There isn't much to say about Mindwipe as a character. Like I'm pretty sure he had some Dracula tendencies, and I'm sure he was better developed in the Headmasters show, but the closest I recognize Mindwipe was with his ROTF figure being so badass and I wanted to get one really bad. With the knowledge I have today, he was what he was in Headmasters (but weirdly hated cyber bats despite being one??), and I still want the ROTF figure. He made his return in the Titans Return line, and I never got one because of how weak the distribution was, but now that he's back with the Takara Legends variant, let's see how this guy turns out!
Here is Mindwipe in his bat mode., which somewhat looks like he's trying his best to be a Batman logo. He's got a good wingspan that could flex well thanks to the hinges, and the color scheme is meant to mimic the toy's red wings, though the effect is a little less than worthy. The wing coloring doesn't match between the PVC parts and the parts painted red, and then you have to consider how clunky this mode is in general. Like it looks more like something that'd work if the head can look up or if it was a jet of some kind, but it's still pretty weird.
In terms of articulation, the wings can bend on the hinges that they have, and one thing I should mention is that nobody knows if Hasbro fixed the breaking wing issue that plagued the first version of late. Specifically, it's the PVC parts to be worried about; the wing tips are likely to break off at the hinges. It's something the materials are to blame since they're not durable enough. It's hard to explain, but the owners of the toy consider him to be a timebomb. We'll see if it applies to the other versions of the toy.
The tail can be in the back houses the gun, which is a neat way for him to defend himself.
While everyone else has cockpits in their logical spots, Mindwipe's partner, Vorath, sits inside the tummy of the beast mode. As always, these little guys look nicely details and what-not, but he functions the same as always.
The tail and gun can connect to each other like this if you so desire, allowing him to have a secondary weapon mode.
The transformation is pretty creative and makes up for how basic the bat mode is. For example, the wings become the legs, and you basically flip the body around so what was once the back now becomes the robot chest. The legs becoming arms is pretty cool, too, and now we have some faux wings for the back of the robot mode. Speaking of, it's a good design for the most part, though what makes the design feel a little more distinct from a basic robot is the head sculpt, wings, and color scheme. Some would say the legs feel like they were carried over from someone else and the chest a little plain save for the silver and the faction symbol, but everything else about it is A-OK save for the bat-head-butt.
Head sculpt is accurate to the figure design if nothing special, but the chin does make him look a little more like how it'd look for Dracula, I suppose. Articulation is the same as with every other figure I covered in the Retro Headmasters line, but he has just about the same points that Chromedome has, meaning he has a waist swivel and no wrist swivels. He can hold the gun on one hand use the shield in his forearm.
In terms of any prior uses, this is the Hasbro version of the character, with paint apps that are similar to what we got but are either placed differently or colored different. Most notably, the wings are purple in bat mode, which sums up how the differences between Mindwipe's releases are similar yet different compared to other characters. The head sculpt is a similar case, as it's slightly different from the Legends one.
This is the Legends version, named Wipe in Japan. His colors are much brighter and his wings are also red like the RH version. He comes with a Drone Partner named Servant, a repaint of Crashbash's beast accessory. He's also got a much darker bat head, and he's definitely similar to the RH version but with differences of his own.
And for any version of the mold not specifically used for Mindwipe, this is Convobat! This guy, in case you can't tell, is based on the Basic Class toy used for Optimus Primal in the old Beast Wars line; specifically, the bat-version of the character before he was a gorilla as well as from a time where the cartoon had yet to be made, meaning Optimus Primal was originally a version of Optimus Prime. He's done-up faithfully to the old design, including coming with a head that was Sentinel Prime's Titan Master, Infinitus. It's amusing to see him go from being a basic scout toy to a Deluxe figure that's more robotic. Also, he trades the shield accessory (that comes with Classics Prime repaint Magna Convoy) for two swords that came with Prime Wheeljack.
For a comparison, here is Mindwipe with the rest of the Wave 1 Retro Headmasters, and he is more-or-less in equal height with the Chromedome while being shorter than Mindwipe and Brainstorm. It's amusing that he is the only Decepticon in the wave so-far, as Skullcruncher and Weirdwolf are tormenting Highbrow in Wave 2. This guy is totally in trouble...
...unless you have Siege Apeface and Earthrise Snapdragon! While those two are much taller than Mindwipe is given that they're Voyagers, they're both HeadTitanMasters nonetheless and go well with each other. We'll see if these guys will be repainted at some point, but I'll be good with the WFC versions. As for Mindwipe himself, he is a nice addition to the line despite the questionable use of materials for the wings if they're going to repeat the same breakage as well as the derpy bat mode. This release is recommended to those that never got any version of the mold, wanted to get the Legends head sculpt, are completionists, and are fans of the character. Still, be careful with those wings.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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