“The powers are darkness are a more powerful weapon than all the toys your science can muster!” …Mindwipe! As a kid, I only got to know him from “The Rebirth,” but man did I love him. He talked like a Transylvanian Count, could mind control his adversaries, and he turned into a freaking robot bat. Sadly, I never owned the original G1 toy, but now after all these years, I’m finally getting a brand new version of him from Hasbro. Needless to say, I’m excited!

Let’s not waste a lot of time on the package, eh? He comes carded in his robot mode, but I’m going straight for the bat mode.

Meh… he’s OK. He is indeed a robo-bat, but I’m sorry to say not a terribly exciting one. There just isn’t a ton of play-ability to this mode, nor are there a lot of display options. He’s designed to pretty much stand there on his little bat feet with his wings spread. The wings are hinged in several places, thanks to the transformation, so you can fold them in towards his body, but that’s about it. The head is designed to look straight ahead, so getting him into a flying pose where he’s looking ahead of himself instead of down isn’t going to happen. There also aren’t any really exciting places to plug in his weapons in this mode, which is a first for this line.

There are, however, some rather impressive sculpted details on this figure. The wings have a lot going on with textures and patterns. The deco is quite attractive too, with a lot of those prime Decepticon colors, black and purple, and a little reddish-brown mixed in as well.

And that face! Awww, he’s so cute! The bat head sculpt is great, even though it’s cast in a soft plastic, and I adore the hinged lower jaw with the tiny silver teeth. I just really wish there was some articulation in the neck.

Vorath is your typical little head-changer robot. He’s got articulation in the knees and hips (even though his legs are fused together), as well as in the shoulders and neck. Looks like Hasbro isn’t painting these guys at all in this wave, and that’s a real bummer. I can barely tell which side of his head is supposed to be facing front.

Mindwipe’s cockpit is in the center of his chest with a translucent purple door that hinges down. I have to say, I really dig the way Vorath sits in him like he’s controlling a giant bat mech. And GOD-DAMMIT! His head is turned backwards in that picture. I didn’t even notice it until now. Thanks again, Hasbro for not painting faces on these anymore.

Fortunately, Mindwipe’s robot mode makes up for the somewhat lackluster bat mode. At least, it does as far as I’m concerned. The transformation features a few cool things, like the way the wings roll up to form his legs. The lower legs are a bit bulky for the rest of the bot, but I still really dig the overall look of this guy. Once again, the color palate is fantastic. Lots of purple and black, a little of that brownish-red, and his knees have some beautiful silver grills on them. As far as color schemes go, this is pure Decepticon goodness.

Sure, he has a bat head hanging off his back, but otherwise, he’s surprisingly free of bat-kibble. Even the stubby wings on his shoulders are faked out and just there for show. They also have a lot of cool details sculpted into them. The soft plastic wing tips don’t peg in too strongly to form the backs of his legs, but it doesn’t really seem to effect the stability of the figure.

And what Vorath lacks in paint apps on his robot mode, he makes up for by making a fantastic head for Mindwipe.

Mindwipe comes with two weapons. We’ve usually seen them by now, but since I don’t really like any of the places to plug them into his alt mode, I haven’t busted them out until now. The first one is a sort of claw-blade-shield-thing that plugs into his forearms. This is the piece that can also double as a gunner station for Vorath if you sit him in it and plug his other weapon in. There’s not much use for it on this figure, but you can plug it into one of the other guys if you’re into all that kinky robot part sharing, ya freaks!

The other weapon is a simple gun.  This thing is pretty cool. It’s compact and looks great in his hands.

Do I sound disappointed in Mindwipe? I dunno. Maybe I am a little bit. I wouldn’t rank him up there among the best in this line so far, but he’s certainly not among the worst either. I think I probably expected too much out of the bat mode, which is perfectly serviceable, but not nearly as fun as some of the other alt modes I’ve seen in this line. Still, I think the robot mode washes away all sins. Mindwipe looks great in his robot mode and he’s a decent homage to his G1 namesake. If I want something a little more substantial and sophisticated, I can always turn to my Sigma-L from Fansproject. In the meantime, this guy will look just fine on my expanding Titans Return shelf.