Transformers Legacy Cyclonus

         Recently my partner took an interest in Transformers comics, and naturally I will recommend More Than Meets the Eye/Lost Light to everyone forever, which lead me to re-reading a good bit of the comics myself and... well.  Not that I needed the reminder of why I love them so much, but it was a refresher.  I'd never grabbed a Rewind for Chromedome, so I snagged one loose from a recent set, but then I also went looking for a Cyclonus that I liked.
         Were there plenty of random loose figures?  Oh, sure.  But none of them were right.  And then I stumbled across this recent release which is just a slight recolor of Kingdom Cyclonus with bonus shiny stickers... but...  No, the stickers weren't the deciding factor, it was the whole thing; I love that meeting point between classic G1 and a slightly new take on a form.  Plus I've definitely seen the IDW upgrade bits and will probably snag a few when I can.

        This is my first experience with the actual full plastic-free packaging.  I will give Hasbro a lot of very deserved shit, but I am going to give credit where it's due and say that I am a big fan of this.  I'm a child of the 1980s, I love me some window boxes, but I got a bunch of very clear pictures of the figure inside this box and ordered it online, there's no reason to have a plastic window.  I also genuinely love the artwork on the outside, especially being on good quality sturdy cardboard.

        ...Nothing could have prepared me for how hard I was going to laugh when I opened the box, though.  No further comment.

        The back!  Of the bulk of  the packaging!  The only thing I have to throw away was the tape!  Very easy to pull off, wad up and toss.  The ties are also paper.  They are so easy to unwind.  This was absolute bliss all the way through.

        ALL OF THIS CAN BE RECYCLED.  ALL OF THIS WENT TO THE RECYCLING BIN.  That is so amazing to me.  So again, good fucking job here Hasbro/Takara.

        And because there are two optional stickers, I got to keep two Decepticon icons for myself.  I am pleased.  Also the instructions and the stickers were the only other things in the box.  They are just regular stickers, but they are also the "work very fast and be as accurate as possible because those are not coming off" variety.  ...I did find this out with experience, yes.

        But he looks good with the stickers, right?  Even if the one on the upper right thigh is just a hair too close to one of the other sliding pieces when he transforms, hence a little nick taken out of it, but... toy stickers.  Played with condition.  Mine.
        And also guns and "action pieces".  His little robot companion who turns into a gun is named Nightstick.  Additional amusement for me.

        I had to transform him into a jet to get the rest of the stickers on, so the opportunity to take pictures immediately presented itself.  Always enjoy the landing gear, but the vehicle mode in general is pretty slick.  My only real gripe is the knee joint that lead to the nicked thigh sticker in the first place; it could be new plastic that needs some breaking in or a tighter joint than expected, but it was extremely unreliable in when it would actually catch correctly and slide into the leg and when it would just.  Be aggravating and force me to try again.  Everything else locks into place pretty easily, so it's a minor gripe thus far.

        His jet form would be awful purdy without the stickers, but I liked the little extra accents way too much too leave them off.  Decently solid and the silver plastic doesn't have that extremely severe "swirly pigment" effect that I've seen on a lot of Beast Wars and later figures.  Different plastic in general, I'm guessing, and there are tabs!  Things that fit together!  Not much guesswork as to when things are aligned correctly!

        He will be killing you now, I guess.  The eyes are super effective with just a little bit of back lighting, and he looks like he wouldn't know a good time if it punched him in the face, but maybe that's his idea of one.  Very sturdy, as one might expect from this body type, though I may have to tighten up his left arm just the slightest bit since it droops a little if held at certain high positions.  This is less of a complaint than it is me being me and needing very specific dumb poses to be held.

        Also, let's just take a closer look at Nighstick.  This poor dude.  Either he's still walking off a terrible impalement or he was just always very clearly designed to be a gun and with not much else in mind.  I mean, he looks happy.  I guess.  As happy as Cyclonus looks..?

        Actually, from this angle he does look the slightest bit happy.  At least smug.  I did my best to place that Decepticon sticker exactly where it belonged, but if it's slightly off, no it's not.  I was also trying to see if he can cross his arms and not... really.

        This one just came out looking a bit rude, so I kept it.  You can only kind of see the edge of the joint just below the knee joint that keeps giving me trouble, but from this angle maybe it's just an issue of plastic needing to slide against plastic that's still new and tighter/less flexible than it should be.  Whatever, he can stand up, it's a success.

        Ass: none.  Negative ass.  He is owed ass.  Screwhole joke goes here.

        He can sit, which is always a bonus to me.  Nightstick can also sit, but I enjoyed showing off how one gun can technically carry another gun much bigger than he is on his back.  We have a lot of fun around here.

        And finally, well.  They all deserve their happily ever after, okay.  Whirl included.
        Cyclonus has that thing, whatever it is, where the transformation feels good despite those damn knees.  It's not overly simple or needlessly complicated, the joints and pieces allow for a little jostling to get things into place without breaking or popping anything out of joint, and he just looks great.  ...Even if I'll probably get him his IDW horns at some point, because... I like them.