9" Signature Series Cyclops by Hasbro

This Cyclops was the tenth Signature Series action figure released by Hasbro after acquiring the licence to produce Marvel characters. ToyBiz had already released the Marvel Famous Covers line before Hasbro produced a similar line of 9" cloth costumed action figures under the "Spiderman Origins" line, featuring heroes related, sometimes loosely, to ol' WebHead. With Cyclops however, the packaging no longer mentioned Spiderman, instead labeled "Marvel Icons".

I scored this 2006 Cyclops back in October on E-Bay for a very reasonable $11.58 (price included shipping). Some might prefer the costume ToyBiz chose for the Marvel Famous Covers Cyclops, but I'm somewhat partial to Hasbro's design- they did a swell job on the yellow pinstipe lines running from the shoulders down the front and back of the costume to the inner thighs, meeting very cleanly at the various seams. His articulation is okay, and of course his hands feature Hasbro's nifty hinge-grip feature.

Scott Summers was the first young mutant recruited by Professor Xavier for tutelage of his special powers, away from growing persecution of the general public. The unknown "X-Gene" that caused Scott's mutant evolution is extremely dangerous, revealing itself in the form of powerful concussive beams that shoot from his eyes. This "optic blast" can only be controlled by ruby quartz, fused into either his special visor or sunglasses. While unable to turn this beam off, Summers' gifted sense of spacial geometry has allowed him to focus the optic blast with great accuracy in it's intensity and width, as well as bounce it between shiny surfaced objects to achieve target.  I must admit that I've read very little about Cyclops, field commander of The X-Men, though I did read The Uncanny X-Men (1984) as a teenager- so that's not so bad. This compilation of issues #128-138 was probably one of the first graphic novels in comics history, and a great read (Chris Claremont/John Byrne). The epic storytelling blew my young mind!

*Thomas Wheeler's review of this toy at MasterCollector.Com
*Cyclops' lengthy bio at Wikipedia!