Cyclonus is another figure that can either look fantastic or terrible, completely dependent upon which mode you have him in. Cyclonus' spaceship form is just questionable. It's hard to see exactly what it's supposed to be, and even when it become clear that it's a ship, it's still ugly. There are just too many parts, strange angles, weird wing protrusions, and an overall unpleasing shape. Messy is the word I'm looking for I think. His robot mode's design is really quite the opposite with its sleek lines, thin proportions, and attractive angles. I don't even want to get into the scale issues with a spaceship that is smaller than a jeep (Autobot Hound) within the same line, but his robot mode is a little taller and imposing compared to other Universe Deluxe Class Generation 1 figures I have. Moving on to the technical aspects of the sculpt, Cyclonus is pretty strong. He has a lot of nice details in both forms, including technological looking grooves and circuitry, landing gear with little wheels, hands with individual fingers visible, and windows worked into the spaceship. The tabs that lock into other parts for his transformation all fit well and hold their positions, and the sculpt generally leads itself to a smooth transforming process. His face is crisply done with sharp lines and a wry expression. His smile looks evil and mischievous when posed next to his downturned eye slots. Nightstick (his accessory/partner) is naturally not as well done, but still features some details and a clear face sculpt. He looks good in both forms.  

Sculpt Score: 8 / 10

 There aren't a whole lot of paint applications on Cyclonus; he's mostly just molded in the colors you see. He has dark red patches and stripes in a few spots that are painted, as well as his forearms and head, which are actually cast in gray and then painted purple. It's not an exact match to the molded purple parts, but it's pretty close. The red is applied cleanly everywhere except on his right shoulder blade, where some has smeared off and streaked. The silver paint on his kneepads looks good and so do the purple areas on his forearms and head. I couldn't spot any splotches or nasty spots and even his decal is very crisp and centered. His eyes are molded in a translucent red that allows light to shine through for a cool glowing effect. This complements his color scheme well, which isn't terribly attractive, neither is it ugly. The purple is dark enough to avoid looking gaudy, and the brighter silver accents look a little toyish, but okay when paired with the more dirty gray areas. The big problem for me is the massive color matching problem on his thighs, where the color shifts in a very noticeable manner. All in all I think there are four shades of gray on this toy, which is pushing it a little too far. Nightstick is mostly molded too, though his tiny little face has some nice clear applications. 

Paint Score: 6 / 10

 Cyclonus' articulation is only a factor in his robot form, because nothing really moves during his spaceship form, except for some landing gear that drops down. It almost feels like the ship is articulated though, because it's kind of difficult to get it to fit together smoothly, often bending at the middle or at the wings. In his transformed state he has decent, although not spectacular posability. Cyclonus has swivel/hinge shoulder that offers less range than a standard ball shoulder, hinged elbows, swivels just beneath the elbow, sort of hinged wrists, ball hips, cut thighs, hinged knees, and finally a swivel head. This is enough bare bones articulation to find some neat poses and add a little life to your robot, but nothing super dynamic is going to come out of this figure. His shoulders really have very little movement and that's a big restriction. All of the joints are in good working order and are plenty tight to hold his weight, as well as his accessories. On that note, Nightstick has swivel hips and shoulders along with hinged elbows in his robot form. It's not a lot, but they could've skimped completely, so it's nice to be able to do a little with him. Neither figure's joints interfere with the look of their sculpting, and in fact just make them look a little bit more technological and robotic. 

Articulation Score: 7 / 10

 

 Hasbro got one thing right all those years ago, and it's still holding true today; Transformers are just fun. Cyclonus benefits from the long established action feature that is transformation. Although his spaceship form is questionably cool, the act of turning him into a robot of destruction makes this toy an instant joy for real kids, or those of us just kids at heart. I will admit that his transformation got a little frustrating when I tried to do it without the guide the first time, but upon successive attempts it got much easier. Cyclonus has a unique design that's appears lean and dangerous, comes with an accessory (that also transforms), and has a pretty decent articulation model to boot. All of these elements add up to a lot of enjoyment, especially if you already love Transformers, have a little nostalgia welling up inside you for G1 figures, or just like robots who hold guns that are robots. There's nothing frustrating about this toy and there are so many things that keep you coming back for more, meaning he's as fun as they come.  

Fun Score: 10 / 10

 I'm having trouble properly assessing this category. While I purchased this toy for less than $8, it's now ranging from $10-$13, which is a really big swing. He's about an average sized figure in the 6" range of toys, and even at $10, he's relatively reasonably priced. His production values are much higher than some toys, and he comes with a very interactive accessory. It's also clear that it takes a lot of time to design and implement a transformation for each of these toys, so everything seems to be pointing towards a strong value. He even seems really resistant to breakage or wear. Despite all these positive categories, I still don't think this is a $12 toy. There are some noticeable paint and color issues, as well as a hideous spaceship form. You'll just have to use your own judgment here, and if you're a big Transformers fan or love Cyclonus, then he's definitely for you; otherwise it's going to be hit or miss. I'm going to go against my gut and still score him high, because he has all the necessary components to be worth your money.   

Value Score: 8 / 10 

Summary

 8 - Sleek and attractive robot design, busy in spaceship form, lots of details, face is well done in an evil look, accessory looks good with surprising amount of detail, sculpt functions well in transformation. 

 6 - Color shift problem on thighs, some slop on the shoulder-wing, a couple too many shades of gray, clean decal and applications for the most part, nightstick looks good, color scheme isn't good or bad. 

 7 - Just enough points for display/play, but not any extra, everything works smoothly, looks good with sculpt, a couple limited ranges of movement.

 10 - He transforms!, his accessory transforms!, lots of articulation, fun bio on packaging, cool design and style.

 8 - Some paint and color issues and an ugly neutral form hold Cyclonus back from a perfect score, well made, durable, includes accessory, should be fun for a while to come.  

Overall Score: 78 / 100 - This is a Good Toy

Cyclonus may not have the strongest paint job or articulation model, but he's fun to play with and that alone makes him a solid action figure.  

P.S. This could be the figure I'm giving away this month, just leave a comment for a chance to win (if it's the one).

-The Articulated One