About time we had one of those here again.  

It's funny: I have all those Windchargers lying about at home, but I don't think I ever really made a review of either of them. Well, today I got a very nice specimen from Mr. H (thanks, man!) and figured I might as well review this one. Alas, no pictures available, but feel free to head over to Ben Yee's site, and read his review (with pictures) here. My specimen is not quite as worn as the one in his pictures.

History
Windcharger was part of the very first line-up of Transformers figures from 1984, and fall into the minibot category alongside Bumblebee, Brawn, Huffer, Cliffjumper and Gears. Like his brethren, Windcharger originates from the japanese Microman subline called Microchange, where he was available in Japan in 1983 and named 'Trans Am'. The funny thing about Microchange toys is that they are all 1:1 scale -- i.e. he is a little toy car that turns into a small sentient robot, unlike his human-scaled TF counterpart.

'Trans Am' is part of the 2nd wave of Microchange minibot designs, which is evident by the quality and design of him: The big plastic wheels (as opposed to the rubber ones from the previous three releases of pre-Bumblebee, pre-Cliffjumper and pre-Bumblejumper), the lack of diecast parts (do.), very non-humanoid face designs (do. again) and the lack of resemblance to ChoroQ cars (do. yet again; aka Penny Racers).

The very first wave of TF Windchargers are very close to the Microchange version. The only difference is the change of stickers; 'Trans Am' had no vehicle mode stickers and a square blue/gold chest sticker design. Early Windchargers have no blue/gold chest stickers, but an Autobot symbol on the hood and on the torso. Other than that, the toys are identical, down to copyright stampings and color shade.

For some reason, when Hasbro decided they wanted to add the rub mark to their TF toys in 1985, they also decided to remake Windcharger in a slightly darker color of red. My version here is the early brighter, more orangy-red version, and has the Autobot sticker on the hood rather than the rub mark.

Car mode
I just love this car. I have a weak spot for sports cars, and also a weak spot for red. So Windcharger is the best combination for me as possible. The vehicle mode is a bit deformed with very big wheels and a very wide wheelbase (and I think the trunk section is modified as well), but other than that has a very close resemblance to the 1982 Pontiac Firebird (Wikipedia pic here).

The black parts of his rear window, the front window and the sunroof is a nice contrast, and the chromed grille is a very nice detail.

Robot mode
A very simple and Micromaster-like transformation sequence later, and you have Windcharger's robot mode. Possibly one of the most modified character designs, the toy really doesn't look like his cartoon and comic appearance at all. I prefer the toy look personally, as he really looks like a robot with the non-humanoid face. The grey of the torso adds a new color to the toy, and the chrome legs really stand out as well as the silver on the mouthplate in adding some diversity in appearance.

All in all, I would give this toy 9 out of 10, especially in his lighter-red pre-rub mark version. It's a cool little car with lots of nice details (like the chromed parts and all), and fun to play with since the transformation is so quickly executed. Takara could have gone more overboard with the design, though, and added rubber tires and some diecast as that would have made him a perfect G1 ambassadeur. But then again, he was supposed to look like a little toy car to begin with (in his pre-TF days), so all in all they did pretty good.

Around the world...
Windcharger is probably one of the most variant prone molds out there. Besides the colorchange from the stickered 1984 release (which is basically identical to the Microchange version) to 1985 rub mark release, there's the even darker red keychain reissue from 2002. Add to that the grey BotCon UK release named 'Rook' and the japanese 7-11 black keychain versions of that keychain, and you've barely touched grounds with variations...

Mexican toymaker IGA made 3 versions -- one in red, one in white and one in yellow (the last 2 because that's what IGA felt Tailgate should look like...); Brazilian toymaker Estrela made 4 different version -- 2 in red and white respectively in 1985, and then 2 in either purple or dark blue in 1987; Antex in Argentina made the yellow and blue ones commonly seen on ebay, and then there are undocumented peruvian releases plus the french Diaclone version, and then who knows what...

It's a very tough hunt, as the "weirder" ones are very rare and far between (you think Lucky Draw toys are rare? Think again...). I have been very fortunate with a few of my Windchargers, but I don't think I will ever get a complete line-up of them all. But I definitely enjoy the challenge of trying to, as I have found a very nice little niche for myself.  

That was a very well written and informative review that sets the bar high for our upcoming review section. Absolutely stuffed with information, but short and readable - just the way I like it. But it is USELESS WITHOUT PICTURES. At least give us a link to the 82 firebird, willya? Go ahead and edit it But yeah - awesome review. Except calling a firebird a sports car is kinda like calling cider grand cru Champagne. There are no sports cars in the US

Thanks!


* Grumble, grumle...* Well, okay. Done.    I really wish I could add some pictures of my own, but alas...


I'm a complete idiot when it comes to cars. The only way I can tell a few car makes apart is because I was 'brainwashed' as a kid by my father. Who cares if the americans don't know how to make a proper sports car? It's still an awesome design and it sure ain't no hot rod!  

Question for all who read this:
I would like everyone who reads this to honestly say whether they were told anything they didn't know beforehand or not in the review. I would very much like to be a little educational in my writing, and if what I have already written is common knowledge to begin with, I need to do more research.

Thanks, guys and gals.

What do you call Corvette, Dodge Viper and Vector then?

EDIT: Thanks Martin! Your review was very informative. It's nice to see that a single figure can have such a wast variation.

What's Windcharger review score for toy,mold,transformation,appearance ?  

Btw do you have the brazillian white and grey windcharger ? I've seen a yellow one too, but don't know where its from.

Oh yeah -- completely forgot about that. Will add...

Permission to to be brutally honest?

Technically it's very well done and full of little snippets of infromation -> excellent history of the toy. Too bad not all (like me) are that interested about the little guy. If you add more information there's a danger that it's too "full". Even now your text reads more like an article instead of review.

One possible solution would be to add a new chapter.nice
"Little facts aka did you know this about Windcharger?
-Currently known amount of variations is X.
-In the paint of Mexican versions there's a dangerous amount of lead. (IIRC)
-Writer of this review has about %50 of known Windchargers in Nordic countries.
-etc."

How to improve (aka what I wish to see in reviews ).
-Begin with the explanation why you're writing the review, what the toy means for you. You can't assume that everyone is interested in the subject. Like in all texts you should get reader interested about subject, and then starting with history isn't the best solution.

-Pictures. Sorry but without pictures review is almost useless, unless reader has the toy in hand. Straight linking to other people's or site's pictures (BWTF in this case) is IMO bad violation of net etiquette. At least I'd be pissed off if someone did that without asking permission.

-Even brief mention of what kind of Windcharger character appeared in comic/cartoon/anyothermedia. Large part of Transformers success is the, occasionally, strong characters toys have in stories. I know you're mostly toy collector, but there's a difference between "Windharger, small red car that had magnetic powers" and "that small red car that appeared early in TF line".

Edit: After writing all those not-so-positive things I'd like to add; hopefully you don't/didn't take my text wrong way. I honestly think that your review is one of the better reviews I've read.

Please do!

You points about suggested sections are well argumented, and I should definitely have added the "what this one means to me" section. And yeah, it's more of an article now with all the info... but I like that kind of info in reviews/articles.

About the pictures: I am removing the links again. It is indeed bad netiquette to link to them... I wish I still had a camera avaialble so I could make my own, hence the links in the first place.

As you say so yourself, I'm a toy guy. I'm not that familiar with Windcharger's character in either the comic or the cartoon (I think I even mention that), and therefore doesn't reflect much of that. But being a secondary character I don't think it matters much, IMO -- if it were Prime or Wheeljack or somesuch, I would definitely have added some more character info.


That was mostly a case with the diecast toys, but I'm not sure whether it would be the same with the paint on non-diecast parts... hmmm...

LOL... yeah... I have 39 in various colors and forms...  


Thanks. And don't worry about the bluntness -- it's well-meant and well argumented, so it's quite alright.  

Perhaps we could help each other by taking photos of the toys that have just been reviewed. That way we could work together to build up a database of illustrated reviews here on the website. Unfortunately I'm unable to help, since I still don't have access to my collection...

I would love to help with taking pictures. Unfortunately, I don't have this specific toy loose anymore.

If/when we get the review forum started, all my pictures are naturally free to use for reviews.

Can't help in Windcharger case though. Most of my G1 stuff is at the moment packed away.

ah.. my soul mate

I have a thing for the "basic" colors, like red, blue, black, white, yellow... don't really know how to categorise it... colors like orange, purple and green don't fit in my good book, for instance. You figure it out...

yup.. i like dark red, red and blood red , and red car with black stripes on the sides .. but, i loathe pink.. YACK..!!

some shades of blue are also interesting.. but pink.. YACK..!!

Hey! Pink is pretty... and so is Barbapapa.

 NOOOOOOOO..!!! *runs screaming away* ooh..  my eyes my eyes..  AAAAARRGHHH..!! it burns.. BURNS..!!

What do you have against Barbapapa?

pink