Two Mirrors, Not Priced How You’d Think

There is a particular unease to the dark reflection, the evil-twin moment where a hero has to fight a perfect copy of themself. “Fond Memories” is ThunderCats running that trope at full volume. Mumm-Ra’s nastiest trick here is not a new monster. It is Lion-O. The same face, the same sword, the same muscles, turned against him and literally seeing red.

If that sort of face-off feels familiar, it should. It rhymes with Luke on Dagobah a handful of years earlier, cutting down Vader in the cave only to find his own face behind the shattered mask. The lesson? The enemy you should fear most might be you. The ThunderCats wrinkle is how Lion-O actually wins. He does not out-muscle the copy. Jaga appears near the end with the hint Lion-O needs, and Lion-O angles the blade of the Sword of Omens so the duplicate is forced to look at its own reflection. The fake recoils and flees. The mirror beats the mirror.

I have wanted a proper red Mirror Lion-O on the shelf for a long time, and right now there are two of him to choose from. Super7’s Deluxe version is up for pre-order at $35. The older, fancier Ultimate, the one that lists at $55 with a bag full of accessories and a more detailed head sculpt, is sitting at BigBadToyStore at 50% off for $27.50. So the premium figure is currently the cheaper one, a pricing trick Mumm-Ra himself would admire.

The reflection trick, in dollars

Here is what actually separates them. The Deluxe is a pre-order at $35: fewer accessories, the cleaner modern cartoon sculpt, and a nice retro cardback if you keep it MOC. The Ultimate is in stock today at $27.50, loaded with swappable heads and hands, two Swords of Omens, and four Claw Shields, packaged in a larger collector’s box. Same villain, two very different figures, and for the moment the Ultimate one costs less and ships now.

The lean one: Deluxe Mirror Lion-O

Super7 describes it well: “The resemblance is striking. This mirror image of Lion-O, as a Deluxe figure, isn’t quite what it seems.” It is built on the newer, simpler cartoon-accurate Lion-O sculpt, cast in that telltale evil red, and it ships on a beautiful vintage-style ThunderCats cardback that looks fantastic if you display carded. You get a neutral head, a wearable Claw Shield, two gripping hands, and the Sword of Omens. It is the lean, clean, “one good red Lion-O on the shelf” option at $35, and it is up for pre-order now.

The deep cut: Ultimate Mirror Lion-O

“It has my strength. My cunning. It is my equal in every way.” Lion-O learns the hard way that an evil mirror image of himself might be his toughest opponent yet, and this Ultimates figure is the supercharged version! It comes in the same tell-tale red, but it packs interchangeable heads and hands, two different Swords of Omens, and four different Claw Shields. It was originally priced at $55, but right now it’s 50% off and in stock at BigBadToyStore for $27.50, which means the figure with everything in the box currently costs less than the leaner Deluxe version, and you can have it in hand this week.

Where this red devil comes from: “Fond Memories”

Both figures point back to the same scene. In “Fond Memories” (Episode 65, the finale of 1985’s Season One), Mumm-Ra builds a haunted museum of living paintings to lure Lion-O in, disguised first as the kindly Dr. Dometone. Once the trap is sprung, Mumm-Ra pulls his nastiest move: he transforms into an evil red duplicate of Lion-O himself, equal to the Lord of the ThunderCats in every way, and attacks - a duel!

Before this mirror duel, the museum throws Lion-O a gauntlet of revived foes: a living painting of Safari Joe, then Ratar-O and his rat-eyed Rat Sais, then a dose of Slithe’s warp gas that fills him with fear and sends him running. The other ThunderCats also get waylaid by old enemies, and only then does Mumm-Ra play his final card and become the red Lion-O, a transformation every kid was talking about in 1985, now immortalized in not one but two highly articulated action figures from Super7.

See it for yourself. Here is the mirror duel in motion, straight from the episode.

A couple of fun notes for fans. Mumm-Ra actually changes shape twice in this episode, first into Dr. Dometone and then into the red Lion-O: a rare double transformation for him! And this evil red Lion-O has a toy history: Bandai produced an 8-inch version as a Singapore convention exclusive back in 2012. Super7 giving it a ReAction, an Ultimate, and now a Deluxe release is the most love this single-episode trick has ever gotten in plastic.

So, which mirror reflects you?

Go Ultimate ($27.50) if you want the definitive version: every accessory, swappable heads and hands, two swords and four claw shields, and a collector’s box, in the style of the original Ultimates Lion-O. It’s in stock now and is currently the cheaper of the two. For most collectors this is the easy call while the sale lasts.

Go Deluxe ($35) if you prefer the newer, cleaner cartoon sculpt, you love that vintage retro cardback and plan to keep it carded, or you simply missed the earlier generations of Ultimates and want your evil Lion-O to match your good one, without the extra bag of parts.

Either way you are buying the same idea: Mumm-Ra’s cruelest trick made permanent on your toy shelf. The only real question is… how many Claw Shields does a cat really need?

The rest of Deluxe Wave 4

Mirror Lion-O is not the only Deluxe on the shelf. He’s part of Super7’s latest ThunderCats Deluxe wave alongside a translucent Ghost Jaga and an Old Man Mumm-Ra, the very villain who pulls the mirror trick in the first place. If you are starting a Deluxe collection, here’s the trio:

See the whole ThunderCats Deluxe range at BigBadToyStore

Where to buy

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Footnote, the third mirror. For completists, there is a third Super7 take on the red one. Back in 2024, Mirror Lion-O turned up in the retro 3.75-inch ReAction line (Wave 6), on the vintage-style cardback that started Super7's whole ThunderCats run. It sold out long ago, so this one is a secondary-market hunt rather than a preorder, but it rounds out the set.

Some links in this post are affiliate links that support ThunderCats.org. Prices and availability were accurate when this was written and can change.

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