Transformers War for Cybertron Kingdom Cyclonus review

Galvatron immediately stepped on the scene like a mega boss inn Transformers: The Movie. It helped that he had some instantly cool backup in the form of Scourge, The Sweep and his right-hand Decepticon, Cyclonus.

It was Cyclonus whom Galvatron hitched a ride to Cybertron to deal with Starscream and Autobot City to take care of Ultra Magnus. It also wasn’t a coincidence that Galvatron dispatched Cyclonus to shoot down the fleeing Autobot ships.

In the dark days of the cartoon when Galvatron went crazy, it fell on Cyclonus to keep him and the Decepticons together. I mention all this to state how important Cyclonus was to the Decepticons making him an essential member of the post Movie roster.

Cyclonus got his War For Cybertron upgrade with the Kingdom line. While it’s not the Studio Series 86 presentation like most of his counterparts this was a key addition to my collection and one I’ve been looking forward to opening. Let’s see if Cyclonus soars or crash and burns.

Packaging: The Kingdom setup is not ideal for collectors hoping to get a good glimpse of the figure. In a move to be more environmentally conscious, Hasbro reduced the plastic window to a tiny portion. That’s enough to make out Cyclonus’ head and part of his chest.

While a worthy initiative, I’m going to be seriously annoyed if I miss obvious issues like missing accessories or botched paint jobs simply because I can’t see with this new packaging.

There’s a large portrait of Cyclonus in bot mode and a smaller drawing of him in his futuristic jet mode. The left side features a collage of the various characters released under the Kingdom banner. On the back it’s a standard shot of Cyclonus in both modes and a “threat”/head’s up about the steps involved in his transformation.

Likeness:  Cyclonus was sleeker than Scourge while having a passing resemblance to Galvatron with the arrangement of the face lines and framing. His crown piece helped to distinguish him a bit and his forearm wing blades also gave him more unique elements. Unicron built his Decepticons with a subtle sense of uniformity and I approve.

The paneling and layout of Cyclonus is solid. I like the bulkier gauntlets and boots. They help to tease how his alt mode comes together without being so obvious.

Alt Mode: While a lot of The Movie cast had weird futuristic takes on vehicles, Cyclonus’ alt mode was easily understood as a jet with some forward-thinking design elements.

The execution of the jet mode is solid although the side panels don’t sit flush against the cockpit as smoothly as I’d like.

Transformation: Cyclonus’ transformation is not simple as he clocks in at 34 steps. As always, the included instructions are helpful to a point and then it’s off to YouTube to find a better step by step break down.

Scale:  Like Scourge, Cyclonus should be taller than most of the other Decepticons although Cyclonus is even taller than Scourge.

They should be the same height based on their cartoon/movie appearances. He’s noticeably taller than Kup, Hot Rod and Blurr.

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Paint:  I’ve always dug how the main three Movie Decepticons stuck to a similar color scheme of purple to really double down on the faction logo color.

Cyclonus has a more lavender shade with darker elements on his forearms and feet. The orange in his mid-section and waist was properly applied.

As always, I wish Hasbro would just paint the eyes instead of relying on light hitting them a certain way. Under regular, non-focused light Cyclonus’ eyes look a little dead.

Articulation:  Cyclonus moves pretty well. He doesn’t have razor wings like Scourge to work around making for a smoother and more fun figure to pose.

Cyclonus has:

• neck
• bicep
• ball-jointed shoulders
• elbows
• wrists
• wrist hinge
• torso
• waist
• hips
• thighs
• knees (double-jointed)
• ankles

Accessories: Cyclonus comes with his grey blaster.

It’s got a good amount of detail with the circular barrel and the raised stock(?). The original version didn’t have any color so it’s hard to knock that although a darker grey wash would have been nice.

Worth it?  Cyclonus is a voyager class figure so he’s slightly more expensive at $30 figure. His larger scale helps explain the cost and the value with this line still remains solid.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Cyclonus is a really strong figure that’s fun to transform and makes for an essential Decepticon in the post-Transformers The Movie collection.

Where to get it?  I’ve seen Cyclonus several times at Wal-Mart. He’s getting harder to find in stores as of late and he’s rapidly selling out online. You can always try Amazon but BigBadToyStore currently has him in stock as part of a bundle.