TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:
Alternate Mode:
Additional Image:
Box Art:
Technical Specifications:
STR
INT
SPD
END
RNK
CRG
FPR
SKL

Shrapnel Clone's Review of Cyclonus

Generation: Armada
First cartoon appearance: First Contact
"Out of my way! Attack!"

"My first review for TFA, so bear with me. I was surprised to find this guy in the stores, seeing the Netherlands missed out on most of RiD. In the cartoon, Cyclonus is a total nutcase. He laughs like a maniac most of the time, and finds his own jokes highly amusing. For some reason, he sleeps a lot in his spare time. What a weirdo. "

Vehicle Mode: Cyclonus comes packaged in his helicopter mode, with his Mini-con Crumplezone in tank mode and two loose missiles. He's sold on card, unless you are fortunate enough to get your hands on the Japanese version, which is boxed (and also includes the Destruction Mini-con team). Cyclonus' primary colour is light blue. His tail and wings are mainly broken white, as are his rocket launchers. His cockpit is blue with copper-coloured windows. Purple stripes can be found on his wings, tail and nose, and his rotor and missiles are an odd shade of brown, Cyclonus is incredibly detailed in this mode. He is covered in panels, with little holes in them which represent screw-holes. Cyclonus has 2 real powerlinx-points in this mode, which launch a rocket each. He has another 2 powerlinx visible, but these are supposed to be used in robot mode and not helicopter mode. Cyclonus has room for an extra two Mini-cons: Crumplezone can transform into cockpit and plugged into the front of Cyclonus to form a more 'sleek' and fearsome looking helicopter. Members of both the Adventure and Destruction team can be plugged underneath either cockpit. When pulling a trigger on Cyclonus' tail, the helicopter blades spin around, Crumplezone's gun moves from left to right and the feature of the Adventure/Destruction Mini-con is activated. Nice! He has no real points of articulation in this mode except the spinning blade. He's a flying fortress in this mode; he has two rockets, two large cannons, Crumplezone's turret and the weapon of whatever Mini-cons you plug into him. Crumplezone is a bit odd in tank mode, but that's because the backside is an upside down cockpit. He is as detailed as Cyclonus is, with nicely moulded tank tracks and a hatch in his turret. His turret can turn around 360 degrees, and he can drive around on his four hidden wheels. He looks quite good in this mode.

Robot Mode: I'm not going to describe Cyc's transformation here, check the manual for that. Much of Cyclonus' colour scheme remains the same in robot mode. His head, however, is bright orange and has almost human features. At first, I strongly disliked this, but I've gotten used to it. His eyes are an eerie shade of green. The cockpit has become his chest, resulting in a weird kind of beer-belly. His blades and tail hang from his back. Overall, this guy looks tough thanks to his wide shoulders and relatively small head. Cyclonus has 12 points of articulation in this mode. His shoulders, which are his helicopter wings, can move up and down, his arms can bend in two places, his knees can bend, his hips can rotate, his head can look up and down and he can swivel his waist. Not bad for a bot of this size. His powerlinx can all be used in this mode; the rocket launchers, which are attached to his arms, can be fired by inserting a mini-con, just like in helicopter mode. The other two powerlinx are on his legs, and cause two guns to fold out when mini-cons are inserted. Cyclonus has no holes in his hands, so he can't use the Requiem Blaster or the Star/Dark Saber. His shoulers can get in the way when using the Skyboom Shield. Again, in this mode he can be a walking arsenal. He has two rockets on his arms, three other weapons moulded into his wrists, two guns in his legs and the weapons of the four Mini-cons you can plug into him. He looks quite nice in this mode, and can do some cool battle-poses.

Crumplezone: His partner Crumplezone is quite okay for a Mini-con. The threads of the tank have become his arms, while the cockpit is split into two legs. His turret has become part of his back, and he sports the Mini-con logo and a powerlinx hole on his chest. The legs can bend at the knee and waist, which can swivel as well. His arms can move up and down. The head, like with most of the earlier Mini-cons, is quite basic; a mouth cover and a visor. Crumplezone has an enormous chest and shoulders, in which the head is embedded. He has a nice mixture of colours: Dark blue chest, with and black arms, brown hips, light blue/black feet and orange mouth cover and shoulders.

Poseability Like described above, Cyclonus has a fair amount of joints and the like. More than Megatron and Blurr, but easily beaten by the likes of Supercon Prime. Crumplezone has about as much poseability as the other Mini-cons. The Transformers from the original series are stiff compared to Cyclonus, but Cyclonus is not as poseable as Sideburn and his Robots in Disguise brothers.

Transformation:: 6 - Incredibly simple and straight forward. The challenge is definitely not in the change.
Durability:: 8 - The helicopter blades are flexible, and aren't likely to break. I think he'll survive if you drop him from 2 metres or less. He has no ball-joints though; if you break him, tough luck.
Fun:8 - His appearance might stop some people from buying him. Chopper mode looks good, but the robot-mode might cause some people to be disappointed. The Mini-con features are nifty. One of the few helicopter Transformers, which is certainly a pro (especially with the amount of Jets there already is).
Price:: 8(US)/ 6(Jap)/ 5(EU) - I've split the price in US, Japanese and European. For $10, you get a nice helicopter, good Mini-con and okay-looking robot. Paintjob is better on the Japanese version, but it is $10 extra. You really want the Destruction team with it too, which is included in the "Japanese: MS-04 Cyclonus & Destruction Team" box, but it costs another $10 extra. Europeans just get screwed: They get the US release, but have to pay 20 Euros for it, which is about $20.
Summary: 8 - Cyclonus is a nice toy for a good price, if you live in the right place. Reasonably poseable, good colours, nice gimmicks and looks good enough. He's one of the highlights in Armada on the Mini-con department. Children probably don't want him that bad, though; there are more important figures at the same price-range, like Optimus Prime, Blurr and Hotshot, who are all heroic Autobots instead of Evil Decepticons. Cyclonus is in stores now, and a recoloured version (the green and purple Powerlinx version) will soon be available too. Recommended.