Mindwipe is a stealth
bomber. He's a bit more "teched up" and slightly alien-looking even in
his alt mode, despite having one definitely based on an Earth vehicle.
It's a rather cool, very aerodynamic look, and the "Cyberglyph" markings
on the wings rather enhance this perception. (Another cool thing about
the Cyberglyphic markings is that they're of a shade of metallic purplish-silver
that only really shines when light is directly on it-- at most angles,
it blends in almost completely with the surrounding wing color.) There's
no robot mode extras to speak of in this mode, which is pretty impressive
given the alt mode. Mindwipe is incredibly sleek, and one of the very few
aerial TFs that actually has pretty realistic proportions all around in
his alt mode. The gunmetal black used for most of Mindwipe's coloration
in this mode is a pretty nice color, and the purple helps to break it up
a bit-- that said, making the purple a tad lighter would have increased
the contrast and made him pop a bit more. On additional note is that Mindwipe
has four retractable landing gear with individual wheels in this mode so
that he doesn't just sit on his "stomach". As a bonus, there's two holes
on the top of this mode that Skystalker can
plug into in his own vehicle-- however, it really doesn't look like anything
other than, well... a drone plane sitting on top of a stealth bomber. It
doesn't look particularly great, but hey, it doesn't really take away anything
from either figure, and they go together as far as their color schemes
go, so whatever.
Despite a relatively
simple transformation, Mindwipe ends up with a very cool-looking robot
mode that flows from the vibe he gives off in vehicle mode-- sleek, dynamic,
and a bit alien. His proportions are fantastic, giving him a lithe look
without looking TOO skinny. His arms also have a little bit of bulk to
them, as well. His head sculpt is generally pretty great, with "bat ears"
giving a slight homage to his G1 namesake and a cool gas-mask mouth. His
transparent visor is also nifty, but the oddly blank stares his round optics
underneath give off looks weird. Incredibly, despite having a flawless
in vehicle mode in terms of proportions, all of the vehicle "extras" in
this mode enhance the look or meld in perfectly with his main body, instead
of hanging off like obvious kibble. The folded-up rear wings behind his
head help with the bat-like appearnace, and the main wings fracture up
and curve at in a really nice manner while also being his "Mech Alive"
feature (little "dagger-like" protrusions automatically flip out when you
bend the wings). They frame the mode REALLY nicely. The bird-like legs
are also a nice touch. His arms are also well-done too, though the flip-down
"knives" on each hand made up of the halves of his vehicle mode cockpit
look a bit odd, coming out the wrong side of his fists as they are. I kinda
wish they could've detached so he could've held each knife right-side-up.
(The knives can be stored in an "unarmed" position underneath each lower
arm, but they look even more odd like that and the lever that keeps them
in that position can let them come undone a bit too easily.) The mold detailing
on all of Mindwipe's robot parts is great, with little hinges and pistons
molded almost everywhere-- a nice contrast with the more aerodynamic-looking
vehicle parts. The color scheme also gets a lot more varied in this mode,
with a dull greenish tan and orangish red making up the main secondary
colors. The orange-red looks particularly good, and the dull tan does okay
as a neutral color, though perhaps something like silver would've worked
a tad better, in my opinion. Mindwipe's articulation is great-- he can
move at the neck (at two points), shoulders (at three points), elbows (at
three points), the waist, the hips (at three points), the knees, and ankles
(at two points). And given his large feet and generally stability, you
can get this dude in ton of really awesome poses.
Mindwipe isn't just
one of the best Transformers from Revenge of the Fallen, he's one of the
best Transformers designs period. A nice color scheme, great detailing,
incredible proportions in both modes, innovative transformation, fantastic
articulation, a unique look-- this 'Con's got it all. Very highly
recommended, even if you're not into the movie look much-- he's THAT good.
His odd knife gimmick is the only thing that keeps him from getting a pretty
much perfect rating.
Review by Beastbot