Allegiances: Decepticon
Overall Rating: 9.1

(NOTE: Because this set is composed of repaints, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the set and the color scheme, and merely compares it to the original versions of these molds. For a review on Universe 2.0 Cyclonus, go here. For a review on the original Generations Scourge-- the mold used for both Scourge and the Sweep-- go here.)
 

Cyclonus

Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: Transparent violet, dull pale purple, light pale pinkish purple, and some purple, silver, transparent pale purplish blue, metallic pumpkin orange, black, dull red, and transparent cherry red
Individual Rating: 9.4

    This version of Cyclonus takes the Reveal the Shield "Battle in Space" 2-pack version of Cyclonus as a base, and adds in a pretty good amount of transparent plastic (like the other toys in this set) to make it look like he's in the process of being "reformatted" by Unicron. It's a pretty darned cool effect, though due to the plastic requirements, not as much of Cyclonus is as transparent as I'd like. Still, first let's cover what's the same as the "Battle in Space" Cyclonus-- the base color of dull pale purple on the shoulders, most of the nosecone, and the main body are the same; the slightly lighter purple paint on the shoulders, knees, and feet; the light pale pinkish purple plastic on the upper legs, fists, and the mid-parts of the arms; black plastic on some minor connector pieces; and silver, metallic pumpkin orange, and dull red paint apps on the chest, abs, and face, with the same awesome transparent cherry red plastic for the eyes. This time around, new silver paint apps have been added to his main wings as well, which helps in robot mode so they look transparent but you still can't see COMPLETELY through them, thus making his shoulders look a bit more solid. The transparent plastic for this version of Cyclonus comes in two flavors. The first is a quite nice transparent violet shade, used on his main wings, lower arms, shoulder connnector pieces, and, oddly, the middle portion of his nosecone because of the way the plastic pieces are sorted out, I guess. His weapon is also this color. His legs, interestingly, are a different shade of transparent plastic-- a rather pale purplish blue, which is an okay shade, but it looks a bit too close to his dull pale purple plastic-- it doesn't "glow" enough like he's being reformatted, unlike with the transparent violet. The disconnect here is a bit odd, too-- why not use the same transparent shade of plastic as much of the toy as possible, given the whole gimmick? Still, it's a pretty cool color scheme, overall.
    Interestingly enough, for this version of Cyclonus a hand hole has (finally) been drilled into his left hand in addition to his existing right hand hole, so he can hold his weapon in either hand now. His weapon, unfortunately, is no longer Nightstick but instead been replaced with a plain rifle-like gun-- a recolor of the initial Generation Sergeant Kup's, which doesn't really fit Cyclonus.
 

Scourge

Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: Transparent light bluish purple, moderately dark periwinkle, milky pale teal, and some silver, transparent cherry red, black, and moderately light metallic red
Individual Rating: 8.8

    Unlike with Cyclonus, Scourge's recolor for this set is a COMPLETE recolor-- everything has been changed color-wise when compared to the initial release, not just some parts. It's still definitely a very Scourge-y color scheme, though, with blue and light gray being the main colors-- it's just that blue is MUCH more prevalent on this version. The wings, upper legs, and part of the main body/robot "skirt" are all a transparent light bluish purple, of approximately the same shade as Cyclonus' legs in this set. It fits quite well in with the fairly dark shade of periwinkle used for Scourge's main body, head, and arms-- they both complement each other, there I wish there was a titch more color difference between the two shades. There's also a long stripe of periwinkle along the entire front end of the vehicle mode, which again, complements the transparent plastic pretty nicely. It also works well against the milky pale teal used for the center portion of the vehicle body/robot lower legs-- there's where it contrasts very well. The teal is also the closest this toy has to "gray", as it's kind of a grayish teal. I think using it just a titch more on the toy would've helped with more contrast and color variation. There's also a bit of transparent cherry plastic on the back of Scourge's head, for some really nice red light piping for the robot eyes. As for paint apps, there's some silver on the lower arms and the face; black on the front windows and Scourge's beard; and some somewhat light metallic red on the robot claws and kneecaps. The red helps emphasize Scourge's creepy claws, and obviously contrasts agains the blue and teal nicely. The other colors are fairly neutral and don't contribute to the color scheme much, other than varying up things a bit.
    No mold changes have been made to this version of Scourge.
 

Sweep

Size: Deluxe
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: Transparent light bluish purple, dark milky semi-metallic navy blue, milky pale teal, and some silver, transparent cherry red, black, and moderately light metallic red
Individual Rating: 9.0

    The Sweep is largely the same as Scourge, but with a few minor changes. The first is that the periwinkle-colored stripe along the front of Scourge's vehicle mode has been changed to a silver stripe for the Sweep. This looks better against the duller transparent plastic, but not as good against the pale teal, so overall I think that change is a wash. The more obvious change is that the chest, arms, and head have had the perwinkle plastic from Scourge changed to a darker, fairly milky semi-metallic navy blue shade. It's a very lovely shade of the color, and because it's darker contrasts better against the lighter surrounding colors, while still being "close enough" to mesh in pretty well with Scourge.
    Oddly enough, the Sweep has a new head mold-- and WHHHAAAAATTT??!?-- It's Devcon's?! Basically it's Scourge's but thinner, with a more straightforward face and no beard. It works decently as a Sweep that prefers to shave, I suppose, but it's surprising a Scourge clone, of all redecoes, gets a new head. Even weirder is that it's NOT the Devcon head used for the BotCon 2014 exclusive-- apparently they didn't have access to THIS sculpt for THAT toy, but both they and Hasbro had the same idea. Huh. Other than the head, no mold changes have been made to the Sweep.

    If it weren't for the price, the "Armada of Cyclonus" set would be an easy recommendation. All three are excellent molds, and I love the "translucent reformatting" gimmick for the color schemes. The colors are nice, and there's just enough differences to the Sweep compared to Scourge to make them both worth purchasing. I did wish Cyclonus had his Targetmaster Nightstick, but otherwise he's quite nice as well. Unfortunately, this set follows the "Platinum Edition" schtick of being over priced (though not as badly as some others). The prices for this set vary a fair amount, but they're all easily more than these toys would be if all three were released individually at mass retail. Still, if that doesn't bother you, by all means load up on some cool minions!
 

Reviews by Beastbot

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