The 2018 Fan Vote survey from Hasbro asked fans to vote on a multi-pack “vs” set for the War for Cybertron: Siege line. The choices were all great, but ultimately, Impactor vs Mirage won out. (YAY!). Why Impactor as a Decepticon? Well, he has a history of being friends with Megatron and a nasty side as leader of the Wreckers, so him falling to the Decepticon cause (even if it’s temporary) is quite plausible. A year later, the set was released:
In a surprise twist, it’s actually a THREE PACK, with Aragon, the Power Dasher retool of Cog included. Full disclosure: The Power Dashers are getting their own post so he won’t be covered here other than both Mirage and Impactor come equipped with parts of Aragon in his weaponizer modes.
The packaging here is excellent. It’s a unique box showcasing both toys with the character art of them duking it out in the center. Each side is its own clamshell too, which is neat.
But here’s the thing: Hasbro also released retail versions of both figures. So in order to keep things efficient, I’m doubling up. We’ll look at both versions in this review. Let’s start with Mirage:
Mirage is one of those fan favorite characters that never gets a lot of screen/comic time. He does, however have a surprising amount of toys. Now he gets two new ones! Well, sort of. Both figures transform the same and come with the same accessories, but obviously the Fan Vote version is Mirage in his holographic “invisible” state. He also features a new head sculpt.
Where retail Mirage has a more G1 cartoon/Comic accurate head, Holo Mirage features a G1 Toy accurate headsculpt, complete with yellow eyes.
Holo Mirage also features a ton of new detailing and “decals” that you really can’t see unless you’re up close and personal. I tried to capture some of them with moderate success. I think the most interesting decal is the “Visages” on his spoiler. Visages is Mirage’s bar on the Lost Light during the IDW continuity.
Retail Mirage features clear blue plastic as well, which I think is kind of neat, if not a bit out of place.
Mirage’s alt-mode is a fairly obvious Formula 1 car with minor Cybertronian aspects. I think the main reason a lot of these guys have such poorly veiled Earth modes is so they fit in with the Earthrise line as well, the second chapter in the WFC Trilogy, coming next year. I’m okay with it.
Comparing them to the Classics toy, I honestly prefer Siege Mirage. Classics was a unique design but I never really liked how skinny he was. I find it funny that Siege Mirage and G1 Mirage are nearly the same size in Car mode.
Impactor is the bigger draw between the two. Mainly because he’s a much more elusive character that has a more underground following due to the fact that his origin was the Marvel Comics and not the G1 Cartoon. He gained real popularity during the IDW timeline when his character was fleshed out far more as being a sort of loose cannon/walking a thin line leader of the Wreckers.
The retail version of the toy comes with a headsculpt based on his Marvel Comics appearance, whereas the Fan Vote version comes with his IDW based head sculpt. The Fan Vote version also has some additional and/or different paint applications as well.
I think the biggest point of contention here will be the Decepticon symbol on the Fan Vote version. It’s for sure my preferred of the two, and I honestly don’t mind the Decepticon sigil as it paints a more complex picture of the war where friends would likely side with other friends, but eventually change sides. Mirage is also famously known for being anti-war and has been depicted in most media as being suspected as a traitor to the Autobot cause so over all I think both characters play off each other.
Impactor transforms into somewhat generic “mine sweeper” type tank. His turret functions and his transformation is interesting and intuitive. Both toys also come with his IDW Iconic Harpoon hand, that replaces his lost right manipulator.
Unlike Mirage, Impactor has only had three toys made of him. The first came during the Fall of Cybertron video game toy line, where he was a retool of Onslaught, complete with combining gimmick.
Fun Pub also produced a retool/repaint of Combiner Wars Rook as Impactor for their subscription service, but unfortunately I didn’t pick up that wave so I had to gank this picture from TFwiki. Honestly I’m not a big fan of this one.
BOTTOM LINE
In the end collectors have a couple of options here. You definitely don’t need both versions, although I have a spot for all of them. Holo Mirage and IDW Impactor will take their place on their respective IDW shelves, where as the retail versions will be placed on my Siege shelf. I definitely recommend at least one version of each. Both are very well designed toys with good transformations, solid designs and great looking in both modes.
Pax Cybertron 