Y’all have no doubt noticed that I’ve been dipping into the older ChangeFormerBots in order to supplement my Transformers Thursdays. That’s because I’m sitting out most of the current wave of Combiner Wars, which gives us new takes on some of the 1984 Autobots. I am, however, picking up two of these guys and I thought I’d check out one of them today. Yes, it is Mirage!

Here’s the packaging and I’ve got nothing new to say about it, other then it comes with a reprint comic and if you’re expecting Mirage in it, you’ll be disappointed. So instead, let me take this time to say that I went with this new Mirage just to see if it might stand in for my Classics version. Don’t get me wrong, I really dig the Classic version, but I also wanted a bit of a chunkier version in my collection. Which version of Mirage will prevail and reside on my Classics Shelf? Let’s press on and find out…

Yes, Mirge is a repaint of Combiner Wars Dragstrip and as far as the vehicle mode works it’s a slam dunk. Indeed, this car actually works better for me as Mirage because it’s missing the extra wheels from Dragstrip’s original alt mode. The coloring here is also a lot more appealing to me and the toy looks gorgeous with the white and blue deco. Damn, the blue plastic they used here sure is pretty! You also get a little bit of black paint in the cockpit and a nice coat of silver paint on the spoiler. The nose of the car features an Autobot emblem and “62” and the side panels feature “62 Circuit Racing.” I maybe would have enjoyed having a little more in the way of decals, but what’s here is good. Yup, in terms of alt modes, I am totally in love with this toy as Mirage.

In robot mode things get a tad more iffy. Iffy but not entirely off. Again, the colors look really nice on this figure and the arms and legs actually work perfectly fine for me as Mirage. Obviously, the biggest departure from the original Mirage design is the chest, which sports the combiner post recessed into it. Again, it’s not a deal breaker for me, and the Classics version of the character didn’t really match up to the original either, so I’m willing to give it a pass. It’s just that with some of the ingenious engineering Hasbro has been doing with shared molds these days, it’s almost criminal they couldn’t find a way to have his back land on his front. Sure, you can turn his head and bottom half around and try to fake it, but the front of the car sticks out too far and the arms are still wrong. I’m chalking it up to the fact that this is already a combiner and has too much going on to be messing with that kind of cross-figure engineering.

Hasbro did supply Mirage with a brand new head sculpt and while it looks perfectly fine when viewed normally, when I get in real close and, OH MY GOD, WHAT’S WRONG WITH HIS NOSE? It looks like he got punched one too many times. Damn, Hasbro, how’d you muck up Mirage’s face so badly?

Mirage comes with a combiner foot/hand piece, which I won’t be using and also the gun-sword that came with Dragstrip, this time cast in grey plastic. Nothing else to say here… moving on.

Turns out I really do love this figure and it works better as Mirage for me than I thought it would. But am I going to swap out Classics Mirage on the shelf with this figure? Honestly, I can’t decide. On the one hand, I do like the bulkier and more G1 feel of this guy. On the other hand, the svelt body style of the Classics figure meshes nicely with Mirage’s ninja-like sneaking abilities. Chances are, I’m going to end up leaving Classics Mirage where he is and keep this guy with the Combiner Wars figures, but it’s a huge credit to this figure that it’s such a hard decision.