Name: Cyclonus
Series: United
Allegiance: Destron
Alternate Mode: Cybertronian Jet
JET MODE
Height: 5cm Length: 17cm Width: 15cm
A transparent purple jet, he's a repaint of Universe/Henkei Cyclonus, which is also purple. The shape is similar to the original. There are actually two shades of transparent purple here - the wings, engines & nose are a slightly lighter shade of plastic. There are transparent red windows on the cockpit and some silver detailing on the nose, but really Cyclonus is all about transparent purple here. There are no Decepticon logos visible here, just as on the regular version. While there's no doubt that this is meant to be Cyclonus - the purple cements this fact - the colour scheme is rather boring.
This toys is based on Cyclonus in the cartoon. The wings sweep forward with forward sweeping fins at the back of them, just ahead of the thrusters. The shape is still is quite close to that of the original toy, but the needle nose and red windows are based on the animated version of the character.
Sadly, Cyclonus isn't very stable. The wings are a bit of a mess - they unclip too easily. The rear section doesn't _quite_ clip together properly, and while it looks okay, the fact that it floats around hurts because if you pick the toy up and the back moves a little, one or both of the wings will then unclip. The needle slides away as part of the transformation, but there's no internal notch to keep it fully extended - so if you brush it against something it'll push in with only minimal contact. All of these are fairly minor engineering issues in themselves, and really should have been addressed, but combined they make this vehicle mode far less stable than it should be.
The play value here is decent, aside from the loose nature of the vehicle. Nightstick plugs into a hole just behind the cockpit and looks pretty good there, since it's the same spot the original TM Cyclonus sported his weapon and this weapon adds some much-needed silver to the colour scheme. There are false wheels which can retract - one under the nose and two under the rear section. Unlike some modern plane Transformers, Cyclonus is still stable on the table with the landing gear stowed.
A promising vehicle mode with some nice play value but a boring and kind of obnoxious colour scheme holds this mode back. It's also quite unstable - and needlessly so. The wings and needle would have been very easy to shore up and while the rear section would have taken more work, it's something that could have been fixed before the final release. Overall this is a forgettable vehicle mode.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Detach and set aside Nightstick, if attached. Stow the landing gear, if deployed. Slide the needle in (you can just push it in, of course). Unclip the wings, lift out the panels above and below on the back, pivot them back and plug together to form his boots. Lift up the cockpit, fold the nose away and close the cockpit. Rotate his head, fold out the feet and heelspurs, stand Cyclonus up. Clip the floating wings onto the sides of the torso to form shoulders, extend the forearms, flip out the fists. Fold the chrome wings back behind his upper arms, attach Nightstick if you wish.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 15.5cm Width: 10.5cm
A transparent purple robot with silver paint on his face, collar, waist and kneecaps. Cyclonus has red eyes with a red lightpipe (a nice touch on a totally transparent toy), some red painted details on his chest & a purple stamped Decepticon logo on his chest. His forearms and thighs are composed of that lighter plastic while his kneecaps and feet are painted a solid (matte) purple. The lightpipe is a really nice feature and this colour scheme isn't anywhere near as barren as the jet mode, so Cyclonus's colours work nicely now.
For all the failings of the vehicle mode's engineering, this robot mode is very stable and carries pretty much no kibble. Sure, the wings sit behind the upper arms but this is a deliberate tribute feature. The head is very much Cyclonus, the bodyshape is good, although his legs are a shade skinny. The only kibble here is in the form of two transformation struts on his hips, but they blend in well (even more so on this version, since everything's purple).
The play value here is excellent. The wings can sit facing inwards as on the G1 toy or pointing up and out as on the cartoon. Nightstick can plug into a hole in Cyclonus's right fist or you can fold away either fist allowing the gun to plug directly into his forearm, as seen on the Headmasters cartoon, where the Targetmasters actually fuse with their partners. His poseability is good - the head turns while his waist is fixed. His shoulder swing and lift out to the sides while the elbows are hinged with rotators above them. The wrists are fixed but as mentioned you have Targetmaster options. By the way, the "cartoon" configuration gives his shoulders a wider range of motion, since the wings sit further out to the side, whereas the "toy" configuration has them overlapping his torso. The hips swing and lift out to the sides while the knees are hinged with rotators. The rotators are mid-thigh and the thighs are quite angular, so turning the boots too far will look bad, but Cyclonus still has a wide range of poses. The feet and heelspurs can both fold down, and he's quite easy to stand in dynamic poses.
An excellent robot mode with great play value, an inventive lightpipe and a very strong tribute. The colours work well here and the transparent purple works regardless of the limited nature of the toy
The options in his wings and gun really please me - while I prefer the "cartoon" wings and Headmasters style gun, the fact that TakaraTomy gave us the options at all says a lot about the design of this toy.
NIGHTSTICK
A transparent purple and silver gun, Nightstick is 6.5cm long. There's a notch at the back which plugs into Cyclonus's wrist. The transformation is fairly standard Targetmaster, with the top twin barrels folding down as legs and the longer, lower single barrel ending up on his back. The twist is that he has feet that fold out - something G1 Targetmasters never had. The silver forms the three barrels of this gun mode, which means his robot mode legs are painted silver rather than transparent. His face is painted red. At 5.5cm tall, he's about standard height for a Targetmaster. The hips and shoulders swing while the elbows bend, giving Nightstick poseability well beyond that of any *master in G1, and better than many G1 toys, period.
VARIATIONS
None that I'm aware of. He was exclusively available in a three pack with Scourge & Galvatron, only through e-Hobby, making variants unlikely.
OVERALL
The robot mode is excellent and works well on this repaint, Nightstick is an excellent sidekick and the transformation well thought out. The jet mode is somewhat limited on this mould, and really fails to inspire thanks to a overly bland (and somewhat annoying) colour scheme - it's not awful but it's dull and needs more to make the purple work. The robot mode is only as good as the retail Universe or Henkei versions - 7.5/10
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