TRANSFORMERS: Revisiting The Characters Of Generation 1 - MINDWIPE

TRANSFORMERS:  Revisiting the Characters of Generation 1

    "Just one look from me and you've lost." - Mindwipe, 1987.

DECEPTICON

Name - MINDWIPE

Function - Hypnotist

Nebulan Partner - Vorath

Series Debut - 1987 / Wave 4

Sub-Group - Headmaster

BACKGROUND...

    Mindwipe was a member of a group of Decepticons that tracked several Autobots to the far planet of Nebulos.  Forging an alliance with a sect of evil natives, 2 processes of teaming a Nebulan and Transformer were invented.  The Targetmaster process allowed the Nebulan to become the Transformer's weapon, while with the Headmaster process, the Nebulan became the head of the Transformer.  Mindwipe was selected to be a part of the Headmaster team.

    A strange mystic of sorts, Mindwipe doesn't connect well with his Decepticon brethren.  He barely speaks to them.  Instead, he spends much of his free time trying to communicate with Decepticons that are dead and gone.  

    Mindwipe transforms into a large bat with the ability to fly 700 mph.  In the bat mode, his eyes can give a hypnotic gaze, temporarily putting an enemy under his spell.  He can then make them do his bidding.  As a robot, he carries a Viper Pistol which can fire blasts of a neuro-circuitry paralyzing liquid.  

    Mindwipe was teamed up with the Nebulan - Vorath.  At one time, Vorath was the Nebulan Minister of Science.  After being expelled from his position following a scandal involving illegal experiments, the timing was perfect for him to side-up with the Decepticons. 

MY THOUGHTS...

    I thought Mindwipe was one of the more interesting characters of the whole 1987 Headmaster gang.  His ability to hypnotize his enemies could have made for some cool Generation 1 cartoon episodes - kind of like Bombshell controlling people with his Cerebro-shells.  Yet this ability was only used a tiny bit when he cast his gaze on the Technobot - Lightspeed and made him crash.  The problem was there were only three Season 4 episodes and they had WAY TOO MANY characters to introduce.  So Mindwipe got pushed aside and never got a chance to shine.

    Despite thinking he was a cool character, Mindwipe was one of the only Decepticon Headmasters I did NOT have (I was also missing Snapdragon).  I don't know... I thought these figures were a little disproportionate with one another, and having a bat as big as a wolf and ape was a bit odd to me.  

    Mindwipe here is represented by the Titans Return update of the character.  I really like this figure's robot mode.  The purple with the brown is an odd choice, but it seems to work well here.  The bat mode is just okay, it's a little blocky though.  Still, it's definitely an improvement over the original!

    I will say that I think it is a missed opportunity on the vintage and current figure to do something with the eyes on the bat, the robot, or both!!  Whether it is a glow-in-the-dark piece, light-piping, or something.  He needs something that signifies that he has some craziness going on behind those eyes... so beware!  

    (Information on the character's lore was taken from the Sunbow Transformers cartoon series, including the Movie and the figure's original Tech-Spec.)