X-Transbots Eligos (Cyclonus) Review

Discussion in 'Transformers 3rd Party Reviews' started by JPrime, Dec 20, 2016.

  1. JPrime

    JPrime Michael Bay Assassin

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    So here's my review. I'm gonna go a bit more in depth since I actually attempted to transform this guy. (NOTE: I would say I'm a "novice" transformation guy at best, but I am pretty careful)

    Accessories:

    All seem pretty sturdy, well made and well painted where needed except for the extra face. The beard is painted well on it but just like the face he comes with out the box, it just needed to be painted to bring out details of the sculpt. The small gun came apart at the area where the back portion of the barrel is located. Seems to be fine that and it's not loose. May glue it if needed.

    Truncheon's joints are very stiff which is a good thing and he looks great.

    Bot Mode:

    Look at em... LOOK AT EM!!!

    [​IMG]

    Even with the face that needs paint to have the features stand out, this guy is as Cyclonus as it gets. The colors are really good. The color for the areas of the hands, upper arms and thighs are like an off white, but I swear there is pink in there. Ever so slight. IMO, looks way better with the painted eyes. They're a metallic red and very nice.

    Most of the joints and ratchets seem fine, but there were definitely QC related things to be aware of but from the bot mode perspective isn't a deal breaker to me:

    Ankle rockers: Loose on one foot. May help by tightening one screw in the back of foot. You may have to open up the leg area and rock the foot at around a 45 degree angle to get to it, but you will see it behind the heel of the foot.

    [​IMG]


    Heel spurs: One of them seems a bit loose, but nothing that will rock in out with ease shaking it. Possibly better with tightening the one screw that is located on the back/outside area of the foot, but doesn't seem to do much.

    Fingers: One of them seemed loose. Fixed by tightening one screw a bit on the palm of the hand.

    Knees: A bit loose at first. Making sure that the inner knee tab plugs into the back of his knee pad properly is essential. Also, it seems there is a tab located where the knee area opens. Definitely helps to keep him a bit more sturdy.

    [​IMG]


    The image below indicates 3 places that are important to keep the knees in place in my opinion: One panel that slips behind the knee ratchet, the panel that tabs into the inside portion of the leg and of course the tab that connects the knee joint to the knee pad

    [​IMG]

    UPDATE ON REPORTED KNEE ISSUES AS OF 12/21/16:


    As reported by TFW2005 member kek23k, issues with Eligos having a floppy knee(s) may be due to a part missing that assists with the knee ratchet locking. Please view the following post for further details: X-Transbots MX-III Eligos (Cyclonus)

    Wing flaps: One of mine came right off it was so loose, but not broken. Fixed with a very small dot of cyanoacrylate glue in the area where the flap pegs into and rocking it back in forth.

    Crotch area: Mine came with a minor scratch. I thought it was paint, but just a pin sized scratch.

    Transforming into Alt Mode:

    [​IMG]

    I was saying that a lot, but not in a cool "I just saw my ex partner after years and we smashed hands as a welcome with our killer arms" type way.

    Again, I am novice at best with my transformation skills, but as beautiful as this guy's alt mode is, I wanted to give it a try. It's not as nerve racking as say Apollyon was, but he definitely has his issues.

    Foot and leg transformation: Ok, but make sure that when you fold the thigh down that it is as flush as possible so it closes better. Also, that piece that folds that you have to bring past the knee to cover the abdomen area had stress marks close to the base of where the part spins.

    Arm transformation into sides: Not as bad as most make it out to be. The thing that really helped was making sure that you make a fist where the fingers are facing down and the thumb is tucked below the hand.

    Front of vehicle transformation: Everything tabs in fine, but you definitely need to be patient. It seems to help when you think you're pinching the parts together (pressing inwards) since they really don't slide into each other well.

    Pegging legs/back of vehicle: Mine just had a minor gap. I'm not sure if doing a bit of sanding of the pegs that join the legs together would help. This is why I think collapsing the thigh inside to get into alt mode is crucial.

    Pegging parts in the abdomen area: More tabs that need to be aligned perfectly so it was annoying. I was also very careful due to the stress marks I previously pointed out.


    Cockpit: And THIS is where my fun stopped in alt mode. After aligning everything perfectly, getting the cockpit cover to peg in was BRUTAL. First, the sliding metal bars seemed a bit tight, so some silicone really helped out. The back of the cockpit cover pegged in fine after opening the legs a tad first, I was able to get one front peg in, but not the other. As soon as I noticed that both front pegs started to get stress marks, I retired. Back to bot mode...

    Transforming into Bot Mode:

    To be honest, getting back into bot mode was incredibly easy. However... I must point out the worst part about this figure... THE !@#$%^ SPRING LOADED COCKPIT!

    As per X-Transbots instructions: "
    NOTE: Push down the control board complete until touch ground,then fold down the back of chair to lock, or the hook inside will get damaged."

    I struggled following those instructions for about an hour and then gave up. Not sure if the "hook inside is damaged". I had to push down the stupid cockpit at the same time I was bringing down the nose of the vehicle. This is what the back of my Eligos looks like, so this is as good as it gets for me.

    [​IMG]

    The back does not look bad when he is standing, but the nose of the vehicle does not lay flush in the back due to that awful cockpit.

    UPDATE ON COCKPIT ISSUE AS OF 12/21/16:

    So it seems that my cockpit locking mechanism is broken. Here are pics of the parts that make up the mechanism that are held in by 4 screws to the back/inside of Eligos' chest.
    There are 3 springs underneath which, in my opinion, have a bit too much tension for such a delicate transformation sequence.

    This is the cockpit base that the chair sits on. I pointed out the "hook" that is supposed to grab a bar underneath the cockpit base.
    [​IMG]

    And this is the bar that it is supposed to grab.
    [​IMG]

    That bar section is made of really soft plastic. It's parts like this that make me wonder how X-Transbots does not consider future issues when a component for a key part of the transformation is obviously not well constructed.

    Now when I first transformed it, I checked everywhere and shook my Eligos figure to try and find some sort of broken piece. However I found none, so I'm not sure if this was like this from the manufacturer. In short, time to contact X-Transbots.


    Final Thoughts:

    After such a long wait and as great as Eligos will look on your shelf, X-Transbots once again failed to release a figure that would remove doubt about their QC from consumers.

    I'm a bot mode only guy, so if you're like me this is a great looking figure minus the unpainted face. However, even though I paid less than $155 shipped for him, I think he would be worth it more around the range of about $125-$130.

    I really have no hate on X-Transbots and own Apollyon, Arkose and Andras. I also am still interested in their future releases. But as a company, they just seem to lose focus on the overall product experience to make a great transforming action figure and instead seem to be fine being a company that produces beautiful statues with the ability to transform.

    Overall Score: 7 out of 10

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    Last edited: Dec 21, 2016
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