G.I. Joe vs. Cobra - Mirage

I’m sure at this point that everyone is tired of hearing me rant and rave about the 90’s and subteams and the underestimated worth they are given by legions of Joe fans…well, too bad, there’s more to come! 

As folks who have read my Mega Marines profile know, I thoroughly enjoyed and still enjoy that particular subteam in the G.I. Joe mythos.  While I don’t think I can ever fully integrate them into my Joe continuity I do love the sci-fi/military mix and fully intend to at least mention the Mega Marines in an upcoming Dio-Story.  I’ve always thought the molds worked well and the characters used were very cool and wished that more G.I. Joe fans gave the Mega Marines a chance.  I really think a few things doomed them from the start…their bright neon colors, their “Play-Do” body armor, and their designation as “Monster Hunters”.  Really, if you take all of this silliness away, you’re left with some very capable soldiers in some fantastic high-tech gear who use this strength and endurance enhancing equipment to battle evil.  It’s really a cool premise if you think about it, and once that the U.S. Military is currently investigating.

But how does this all fit into my G.I. Joe mythos?  Well, an upcoming Dio-Story called New Blood, Cold Steel will explore the whole thing with G.I. Joe and Cobra fighting for the plans for a new Exo-Suited soldier, more powerful and advanced than any soldier in history.

But, I digress this is, after all, a review of the 2002 Mirage figure from Wave 1.5. And since he is this high on the list, I’m sure you know by now that I really, really like this figure! He has so many potential uses and will definitely see some light on my battlefield.

First of all, let’s talk about his mold it’s the same mold as the original Mega Marine one, and since Mirage was my favorite Mega Marine, I am thrilled that they decided to release him as his own figure! The mold is bulky and absolutely riddled with detail. From the armored vest, gloves and cybernetically enhanced legs, to the headband, plethora of grenades and see-through goggles, Mirage is the epitomy of what Hasbro can do with a great mold and some color changes. Rather than the blue/red and gray swirl of old, this Mirage is all green, black, and brown, taking this futuristic mold and lending some credence to it by adapting to some more military colors. The silver of the metal portions of the legs is a muted, washed silver, not too bright or anything and all of the colors are dark and deep enough without being too much so.

Mirage’s large, solid mold makes him look like someone to be reckoned with inside or outside of his armor, and he has a great selection of weapons to choose from. He comes with Big Ben’s heavy machine gun as well as the scoped rifle that used to be General Tomahawk’s and both weapons suit this weapons specialist well. His backpack belonged to the 2001 Zartan and looks much better on Mirage’s back than it did on him!  I cannot get enough of how cool his head is in general, with the goggles, headband and mouthpiece all working together to make the soldier of the future!

As if all of this stuff wasn’t cool enough, this version of Mirage is quite reminiscent of the Devil’s Due versions of the Greenshirts, special ops soldiers training to one day join the G.I. Joe team.  So you could physically take a whole group of Mirage’s out on patrol with the Joes and make them a whole Greenshirt squad! Do some head swapping, or even just some hair coloring and you can have a whole squad of technologically enhanced Joes to battle Cobra with. Helps make you feel not so guilty about buying about 10 Vipers if you at least have something else you can do with the other half of the two-pack. All in all, this version of Mirage is definitely a cool one, and I hope it will encourage more Joefans to explore the Mega Marines of old and see exactly how cool those figures were.