Mirage Trio

The early 2000s o-ring repaints were a surprise among the new t-crotch figures. I didn’t expect to see Vipers (both regular and Alley) among the newly created figures. Among the Joes was a late ARAH figure that would make its way to many army builders’ extras bins–the good old Mirage mold.

Originating in the oft-maligned Mega Marines sub-team, he was one of the clashing-est (and that’s saying something) members in terms of outfit. When he reappeared alongside other o-rings as part of the 2000s relaunch, he sported a bit of a more subdued uniform.

I find the fellow on the left to be my favorite of the bunch. He was only available with the weird Hoverstrike RC vehicle, and can be a bit of a pain to track down on his own. I managed to snag one from a China ebay seller a few years ago, and I imagine it was new old stock, as the figure was in pristine shape. The other two figures could be found as part of two-packs along with repainted Cobra Vipers. All are interesting variations on one of the more detailed sculpts of the 90s.

7 comments

  • All three of these are great Mirage repaints. These guys showed Hasbro could get it right from to time. But, packing him with a Viper and releasing him 3 times in 2 years doomed him among collectors. The Hoverstrike version is my favorite, too. The dark green one that was released in Wave 1.5 originally had yellow goggles, too. There were pre-production figures with them. But, Hasbro changed them for the clear versions. So, it was nice to see the yellow face shield show up later.

  • I have the clear version, which is my favorite. However the goggles won’t snap on. Any suggestions?

  • Sculpt was good. The problem with the figure is those legs can’t get much “ball joint” motion at the hips. I think I snapped the crotch strip on one trying to.

  • Mirage and Big Ben got the short end of the re-release stick.

  • I think the vintage Mega Marines are kind of cool. I have Clutch and I want the others.

  • The original blue Mirage is my favorite, but of these three, I prefer the one on the left.

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