G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra opened this week and while it’s getting pretty terrible reviews — the consensus seems to be that it’s a little better than Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but that’s not saying much – we figured we’d take a look back at the favorite toy/cartoon series of our childhoods. As far as we can remember, we never actually owned the Silver Mirage, but that doesn’t keep us from appreciating its ability to conduct both clandestine re-con and light attack missions; the latter greatly assisted by the cannon and pair of missiles mounted on the sidecar.
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Released as a toy in 1985, the Silver Mirage had room for three action
figures and came equipped with the two hand grenades and a protective
fairing in addition to the aforementioned weaponry. We can’t quite
figure out if that little back fairing is intended as armor or
aerodynamic aid, so we’ll just assume that it’s totally awesome at
both.
A neat amalgamation of period motorcycle design – we can see a lot of
Honda and Yamaha Seca 650 influence, but mostly it’s a Silver Dream
Racer rip off — the Silver Mirage was used in both the G.I. Joe comic
book and animated series before being discontinued in 1987. Most
notably, it helped Lady Jaye defeat the evil Dr. Mindbender when he
ambushed a Joe training mission. The original Silver Mirage toy
retailed for $3.29.
via YoJoe.com