TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:
Alternate Mode:
Box Art:
Technical Specifications:
STR
INT
SPD
END
RNK
CRG
FPR
SKL

Optimus 2005's review of: Mindwipe

Name: Mindwipe
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Hypnotist
Sub-Group: Headmasters
Nebulan Component: Vorath
First Cartoon appearance: The Rebirth, Part 1
Quote: "Just one look from me and you've lost."

A mystic, spends more of his time trying to contact the electromagnetic essences of long-dead Decepticons than talking to live ones. Binary-bonded to Vorath, former Nebulan Minister of Science, expelled from office as a result of an illegal experiments scandal. In bat mode, has hypnotic stare, flies at 1 130km/h. In robot mode, uses viper pistol-shoots streams of neurocircultry paralyzing liquid.

Alternate Mode:

Mindwipe was one of only three Transformers (all Decepticons by the way) in the Generation 1 universe to have a bat mode, the other two being Ratbat and Skar. Although he wasn't shown much in the cartoon, he's my favorite Decepticon Headmaster and he has one of the deadliest special abilities, a hypnotic stare, which he uses to make his victims do his bidding.

There wasn't much difference in the toy when compared to his cartoon counterpart, unlike some of the other Transformer toys. His paint scheme is a traditional Decepticon paint scheme of purple and black, with some brown for his wings and tail, and a translucent red for his cockpit windshield into the mix. Although the toy doesn't have much movement in this mode (except for his wings and tail), his hypnotic stare alone makes up for it. He can stand still in this mode, all you have to do is position his feet in the right way. In bat mode, Mindwipe has a cockpit for Vorath. You can put Mindwipe's viper pistol in his cockpit, as long as Vorath isn't occupying it, because there isn't any space to spare. You can also make Vorath hold on to Mindwipe, as seen in the cartoon.

Robot Mode:

To transform him to robot mode, first you have to flip back his bat tail. Then swing down the two back pieces to from his legs and flip out his feet. Now, rotate both shoulders 180 degrees and swing his arms into position. Then, pull on the pegs on the arms to reveal his hands. Once you've done that, open up the cockpit and take Vorath out and swing his bat head into the cockpit. Now, just transform Vorath to form Mindwipe's head by positioning his feet at his shoulders and you're done.

Mindwipe's about 6.5 inches tall in this mode. He was rarely shown, in this mode in the cartoon. I don't know in which way his wings are suppose to be positioned, so I like to use both ways: I either keep his wings spread out, giving him a cool bat/robot look, or swing them backward, which almost completely hides his creature mode from a frontal view, giving him a more robotic look. Although his arms and shoulders can rotate 360 degrees, his legs can only rotate a bit above 90 degrees forward at his thighs and knees. Mindwipe, like all other Headmaster toys, has a mini tech specs meter in his chest; also, in this mode he can use his lethal viper pistol.

Headmaster:

There are two kinds of Headmaster toys: Ones that can't move their arms, like Muzzle and Lug, and ones that can, like Spasma and Gort. Luckily, Vorath is one of the latter. He has a bit different paint scheme then Mindwipe's, which reflects their differences in ideas and beliefs. Mindwipe is a mystic and gatherer of arcane lore, while Vorath's a scientist who seeks proof and hard facts, not mystic rhetoric. In the cartoon, Mindwipe used his hypnosis ability to hypnotize Vorath into combining with him. There was, also a coloring mistake of Vorath in which he was shown, not once, but twice, with a paint scheme of white and red.

Transformation: 6. Easy and unique.
Durability: 8. As long as you're not the type of person who likes to see if his toys can fly, you should be fine.
Fun: 8. He can hypnotize anyone he wants too! What's not to like!
Price: 8. Now, I know that he was one of the later releases of the G1 era, so he shouldn't be very expensive and not so hard to find, but after a quick visit to eBay I found out that a couple of him are on auction. One of them was about 10 US dollars, while the other was only for…1 DOLLAR?! Too bad I'm out of cash at the moment…
Overall: 8. He's fun to play with, especially if you have Ratbat and Skar, and just looks cool on the shelf with the rest of your collection.