After too long in the dark, the beastial Decepticons of the Headmaster era return in the aptly titled Titans Return line and today we’re looking at the master of hypnotism; Mindwipe!

Mindwipe is a superstitious and cowardly ‘Con, the Transformers equivalent of a Ouija board enthusiast who desperately wants to communicate with the dead. Quite a macabre character bio but it soon devolves that into sitcom shenanigans when he’s paired with his scientifically-minded Titan Master, Vorath.

Mindwipe’s bat mode brings to mind the Ricky Gervais bit: Have you been over-feeding a pipistrelle? because this is a proper chubby bat. The wing span is epic and has amazing articulation, befitting of such a creature of the night. His gun/shield kibble tail is a bit slapdash though (Oh! Oh! Can we get a Titan Master Slapdash?)

Just like an evil Kinder Egg, Mindwipe has a prize inside and it’s none other than Vorath! This 1½ inch head on legs has a surprising amount of detail but sod all paint work (but that’s why people fork out for the Japanese ones) but that’s fine because it’d only get chipped in the process of inserting his tiny head into Mindwipe’s neck hole over and over again. That’s way grosser than I intended…

Vorath can ‘pilot’ the weapons in their gun… sled… configuration. My one complaint about this line is the forced inclusion of rubbish ‘vehicles’ in the Deluxe figure range.

The conversion process is lovely and intuitive, the bat wings folding into nice boxy legs while his stumpy legs unfurl for the robot mode arms. Scale-wise, Mindwipe stands at a little under 6″ tall. While that isn’t quite as big as you’d expect but for what he lacks in height, he makes up for in quality.

Ooooooh myyyyyyy! I think I might be turning robosexual with this figure because DAMN, Mindwipe looks gorgeous. The colour palette is like a pimp’s finest suit; blacks, reds, subtle browns and the same sexy-ass purple I have on my bedroom walls!

The proportions are full of satisfying chunk and tight joints. You can pull off a great range of poses but there’s no ankle articulation so his legs are constantly in a wide stance. His weapons includes an update of his trademark Viper Pistol and the clawed shield dealie which will probably end up in a box somewhere…

Mindwipe’s return to the Transformers line is much appreciated as his figure is the best Transformer I’ve messed with in a very long time and after this initial hands-on experience, I will definitely be trying to hunt down both Skullsmasher and Wolfwire to complete the trio. I want to give a super-special-awesome shout-out to Dawfydd Kelly for sending this figure to me out of the kindness of his heart though considering how now I want more, he’s more like a plastic crack pusher…

Anyway, thank you for checking out my review and I’ll catch you guys next time with another Mint in Box!

With the 20th Anniversary kicking into high gear and Megaforce toys hitting UK stores, I take a look at the Deluxe Gosei Morpher!

First up is Mumm-Ra and while he’s well sculpted and has accessories, I don’t count him as a worthwhile action figure. His articulation is weak, even by Bandai’s standards (Not that their articulation is bad, there’s just other companies that can take a 4 inch figure and articulate them up the wazoo for the same price point. Not Mattel, Mattel’s 4 inch figures suck a fat sack of–
Discussing Mumm-Ra again for a moment and you’ll see that his accessories are next to useless, barely being held. Overall, he’s just a rubbish figure and I feel bad for whoever bought this at full-price. In fact, I don’t even want to see it anymore, get it out of here!

Next up is Lion-O and Panthro, and these guys are actually more worth the money you’ll be paying out for them. Lion-O has some fantastic accessories including the claw gauntlet and dagger of omens and a sword of omens proper. His sculpted detail and paint, with a metallic sheen to his armour and a well-translated appearance from screen to toy but if there’s a downside, it’s that his head is restricted by his shoulder armour and the black plastic used for all the joints which breaks up the colour scheme.

Now Panthro is a hefty chunk of cartoonish proportions and huge fists. He’s only a little taller than Lion-O despite being a good foot or so taller in the show. His sculpting and paint is damn good, highlighting his scars and showing how battle-hardened he is. He’s got the standard Bandai articulation and–OH! I didn’t realise Lion-O had a thigh swivel too. That’s odd hehe But Panthro is a solid figure and my definite favourite.

Now we get into the ludicrous waste of money. Mumm-Ra got the shaft because his design didn’t allow for all that much in the way of articulation or playability, this thing just sucks. All of the 4 inch Thundercats toys have a unifying gimmick “Thunder Lynx” which uses magnets in the back of figures to trigger lights and sounds in vehicles and playsets. Pretty sure this is the reason why they’re a little more expensive than others of it’s ilk. And I wouldn’t mind so much but this toy is either broken or the instructions are lying, neither option gives me hope. The lights and sounds deal works fine (Only repeating the same phrase, no matter which figure you put in there) but the disappointment comes in the execution. You put Lion-O on the base, push the column forward and his sword won’t raise properly. This fails on many levels: Firstly – No button mechanism, why doesn’t this column has some spring loaded feature? In 2012, I really think this sort of thing should be handled by a spring loaded mechanism. Secondly, the figure itself, it only has articulation along the points to allow it to raise the sword in conjunction with the magnet but it doesn’t work, the joints are too stiff and that’s a damn weird thing to complain about. Overall, this particular deluxe kit is not worth your time or your money but I think the Grune set would probably see you right.

Because the Thundercats show is out of production with no sign of coming back, I have no doubt that so are the toys so if you were a fan of the show, it’s well worth looking around for these because you should be able to pick them up for at least half price. Let me know what you think of this line and the unfortunate demise of the TV show in the comments below!

Images from ThundercatsNow

Let me know what you think below!