Yeah, OK, here we go. I'm a sucker for Movie and Season 3 characters, so a new Cyclonus is the classic no-brainer and/or cause for celebration. While I was (and still am) happy with the 2009 version and his rereleases, this one is bigger, more cartoon-esque, and can control/steal other limbs with Special Powers. OK, I'm in! The cool thing about this is you're given blanket permission by the packaging via story to build any combiner you want - sure you can do it anyway, but rarely is this sort of "be creative" part supported by the story. There are rules, and usually those rules are "buy these 5." This sort of thing is smart, mostly because it might actually inspire people to buy whatever leftover limbs are on the shelf rather than just look at the store and go "I can't buy the whole set at once? Well, screw this." (Collectors can be suckers for rules.)
It's a fun toy - you get a character you probably love, with a vehicle mode that looks more like the original toy and/or cartoon (and is less gappy), plus he has a big gun. And he's $25, which is about what the older ones will cost you out of the box and missing the Targetmaster companion.
As with Silverbolt, Cyclonus is a 7-inch tall robot mode with 19 points of articulation. The toy is close to a chunky version of the original cartoon design, minus the gun. It's just Silverbolt's two-piece gun and shield, but in a silver color that scares me about future crumblage because I worry about that sort of thing. Cyclonus is nicely articulated and is surprisingly the exact same engineering as Silverbolt, but with numerous new parts. The arms, thighs, and lower torso are pretty much the same but everything else is new - the head, the "shins," his chest, and it's a beautiful thing. It's also the biggest Cyclonus to date, which is nice because the last Deluxe one was also unusually tall.
Transformation is nothing special - The nosecone folds down, the arms tuck in, the legs contort, and you've got a decent mishmash of the cartoon and original toy design. There's a gold set of windows, some silver on the nose, and dark purple, ah, "highlights" throughout. If you want a Cyclonus that doesn't look gappy in the ship mode, this is it. You have made it - and if my doomsday prophecies on toys after their 30th birthdays hold true this may be the last one you see. It doesn't do much - a couple of wings move, but that's about it.
One.shtmlect of the transformation is something I haven't seen in a while - you have to take it apart. There are a couple of tiny wings which serve no real purpose other than as leg decoration in robot mode, and you must remove those from their 5mm pegholes to get him in jet mode. As a jet, they plug in to the bottom of his fists to add a little garnish to the space jet.
As far as I know the torso mode - Galvatronus - is not in any of the comics (yet). Maybe it never will - I don't like the idea of Cyclonus going back to full-on Decepticon evil mind controller given his role in the comics, but it makes for a great toy idea. Combiners are usually some sort of team, and teamwork is an underlying theme. Galvatronus says "nope, now I'm going to look like Galvatron and I'm wearing those dudes as pants and that group as arms." The packaging says the configuration is Skydive, Air Raid, Dragstrip, and Breakdown but the bio just says to grab anybody. The toy is convincingly Galvatrony, with the head's crown and the red "abs" on his lower chest. It's a totally new take on two characters, plus the Silverbolt engineering is just damn good. The story ideas that a toy like this represents are really fun, but the big question is if we'll ever see it in the comics or cartoons - probably not with Combiner Wars winding down, but who knows? It's worth noting the little forearm fins become shin fins in this mode, and yes it still looks weird. I wish there were more limbs to use with this guy, but maybe we'll get some later. With 5 torsos and only 14 limbs, we need another 6 just to deck out the current crew. And if the rumors are true, we may get them.
Your enjoyment of this figure is probably directly proportional to your sense of whimsy. For those who hate toys and prefer Masterpiece toys, unlicensed or otherwise, this is probably a waste of space. If you're a toy guy or gal, this is a gift from above. A G1 vehicle mode with a decent robot mode and a totally different existing character as a combiner, this toy offers you numerous options for what is essentially a repaint with new parts. Hasbro does a lot of nice work on lines like this, and giving us new things to spark our imaginations isn't usually one of them. I would strongly advise grabbing this item if you think you like the idea of it, and if you don't perhaps you should reconsider it if it ever goes on sale. I still want another new Cyclonus, someday, but this is one of those things that sound more like an aside you hear rejected in an art book than a thing you can actually own. I'm enjoying it.
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