Mastermind Creations : Shockwave!

[Hursticon]

You know what's done it for me? The little shockwave sub.

I know eh? - What an awesome little 'Release-Reveal' he was, amazing that Mastermind managed to keep it under wraps without it being leaked!

[kup]

Disappointing that Giant got delayed again but at least Cyclops is on his way! I just got shipping notice from RK

[Hursticon]

Disappointing that Giant got delayed again but at least Cyclops is on his way! I just got shipping notice from RK

Oh sweet!
Congrats man, you'll have to do one of your photo laden reviews when you get 'em in hand.

[Trent]

Disappointing that Giant got delayed again but at least Cyclops is on his way! I just got shipping notice from RK

Good to hear! I decided to pass on this due to Menasor and insecticon goodness. So i'll have to live vicariously through you.

[SuspectimusPrime]

Disappointing that Giant got delayed again but at least Cyclops is on his way! I just got shipping notice from RK

Oh sweet!
Congrats man, you'll have to do one of your photo laden reviews when you get 'em in hand.

I'd like to see a more level review as well Like to hear your thoughts on Cyclops' torso double hook/slot/tab thing.

I do enjoy Peaugh's reviews, but it's something with the way he handles TF's that makes me wince a bit sometimes. Things tend to appear more fragile in his hands However whenever things do pass the "handled by Peaugh" test, I'm convinced of its durability

[kup]

Here we go!

After a long wait, Mastermind Creations KM-03 Cyclops figure has finally been released!

Cyclops is part of Mastermind Creations 'Knight Morphers' series which are inspired by Guido Guidi's retro 'Steampunk' designs. The story of that series wasn't particularly good but what was memorable were the new early Industrial Revolution takes on G1 characters that made it stand out!

Guidi made several designs and one of them was Shockwave as seen here:



As you will see, KM-03 Cyclops follows that design very closely and pulls it off remarkably well including the boat kibble!



Although Cyclops is superbly designed, there are some flaws that can be a bit annoying or even scary if you are not prepared for them.

Steam Boat Mode:

This is how Cyclops arrives in box with a minor mistransformation to lower the chimney down so that he can fit in and prevent breakage. This boat mode is remarkably solid and fully 'closed' with absolute no robot kibble showing!

This mode is remarkable and easily the best transforming boat mode we have ever gotten. Given that it's so solid and realistically proportioned, it easily gives you the illusion that it could float! Although Vangelus has already proven that this isn't really the case but I am sure that with some little modifications to seal up some of his underisde panels to prevent flooding, it could!

Although I am unsure of how realistic this steam ship is, it certainly succeeds in giving the illusion that it's a real design. It is realistically proportioned, has fantastic detailing and as mentioned earlier, fully enclosed overall design including the boat's hull underside.

The quality of the plastic is very good and has a fantastic shiny/metallic look. However the nature of the design does make it seem seem rather thin in some areas which we will discuss later as it mostly to do with his transformation. The molded detail is fantastic with several rivets, planks, ladders and vents molded in. It also has little fold out stands that initially seat flat to allow the ship to stand while on display to prevent it falling to one side due to it's realistic underside!

A lot of attention to detail went into this toy and due to it's fantastic paint job, molded details and excellent design, it does not really look like a toy! It could easily pass a nice and classy model ship on your living room and no one who doesn't know what it is would see it as a toy. They are more likely to complement you on the cool looking steamship model!













The steamship mode has a fair bit of play value with turning canons and paddle wheels as well as a deployable anchor which is probably not as well thought out as the rest of the ship but this is just nitpicking as it's rather minor. Although it's got an awesome looking anchor on a real metal chain, it deploys from the boat through a 'cargo' panel that opens up on the front port side which isn't very practical as it would flood the ship! There is also the difficulty of putting the chain and anchor back into the compartment as it is rather tricky and you have to do it just right or it won't close properly but it can be done with some fiddling - This is easily the most annoying part of the ship mode but it doesn't really take away from the rest of the ship so it is a minor issue but the lack of refinement does seem as if this gimmick was a bit of an afterthought.



By far the best gimmick for the boat mode is the underside compartment that opens up to reveal a little submarine! More on that later

It is very hard to find flaws on the steam boat as it looks fantastic and it's remarkably solid (and heavy!) despite all the paneling which we will discuss later. The closest thing that I can call a flaw is the way the anchor was executed and how hard it is to put it back inside with the chain but overall this is a fantastic boat mode which will be very difficult to beat!

Transformation:

The transformation is where most of the designs difficulties can be found but this is mostly due to a lack of familiarization and some 'scary' bits but overall it is very sound and as you can see by the boat mode, remarkably effective. As other reviewers such as Vangelus have mentioned, once you learn all the tricky bits, it is rather easy to transform him back and forward but you do need patience and the ability to learn it's very unorthodox engineering.

I won't go into all the details as it would be easier to watch one of the many youtube videos but I will mention the trickier parts. Out of the box, the ship mode is very solid and it can be very hard to unlock the side panels as shown in the manual but it can be done. You just need to observe the design and identify the clips on the sides right near the corners of the rectangular central structure. Once the taps are unhinged, the sides can be folded out.

Once the sides are unfolded, you need to unclip the bottom and separate both panels. This is by far the riskiest part when it comes to breakage and a couple of the clips are almost guaranteed to break although in reality they are not required and superfluous to the design . You can see them on Mastermind Creations facebook page.

Once the clips are separated and the side panels unfold, the rest is rather straight forward but note that the revealed torso can be a little floppy while unhinged so be careful. You also need to be careful with locking in the waist as people have foolishly tried to forcing the clips in without sliding them through the slots causing them to break. You need to be particularly conscious of this when transforming the waits back to boat mode.

After this, the hardest part is folding the side panels into the robot mode back which is the scariest part of all! At first it seems that the panels do not fold the way they should but actually do, you just need to 'massage them' at the joints and you will eventually get there. Once you do it once, it is much easier to do again and I haven't heard of anyone breaking it so it should be good but I emphasize that you do need to be careful here!

The arms are very straight forward and the cool thing is that the arm canon has a cool automorph that reveals the canon as you fold out the arm. The legs are also straight forward although rather panelly and do evoke a somewhat 'masterpiece' feel.

That's pretty much it for the hardest points of the transformation. Once you learn them and understand the engineering involved, there is no real flaw or problem but folding the back pack panels is very hard if you don't know what you are doing and when you do know, you have to be very careful. Certainly not a 'kid' or 'rough hands' friendly transformation. Although I have transformed Cyclops back and forth a few times now with no breakage, my heart is still in my throat while I fold those panels so be sure to look at pictures very carefully before your first attempt as it is by far the trickiest and scariest part.

Robot Mode:

Cyclops robot mode is very impressive. He stands taller than MP Grimlock and certainly has that commanding Masterpiece feel. This is probably the closest thing we will get to an MP Shockwave as Hasbro does not seem capable (I suspect legal reasons as the G1 design is too close to the Astro Magnum) and we have not seen any 3rd party taking up the task.

As mentioned earlier, the design is almost an 'out of the page' translation into plastic from the Guido's concept design including the suggested transformation sequence and boat kibble. Making that concept into an effectively working transformer toy is enough to show the huge amount of skill involved in the design and engineering of this toy showing that it's not necessarily bad to have a character model created before a toy.

In robot mode, Cyclops gets more dominant purples with the silver mostly showing on the upper body. Despite the reliance on panels during the transformation, much of it is now out of the way with the only real kibble located on his back.

Articulation is good but not great. He has good leg articulation with moving feet and the arm canon has full range but the Right arm (bow of ship) is very restricted and has low range of motion specially at the elbow. The size of it also can collide with the back pack but this is not a problem as the folded panels are on joints which easily move out of the way. The arm can also be a little heavy but if positioned properly, it shouldn't slump.

Shockwave also has an articulated hand similar to a Masterpiece but only the thumb and the index finger move individually while the rest of the fingers move as a single block although they look individually sculpted.

The arm canon which is made from the boat's chimney now looks like an menacing looking chain gun and with an actual metal chain attached! The metal chain looks fantastic with chrome black. The chain securely attaches to the arm underside to the boat's anchor which is now attached to the back. The chain does not restrict the arm movement in any way. All the arms are on ratcheting joints so he will be able to maintain poses.

The most severe design flaw when it comes to the arms, is that if you make them point up, the lower location of the shoulder joint is exposed on the left arm. This impacts the aesthetic look negatively as it seems rather odd but not too horrible plus not many people will choose to display Cyclops with the arm pointing straight up.

The legs have good articulation range but are a bit restricted at the knees so Cyclops is unable to seat but can still have great dynamic poses. The huge articulated feet also allow for excellent stability with the knees and thighs being on ratcheting joints. The waist can turn but it is very restricted so it can only rotate a few degrees.

As seen in the concept drawing, the head chosen for Cyclops is from the "Concept #1" drawing with a nice range of ball joint articulation clearly intended to make the head much more expressive despite the lack of humanoid features. As it is a bit of a trademark with Mastermind Creations, the pipelighting for the yellow eye is fantastic.



Aesthetically he looks fantastic and the boat detailing translates really well in robot mode tributing a G1 Shockwave body while at the same time looking like boat parts, specially on the upper body. Aside from the boat detailing adding a lot of personality, there is also a lot of molded gears and ratchets throughout the body. Most impressively are some really nice motorized axles molded and painted on the back of the legs giving off a really great Steampunk look.

What impresses me the most about the robot design is how a very solid and 'sleek' boat manages to become such an elaborate robot with minimal hang over kibble. Even with the back kibble, the designers have superbly incorporated it into the design by molding the joints as rockets that Cyclops could use to 'fly' and giving them some 'functionality'.



There are flaws but certainly Cyclops robot mode stands out really well and looks fantastic. Certainly feels Masterpiece worthy and sports a higher quality in both engineering and paint finish than a much more expensive contemporary Japanese Masterpice. In my opinion, there is value for money here.










Now for the main event...Mini Cyclops!

Mini-Cyclops took us all by surprise! No one expected him until he was revealed just a couple of weeks before the release of Cyclops making him an awesome bonus figure. Mastermind Creations probably noticed the popularity of the 'WST' Transformers and decided to do one of Cyclops for fans to enjoy.

This is something that was not necessary but purely done for fun which is much appreciated

As far as Mastermind Creations fiction is concerned, Mini-Cyclops is the 'real' Cyclops while the larger toy is just a transtector that he controls!

Submarine mode

As mentioned earlier, mini Cyclops stores in Submarine mode within the underside bow of the ship. Two panels open to release him from under the ship.



You also don't have to remove Mini-Cyclops from his hanger storage to Transform the bigger Cyclops. He can remain stored there throughout the whole larger toy transformation and remain inside the robot mode arm.





This little submarine mode is Legends class in size and looks more like a camera drone than a manned submarine. Unlike Cyclops, it does not have a Steampunk industrial revolution feel but more of a '1950s' Sci-fi look which is pretty cool. There is still a 'chimney' at the top suggesting that the sub is still steam powered but to me, it still looks like a very 1950s 'futuristic' design.

Like Cyclops there is a lot of detailing in the submarine surface with bolts, gears and rivets including a clever placement of the panel joint pins which pass as part of the detail on the sides. The painted front has a chrome shine which contributes to the 'camera drone' aspect of the toy. The rest of the body is metallic purple similar to that of the bigger Cyclops.

There is little play value here aside from it's interactivity with Cyclops but he does have the simple but cool gimmick of being able to turn both the propellers in synchronization!

Unfortunately the submarine mode is not as stable as it should be. The panels have to be locked in precisely by using the arm tabs or he will not lock properly. However even if you do lock the side panels properly, he will unhinge with just a bit of force as the ball joints holding them are too loose so it's very easy to pop the side panels out unhinging the whole submarine. However he can stay 'solid' enough to be playable but you have to be careful on where you grip it.

Overall, a great looking submarine that has an awesome retro sci-fi look. The biggest flaw is the somewhat instability of this mode but it isn't a complete killer as it doesn't detract too much from it but it could have been better.










Transformation

Although Mini-Cyclops is effectively a Shell-Former, what is impressive is that for a Legends size toy, he has the transformation comparable to a modern Hasbro deluxe! There is a lot of moving and twisting parts here despite most of the toy being a shell-former.

The engineering here is very clever and elaborate for a toy this size without being difficult but suffers from a critical flaw. Sadly the ball joints holding the side panels which encase much of the upper body in submarine mode are weak and are guaranteed to pop out during transformation. This is frustrating to the point that you may as well leave the panels out until you need them. This is disappointing as there is no reason for this issue. It's not the size of the figure that has caused the problem but just a design flaw of having the ball sockets too wide and shallow to fully encase the ball joint. The 'toes' also suffer from a similar ball joint problem but it's much less pronounced.

Aside from the ball socket problem, it is an elaborate but intuitive transformation which is satisfying due to a nice balance between effectiveness and complexity.

However given that this was a bonus figure and both the submarine mode and robot mode are very satisfying along with the rest of the engineering, one can easily see past the problems.

Robot Mode

The reason why Mini-Cyclops is a Shellformer is because the robot mode is actually a scaled down representation of the larger toy! This is pretty awesome as much of the design matches with all the signature characteristics present including the boat arm. It is also impressive to see the submarine propellers folding onto the side of the legs mimicking Cyclop's paddle wheels.

For a Legends size toy, Mini-Cyclops has a lot of detail which tries to incorporate much of what is found on the larger Cyclops. Particularly noticeable are the chest, the mentioned 'boat arm' and the arm canon. Impressively enough, the waist is also present including the articulated skirt to allow leg movement!

The most noticeable difference between Mini and the larger Cyclops is the head. This time around they are using the "Concept #2" head with the round 'lens'. Although the head is tiny, it looks really cool with nice painted detail and helps to distinguish the smaller toy by giving a differently defined character. I kind of wish this head design was included as an alternative head for the larger Cyclops as it is very impressive to see it in toy form although I was initially more partial to the "Concept #1" head from the concept art.

What's even cooler about this head? It's on a ball joint so he has full range of movement!

Mini-Cyclops has very impressive articulation for a toy his size. There is full range thigh articulation and good elbow range even on the boat arm but the knees are rather restricted. He also has an articulated waist which has a full range 360 degree turn.

Although he is a shell former, much of the submarine kibble is neatly folded on his back and out of the way. Despite this giving Mini-Cyclops a considerable backpack, it does not deter from the 'Mini Cyclops' look as much of the sub kibble cannot be seen from the front despite the size which does not deter from the the faux 'steamboat kibble' molded into the robot mode maintaining the 'mini' illusion.









Unfortunately like the submarine mode, Mini-Cyclops also has a couple of unfortunate flaws which are unnecessary. His shoulders are considerably restricted despite being on ball joints. This could have been fixed by just extending the ball joints a couple of millimeters. There is also the problem with the right forearm (boat arm) being very loose at the elbow joint causing it to spin out of place easily. Sadly, the shoulder restrictions severely limits the poses of the toy despite the articulated legs and turning waist as the upper body remains 'square' with the shoulders restricted to little more than a forward and back movements.

Overall this is a superb 'bonus' figure and certainly a lot better than most Legends toys out there. He is not without flaws and some of these can be severe but the satisfying complexity for a toy this size and incredibly satisfying submarine mode and nicely detailed robot mode certainly make up for it. The integration of Mini-Cyclops into the large Cyclops is also a nice boost to playability and coolness factor.

A nice little figure indeed!




Overall

I understand that the 'Steampunk' design is not for everyone and this can be a deterrent to some but if you enjoy this 'retro' take on Classic characters, you will certainly enjoy and appreciate Cyclops.

Cyclops looks as if he just popped out of Guido's concept art and is a superbly designed figure with amazing sculpted quality. The detailing is fantastic and it's impressive right out of the box with that awesome looking metallic silver and purple.

The design is tricky and you will need to get used to it to appreciate it but if you are patient and allow yourself to learn it, this will seize to be a problem. However the folding of the back panels is too frightening even if you already know what you are doing. The unnecessary taps that break on the underside hull are also annoying but not really a flaw.

Overall, certainly a design worthy of being a Masterpiece toy. I will go as far as to say that it's a superior design to at least a couple of recent Masterpieces. Certainly value for money when compared to all the Japanese MPs from the last few years due to the greater material quality and paint apps.

If you are into this Retro Steampunk designs, KM-03 Knight Morpher Cyclops is certainly a must.

[Sky Shadow]

A great and thorough review, Kup. I hope they sent Guido one.

[kup]

A great and thorough review, Kup. I hope they sent Guido one.

Thank you

I think I read somewhere that they did or attempted to do so. I can't remember where I read it however or if it's true.

[Trent]

Great review dude! Really impressive how they brought it from the design to toy!

[5FDP]

That is HANDS DOWN the most comprehensive review I have ever read! Believe me when I say that I am in awe of you right now kup. If I was attending the fair this weekend, I would shake your hand for such an excellent job