You wouldn't think it to look at it, but this might just be one of the rarest and mysterious G1 Transformers variations in existence. This yellow Windcharger is thought to hail from Europe, famous also for the red Transformers Tracks and other Euro-only minibot variants like the blue and white Huffer sold on Pipes cards. To be a little more specific, this particular variation has surfaced in the Netherlands more than once and could in fact be a Dutch exclusive variant, but nowhere near enough of them existed in the collecting world to be certain.

First things first, this most certainly is not a knock-off, bootleg, reissue, custom or anything else questionable. It is a bonafide licensed Hasbro/Takara Transformer and that can be proved by the copyright (see later) and Autobot symbol on his chest (also later). The only questionable thing here is the colour scheme, and not because it adversely affects the look of the toy in any way, but more as to WHY he has been painted yellow.

In actual fact, I think the Windcharger mould looks extremely good in yellow. It's very striking and catches the eye immediately. Yellow tends to have that effect on any object, but catching your eye and pleasing it are two different things. This pint-sized Trans-Am does both successfully. One thing that should be mentioned though is that it doesn't fit together perfectly and snugly in vehicle mode whereas many other versions of Windcharger do. That has some significant implications that I will come onto later...

Q. Are we sure yet that this piece is from Europe? What about all those funky rainbow-coloured South American minibots? Isn't this one of those? Some say they're licensed too...

You might well be forgiven for thinking this is just the yellow Argentinian Antex Windcharger, or another of the Brazilian Estrela Robocars or Optimus vs Malignus releases, or even those really strange Peruvian minibots by Lynsa, but it's not any of those. Argentinian minibots are stamped "Antex" and Brazilian minibots are stamped "Estrela". This Windcharger has Hasbro and Takara markings. Peruvian minibots have no chrome on them whatsoever, but you can clearly see the chromed sections on this yellow Windcharger in the pics within this article. So it's not among any of those South American variants. What about a pre-transformer? The fact that it has an Autobot symbol and Hasbro markings rules that out too.

You might have noticed that yellow is not the only unfamiliar colour on this Windcharger...

The torso of a regular Transformers Windcharger is a dull grey. As you can see from the above pictures, this Windcharger has a sparkly blue torso section. This particular combination of colours works very well for me and I think it makes for a very attractive contrast, plus the colour scheme in robot mode is exclusive to this release. The Argentinian Yellow Windcharger (Camaro) has a black torso. The slightly larger-than-US Windcharger Autobot sticker on the chest is evident too.

One other thing to note in robot mode is the colour of the plastic underneath the chromed sections. Looking at the legs, you can see that the plastic is that same blue underneath the chrome paint. The regular US TF Windcharger had black plastic under his chrome legs. Overall, this is a very nice-looking toy and the colours definitely compliment what is already one of the better looking and enjoyable minibot moulds descended from Takara's Microchange series.

But what the heck is it and where does it come from??!

Well, I think there are many clues hidden in the way this toy looks and is made, and I have a theory on its origins. Is it one of the Mexican versions of Windcharger? We all know that Mexican toys were rife in the Netherlands and other European countries. And looking at Cliffjumper being released in blue in Mexico, the colour scheme doesn't necessarily have to make any sense. But the thing is, the Mexican Windcharger does not have any chrome paint on it but this yellow Windcharger certainly does. So it's probably not a Mexican Windcharger variant.

Now let's think back to the blue and white Huffer that was sold in Europe on Pipes cards, nicknamed "Puffer". That was a Huffer toy painted to look like Pipes and actually released AS Pipes, and deductions were easy to make about that piece because of the obvious intent of that colour scheme. Have a look at that "Puffer" here:

This yellow Windcharger however doesn't really resemble any other minicar colour-wise. It's certainly not trying to be Tailgate...or is it? Have a close look at the Mexican version of Tailgate here:

A Windcharger painted in Tailgate colours, typical Mexican Transformers trait. Just recolour an old mould instead of using the newer mould with retooling. This Mexican Tailgate (White Windcharger) DOES have the chrome paint, and have a look at that torso colour, it's practically identical to the sparkly blue of the yellow Windcharger! AND it has the larger Autobot chest symbol just like the yellow one in this article does. The Mexican Tailgate ALSO has trouble fitting together snugly and perfectly in vehicle mode, a typical build-quality issue experienced by many IGA-released Mexican Transformers. That's not all though, here's the Mexican version of Pipes, another Huffer painted in blue...

...but it's that very same sparkly blue used in both Mexican Tailgate and the yellow Windcharger! In fact many Mexican TFs made use of sparkly coloured paint where previously there was none on the US counterpart. Mexican Thundercracker has super-sparkly blue paint, Mexican Ramjet has sparkly burgundy-coloured wings but the US version didn't, Mexican Swerve has sparkly coloured burgundy paint as well, as does Mexican Metroplex. The list goes on.

Finally, this yellow Windcharger has the exact same copyright as the Mexican Tailgate and in exactly the same places. On the right arm it says "(c) HASBRO 1974 1983", behind the right foot it says "JAPAN 1974 1983" and behind the left foot it says "(c) TAKARA CO. LTD".

The fact that this piece surfaces only in Europe, a hotbed for Mexican Transformers, further adds weight to my theory. It must have been an extremely limited run though, and will be phenomenally difficult to find carded because it's already almost impossible to find loose! I haven't even ever seen a regular white Mexican Windcharger/Tailgate card...(you might be asking yourself what exactly is 'regular' about a white Windcharger/Tailgate...)...but I have seen a Mexican Tailgate techspec.

So there you have it. I think this is the yellow variant of the White Windcharger mould that was supposed to be Tailgate in Mexico that was exported and sold in European countries on Tailgate cards. In other words, Yellow Mexican Tailgate/Windcharger :)

The looks support it, the location where these are found supports it, the build quality supports it, the copyright kinda supports it (rubsign Windchargers ought to have the same markings so not concrete proof) and it's never been seen with a rubsign (I know of three examples so far) and Mex TFs have no rubsigns, so I think it's heavily in favour of a very rare Mexican variant.

Aside from its origins, it's a very pretty toy and adds even more interest to the huge world of minibot variations. I could still be very much mistaken about its nature as nothing is certain until MOSC examples surface, so there continues to be some mystery surrounding it. And we all love a TF mystery.

*** UPDATE ***

A short while after I wrote this article, I received an email from Ras who I hadn't spoken to for a while at the time. He had the following pictures for me after reading this article:

Well, there you have it then. Mexican Yellow Tailgate.

Many many many kind thanks to Morg for the use of his Puffer and Mexican Tailgate pictures and to Ras for his MOSC Yellow Tailgate picture, this article would have been impossible without them. Thank you!

All the best
Maz