I got some United toys today from Japan!  One of them was Windcharger versus Wipe-Out.  I already have a Windcharger, so the United one went immediately on eBay.  Go bid on him!  I kept the Reveal the Shield one I already had 'cuz I like rub signs.  Bidding started at $5 and the auction lasts five days.

Wipe-Out was the real prize!  He's so awesome I'd buy Windcharger twice.  I talked about Wipe-Out's origins in a previous blog post, which is totally linked right here.  Suffice to say, he was a character made up for the Marvel stories.  Why Japan-the-land-of-no-Marvel-Transformers-comics is doing him I have no idea, but I'm incredibly grateful all the same.

It may amaze you, but Wipe-Out is Windcharger in black and blue.  To my eye he has two fewer paint apps than Windcharger, missing the paint around his grill and the vent on his hood.  (Neither of those are necessary here, so I don't miss them or anything.) Instead of the flat black painted windows Windcharger has, Wipe-Out has glittery blue painted windows which look very nice.

But mostly I'm stoked that this is a friggin' Wipe-Out toy.  And suddenly I neeeeeeeeeeeeeeed an original Trypticon.  Man, Metroplex got reissued, so I demand Trypticon be next.   It's kind of weird having Wipe-Out be sycophantic to some dude that's shorter than him.