I dont think that is the problem. I had to remove the plastic tab from the wrist and the fist lit up. but that was the only time.

 

Yeah, I want him, but not for that price.

 

Wow.
The orange plastic is lightly swirled with a touch of silver so it kinda shines.
The silver plastic is superb. It shines, too.
More TFs should be colored this way. It elliminates the need for silver paint...

He has silver paint and a few touches of red, which looks nice.

Some parts were fully painted orange and I've got two "blobs" that I tried to sand down. One on the planet mouth and one on the abdomen door...

If your a fan of the animated movie (what G1 fan is not?) you will LOVE this figure!

It took 25 years to get him. But it's a nice nod to the fans of both Armada and G1...

 

Actually, this breaks tradition. Hasbro's color scheme is accurate to the movie, and Takara's isn't really accurate to anything. It is hard to tell this from photos since they don't pick up the colors that well, but Takara's looks like a creamsicle, an Hasbro's matches the colors pretty spot on. The shade of orange on Habro's matches the movie, as does the silver/blue in planet mode. Takara's is cool, but nowhere near as accurate as Hasbro's.

 

To me the light grey that is used on teh hips and chest of the Takara version is more accurate than the silver of the Amazon version. Plus the panel lining really sets off all the molded detail, which to me is more movie accurate.

But, the Orange of the Amazon is better as is the blue/grey of the legs though that color is still not perfect.

Either way, I see both having their merits and a lot of this coming down to personal preference.

 

This guy is so big, I only have room for one...

The Amazon version...

 

Hasbro vs. Takara version

First off, silver vs. white. White is more accurate. Yeah. Hasbro chose silver. Hasbro went for a darker, more intimidating look. While some could prefer the silver, the white is unquestionably more accurate.

Legs though, that gets tricky. Neither is accurate, so this goes to personal preference.

Takara version's back is completely orange, and the Hasbro version's is silver, despite the movie Unicron's back deco being a mirror of the front of his body, minus the red stomach section. It should be orange and white/silver. The sides of the body should be orange. Both are missing the back details, and both are about as correct as the other, just at different parts. Could have been easily fixed with paint applications, especially with what takara charged for their figure.

Unicron's arms are solid orange, no white/silver mixed in. Hasbro's silver middle-arm parts aren't accurate. Some people could prefer this, as it does help break up the orange.

So, basically because of the white, Takara wins robot mode.

Planet mode though, there's really no comparison. Hasbro wins it. While the main planet's color is a matter of preference (I prefer hasbro's), there's three details that are flat out wrong on takara's version.

• The planet's mouth area is supposed to be completely orange. Hasbro's is, Takara's isn't. This part isn't that big of a deal. The next two are.
  
• In the movie, there are large orange stripes down each side of the planet, dividing the northern and southern halves. Takara somehow missed this, even though it's a pretty important detail. Hasbro nailed it though.
  
• In the movie, Unicron has large white parts on the north and south poles of his planet mode. These are sculpted on the figure. Takara for some reason decided that since they're white in the movie, that they should paint them to be darker than the rest of the planet. What the hell. Hasbro painted them silver. Good job, Hasbro! Even the Armada version got this right.

Seriously, those last two just kill the Takara version's planet mode.

So, Hasbro completely wins planet mode because unlike Takara, they actually seem to have looked at what they were trying to make a toy of.

Takara wins robot mode due to a single color choice. Hasbro wins planet mode due to multiple color choices.

It's a tie.

Whichever version you get, you have a kickass Unicron.

 

@Valksys,

Interesting take on breaking up the pros and cons.

Anyway, I'm suprised you didn't mention the difference in the oranges. Personally, I think that goes to the Amazon version, BUT like you said, the white, or what appears to me light grey, is by far teh defining win of the Takara version.

All that said, I do agree that both are killer Unicrons.

 

That Hasbro orange plastic is hard to beat. And for 60 USD free shipping?

And I can live with the silver instead of white.

I used Armada Unicron for the longest time. With the aweful purple and yellow...

The Amazoncron is perfect for me!

Glad I waited...

 

Neither is more accurate than the other, really. it's personal preference. Also, I'm partially colorblind. Orange is one of the colors I have trouble with, having it easily confused with green.

 

Sonofabitch. Mine is like this too.

 

Is it EXACTLY like mine? Or do you have two of the other halves of teeth? I'm trying to find my a member here to do a trade.

 

A review of Unicron.

I had the original Armada Unicron as a kid. So this mold is very sentimental and nostalgiac for me.
I was really looking foward to this release, since it gave me a chance to re-obtain the mold convientently and for a damn good price. Well, today it finally came. Does it live up to it? Lets seee...

The Box:
The packaging is huge. It measures: 15 1/2 inches tall, by 13 inches wide, and 8 inches deep. And it's seperated into two compartments, the plastic bubble that holds the figure in, and a cardboard box with all the accesories. It's very easy to unpackage and repackage quick and easy. Which makes it a dream for collectors.

First Impressions:
The first thing I did, before releasing Unicron from his plastic prison, was check the cardboard box to make sure I had the right accessories. Left and right Shell pieces, check. Left and right ring pieces, check. Left and right jaw pieces, check. All six missiles and chest missiles, check. So I didn't have to worry about that. So then I take Unicron out, and give him a good look.
The paint scheme on this release is amazing. I mean, absolutely beautiful color pallette. Pictures are definitely decieving. In pictures with a flash, the metallic swirls all throughout the plastic all come out, and make it look horrible, but in hand, the color scheme is just perfect. Absolutely perfect. And as is the new head.


The Mold, and it's respectiveQC issues.

I have always loved the Unicron mold. Always. It's hefty, heavy, and just imposing with a lot of shelf presence. The new color scheme multiplies the imposing shelf presence by 1000%. But unfortunately, the mold is now very old. And has had it's fair share of uses. So, the Amazon Exclusive mold is plagued with many QC issues. Most of them have been mentioned already, and they're quite prominent with mine. The joints all seem to be... whats a good term for it... "Uncomfortably tight" or "Wildly loose". By uncomfortably tight I mean that the joints tend to be tight, but not that smooth nice tightness, more like the "Afraid to move it cause you fear to break it" or "it squeaks when it moves" or "The ratchet joint here or there isn't working right" kind of tightness. And wildly lose I mean that some of the parts are a lot looser then before... like his right fingers, his shoulder horn swivels, his ring pieces...
And then somethings have a hard time holding together if messed with to much.

Final thoughts and observations:
Amazon Unicron is a display piece for collectors. The quality control issues have rendered it frustrating to actually play with or tinker around with. But the color scheme and head mold and his tremendous size, makes it an impressive display piece that draws the eye and has shelf presence. If you want a Unicron to play with? Buy the Armada, Energon, or the TakTom 2010. Want a Unicron to display? Go Amazon or TakTom 2010.
Amazon Uni met the criteria for a classics Unicron, and for that I'm happy with the purchase. But a bit disappointed by the QC.

An interesting tidbit here:

Compared in the photo is the Amazon Unicron (Left) ring piece, and the Armada Unicron (right) ring piece. Note that the Armada Unicron has a tab on the piece that helped hold it together, whereas the Amazon does not. What was the reason for this? Why omit that tab? Makes no sense to me.

 

Best guess as to why they got rid of the tab was because it wasn't strong enough to do it's intended job resulting in lots of broken pieces.

So Hasbro probably had a choice, leave the tab which would help collectors display it or remove it (and the headache of too many broken wings/tabs) due to use through normal "play".

 

Completely forgot to mention the Planet mode and Kranix!
Kranix: Kranix was the name of the character from the planet that got all ate up in the beginning of the movie. Kranix was later fed to the sharkticons.
He's a minicon, what do you expect? He looks like a moon with a giant gun, and he has a nice color scheme. What more do you want...

Planet mode:
Dead on accurate to the movie with the new color scheme. Nothing could be done to make it more like the film. And while it doesn't hold together well, (shell comes apart ring gets dissheveled if you mess with it to much), it looks great. If you have a stand that holds him, he will look great on display in planet mode.


More observations:
The instruction manual shows Unicron as a part of the DOTM line, irregardless of his Generations-ish packaging.
The duration of the leds in his eyes and hand is shorter then that of the Armada version:
Armada hand and eyes blink for 8 seconds.
Amazon hand and eyes blink for 6 seconds.
Could be due to batteries, which I doubt, since I've never changed the batteries in the Armada version for the 8 years I've had him.

 

The tab was more than strong enough to do it's job. it doesn't need to support any real weight, just the ring halves. Even then, in the mode that the tab is used, the rings are connected to each other, supporting each other's weight fine. All the tab does is keep the ring from wobbling. That's it. I've never heard of the tab breaking, either. I don't see any way that it could.

 

Whoa, I gotta size down those pics.

 

WOOT!!!
I just got my Unicron toy today!

It has all the right pieces, so that's good.

Now to find some f'n room display it. I have no more room for any of my shit!
Why, Why did I buy you Mezco Lion-O? *shake my fist at it*

 

I just got mine. One question, is it normal for his chest to come not connected. I am one of those MIB collectors so I will not be opening him. Here is a pic:

 

Supposedly this is fine - another poster has already had this issue to no ill effect. But, in order to get him looking right in the box you have to break that sacred tape seal and adjust that chest plate, sorry.