavy retool of Bumblebee with a genericized sports car shell would have worked, but even HasTak failed that with Stinger in AOE. As for the articulation, the head, shoulders, hips, and ankles are on ball joints, biceps are on swivels, elbows are double jointed, wrists rotate, and each finger is individually articulated as they came on sprue trees out of the box (they do come apart pretty easily, though). The waist rotates, the knees are double jointed, and the thighs are on swivels. As he is posed in his iconic "on the ground, por favore, and stay there!" kneel, you can attach his underslung arm blades, which can swivel on their pegs and utilize 4 hinges each to adjust them for battle or neutral modes. They may appear slightly oversized on this figure specifically, but at least the paintwork is exquisite as one should expect from a third party figure.
He also has some grapnel claws with bendy wires implemented! If you have some Dreads for him to go after, then this will be great to recreate for the highway chase given there should be an MPM Hatchet unofficially in the works. The claws peg underneath the forearms while the wires closest to the base are held by his hands. Not a perfect integration but it still works for this figure in general.
And the robot mode size comparison SCREECHES to a halt as we look at how undersized he is next to Bumblebee! While he was shorter than the yellow fellow, it was only one foot shorter in relation to human scale, not their own robot scale! He's closer to the height of Jazz even in robot mode, when the first lieutenant should be shorter than both of them! That'd be like having a G1 Lambro being shorter than Wheelie despite the Minibot clearly designed to be smaller than both!
There is a 4th party upscale out there known as BS-01 Dance of Death likely by Black Mamba, and it further enhances the sculpt as well as coat the red in paint rather than leave it in bare plastic. For a Ferrari, that helps it pop even more, but if I get my hands on it, Firage will be an anomaly. Sure, he's got a cool bot mode and altmode, and the transformation isn't terrible, but the scale is too short for regular MPMs, and the plastic quality is too thin for a figure this expensive. Not even the older Deluxes we used to get would make this figure fit in that great because he is too complex. If you are fine with this figure otherwise, be sure to get him for a low price and prepare to deal with any breakage. Anyone else should go get the upscale if they know what to expect. I hope the plastic quality is better for DOD.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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