Dec 7 - Cyclonus played by Fans Toys FT-29 Quietus
Ahh Cyclonus, how wonderful to see you again!
3 years, we have all (at least for all of those that wanted FT) been waiting for this. 3 DAMN YEARS from the time the silhouette was revealed until we have gotten him in hand. Back when I bought Andras I figured Eligos would be the next logical choice but then FT dropped a bombshell or so I thought at the time. I didn’t realize how big the 3P wars were going to be where someone came out with a product, another company dropped in and then FT would drop the bomb and say hey we are doing one too. So no one buys the other stuff because they want Fans Toys (skullface voice implied) myself included (NOTE they dropped a lot of stuff lately for Q1 and but I’m not trading up anymore to expensive). That is until Takara jumps in with an official and everyone jumps into that bandwagon. Fortunately I don’t jump the bandwagon from FT to Takara (with the exception of Quakewave and I’ll never do that again).
I’m glad that Takara is doing Hound but my Willis is just fine. I don’t think I’ve had many issues with any FT product (aside from them always putting upgrades for previous figures into new ones that you have to buy if you want the parts), I love the figures although some transformations are a pain but that happens with a few other companies’ products as well (XTB I’m looking at you). So now the question is “Was this worth the wait?” I’m not sure so let’s find out. I saw a review the day after I got him and was not pleased with the transformation so I have my rum and cokes (yes plural) in hand to prepare for said transformation. He’s purrdy but that’s where it stops for me. I think they did a great job on him but he never really had much personality in the G1 cartoon (until Starscream possessed him) and even that comes through. I can’t get a feel for him at all. I guess it’s because I never had much attachment to him as a character in the carton unless he was with Galvatron. Nightstick is something else. The left leg on mine doesn’t stay together with any movement but then I’ve never really tried to pose the Targetmasters much before.
I tried the IDW incarnation of Cyclonus first but as I’ve not yet read the comics I decided to read his character fiction first to see what he was like and who he is and was quite surprised with what I read. They really did some development with him there. I don’t like the look of it and it was nice to have them include parts so you could get him to look more that way, it’s just not for me.
Having him in hand showed me I need a new light setup (actually just better diffusers) because his chest is super shiny and my lights were bouncing off him like mad so I did my best to hide them. For the transformation I would say it took about 15 minutes (25 for the pauses on some reviews) but overall finicky, not as bad as I thought and 0 alcohol required. He’ sleek, he’s gorgeous in this mode and the whole cockpit issue I don’t get. Mine seems ok to me but perhaps there is something I can’t see (technically I have to get an eye exam next year so maybe that has something to do with it). Some of the tabs needed are folded away and have no locking point so you always have to watch that they don’t move when trying to tab it in. When I think of the last horrific FT figure transformations I didn’t find it as bad as Kup, Willis and especially Arcee (damn was THAT a nightmare). Last thing about jet mode and the single biggest letdown I have come across is where the hell do you plug Nightstick in? How the hell does FT come up with all this engineering, include extra parts for another incarnation and yet somehow overlook the Targetmaster attaching in vehicle mode. Like dudes, at FT, seriously wtf is up with that? I cheated and tabbed him into the panels on the top of the nosecone because it was the only thing I could think of.
OK word of warning after I put him back into bot mode, the metal knee caps rest against the bottom of the chest and caused some minor scrapes there. Not highly visible but I can see them with no issues so not really a good thing there. Now that I have finished the gallery the trio looks solid but now find myself waiting for and wanting to see what they do with Scourge. As nice as Andras is he seems a bit out of place, not much, but just a little bit. As I’ve had a few hours to collect my thoughts I still think he’s stunning but if a figure was ever supposed to evoke personality I would give it to the IDW look over the G1, even with no connection to it, it speaks volumes IMHO.
Part 1 – G1 Cyclonus
Part 2 Alt Mode
