Haslab Unicron

Discussion in 'Transformers News and Rumors' started by bearytrek, Jul 15, 2019.

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  1. UtahRobotInDisguise

    UtahRobotInDisguise Herald of Utahcron

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    Oh, not bashing you. I find it very interesting as a mental exercise/comparison. I'm just perturbed by those who use comparisons like these as "facts" to bash the figure. People seem to think that Hasbro in 2020 should be held to the exact designs of 1986 Toei Animation/Sunbow that didn't have to translate to an actual toy. He's as unique and his own beast as the Armada Unicron was 17 years ago. I just wish he was celebrated more for just being what he is, rather than bashed for what he isn't.

    Earthrise is an homage to G1, but at the same time it's not G1. It's like comparing the original 1960's Psycho to the 1998 Psycho remake.
     
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  2. Smitty.1981

    Smitty.1981 Well-Known Member

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    Hell, you can have my mimi Optimus. I've got no use for him.
     
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  3. HolyCulture

    HolyCulture Well-Known Member

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    :eek: :eek: :eek:  I'll take it... If David doesn't want him.
     
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  4. Smitty.1981

    Smitty.1981 Well-Known Member

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    It'll be first come first serve. Just send me a PM with your address and I'll get that extra padded envelope addressed and slap a stamp on it.
     
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  5. cynw32618

    cynw32618 Well-Known Member

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    Also, HasTak didn’t just go with a more accurate planet mode, but John Warden said in an interview that they actually made the transformation as accurate as possible to the movie too.

    He acknowledged this was a conscious decision, & they could have possibly made a slightly cleaner alt mode if he transformed differently, but wanted to make the experience of transforming him as satisfying & as close as you see on screen as possible.
     
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  6. mx-01 archon

    mx-01 archon Well-Known Member

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    I did say that.
     
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  7. Juraash

    Juraash Well-Known Member

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    I had forgotten that Hasbro had engineered the transformation to be as screen accurate as possible too. That is incredibly cool in my book and definitely worth some robot mode compromises. That transformation scene is one the most memorable in the whole film and we'll get, "this is from the movie!" moments while going through the steps, it's awesome.
     
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  8. samisham

    samisham Well-Known Member

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    You sure did.
     
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  9. Qabiri

    Qabiri Well-Known Member

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    Continuing the series comparing accuracy of Haslab Unicron against the original G1 source material, this is part two of the robot mode focus.

    The first part can be found bere: Haslab Unicron

    Previous analyses below:

    - Planet mode Haslab Unicron
    - Maw Haslab Unicron & Haslab Unicron
    - Transformation Haslab Unicron

    The last look at robot mode covered thoughts on source material, color, kibble, front torso, hip area, and thighs. Will try to touch on everything else here except for head sculpt, which will be a separate post.

    Lower leg


    [​IMG]

    Top: G1 concept art, WFC concept art, 86 movie screen cap
    Bottom: Haslab Unicron, Haslab Unicron (angled), third party version


    Starting off the lower leg, Haslab Unicron gets a lot of the basic details right from the front, including the big vent at the knee and the hanging flap underneath. Haslab also took the opportunity to further embellish the details on the lower shin. However the kibble here really hurts the side and back views of the lower leg (and is also readily visible from the front). The design of the third party version offers a much cleaner lower leg with only minor kibble at the knees, and you can even argue that kibble matches the original concept art (even though it isn’t present in the movie). Both versions add some gold detailing to the ankle joints, with Haslab adding additional gold details to the joint of the front and back foot appendages.

    Feet

    [​IMG]

    Left to right: Front, side, back
    Top to bottom: 86 movie, Haslab Unicron (right is a screen cap from prototype transformation), third party version


    Each foot of Unicron is composed of four bird-like appendages, all white/silver. The front and back of the feet are identical to each other, as are the sides. This is another place where I think Haslab is more accurate to the movie, as they use identical parts for the front/back and the sides. The third party version uses blue triangles for the sides and back parts of the feet, different in color and shape compared to the front appendage, which is a necessity given the transformation design.

    Back
    [​IMG]


    Top: 86 movie, Haslab Unicron
    Bottom: closer look at Haslab Unicron, third party version


    In the 86 movie, Unicron’s back is the same as his front. This is the most innaccurate part of Haslab Unicron, as it is largely covered by the kibble mentioned in the last post. Under the kibble, there is some detailed molding, including the hip plates and lower back. However, there is no red “back abs” molded in the back, which I personally prefer but is not accurate to the movie.

    The back is the among strongest features of the third party version, which mirrors the front torso exactly. However, the same innaccuracies noted in the front torso (e.g., plate / hip circle colors/positioning) apply here as well.

    Collar


    [​IMG]

    Top: G1 concept art, WFC concept art, 86 movie screen cap
    Bottom: Haslab Unicron promo shot (angled), Haslab Unicron NYCC shot (head on), third party version


    Unicron has a thin blue/gray upraised collar piece that circles the back of the neck from side to side. Haslab’s robot mode captures this more or less perfectly, though the collar effect can be obscured from different sides by the kibble. From the front, I think the backpack does a pretty good job looking like an extension of it. The third party version doesn’t suffer from a backpack but has a bit of a thick/messy collar with a blue and orange color mix, the result of transforming from the non-partsformed maw.

    Forearms

    [​IMG]

    Top: G1 concept art, WFC concept art, 86 movie screen cap
    Bottom: 86 transformation sequence, Haslab Unicron promo picture, third party version

    In the movie, Unicron’s forearms are formed from the back equatorial region of the planet, and as such retain a curved, bell bottom appearance and spikes on the outer side. There are curved vents on the top and bottom. I think Haslab nails the shape better than the third party version, but while it also has the vents, I prefer the coloring placement on the third party version more.

    Both have spikes on the outside, but the third party has them on the inside as well. I think that’s for symmetry in planet mode, although the movie planet doesn’t have spikes in either of the places where the third party forearm parts end up, but I digress. Either way, you can fold the inside ones down, so it’s not a major issue.

    Speaking of spikes, let’s look at numbers:

    [​IMG]


    Top: right arm transforms (5), left arm transforms (5), coming for Cybertron (9)
    Middle: fighting Decepticons (8), standing on Cybertron (5), losing first eye (6)
    Bottom: crushing Junkion ship (10), Dinobots attck (6), ripping leg off (5)


    Based on the scene, Unicron generally has anywhere from 5 to 10 spikes on the arm. The G1 concept art has 7. Haslab Unicron has 7, and I think anywhere in the 5-7 area is probably the right number. The third party only has 3 on the outside, which in my opinion is too few.

    Hands

    [​IMG]

    Top: G1 concept art, WFC concept art, 86 movie: transformation scene
    Middle: 86 movie: transformation scene, eating Galvatron, crushing Junkion ship
    Bottom: Haslab Unicron promo pic, articulation upgrade, third party version


    In the movie, Unicron’s hands are light gray, with yellow/orange knuckle details. There dont appear to be any claws at the end of the fingertips, which is a style choice both Haslab and the third party version make. There are also disks at the first finger knuckle, also colored yellow/orange in at least one scene, which are absent in both toy versions. Both get the job done but I prefer the third party hands here. I do think Haslab gets points though for having a thumb with three segments, which is more accurate to the movie.

    Shoulders

    [​IMG]

    Top: G1 concept art, WFC concept art, 86 movie screen cap
    Bottom: 86 movie screen cap, Haslab Unicron promo picture, third party version

    Unicron’s shoulders are square at the top and then angle and taper as they approach the elbow. There are also 4-5 spikes on the outer side where they connect to the wings.

    Haslab gets the shape exactly right, but skimps on the spikes. There are some nubs on the ouside of the shoudler that may represent the spikes, but you can only really see them if you look for them. I will say that the spike strip kibble can sort of approximate the shoulder spikes, but I plan to remove them in robot mode.

    The shape and look of the shoulders for the third party version is wrong (and have some blue on top as well), but they do get the four spikes on the outside right. They also have two spikes on the top (an artifact of the transformation), but fortunately you can fold them down.



    Wings

    [​IMG]

    Top: G1 concept art, WFC concept art, 86 movie screen cap
    Bottom: 86 movie screen cap, Haslab Unicron promo picture, third party version


    Probably Haslab’s biggest departure from the G1 design is the spiked nature of the planetary rings, and that carries through to the robot wings, which are absolutely enormous. I will say that the length of the rings look about right, as they should reach deep into the lower legs.

    Aesthetically, the third party wings are much closer to the movie, but are tiny in comparison. Similarly, their planet ring is too small — likely because they couldn’t find a way to make all six parts of the wings form one big circle, which Haslab accomplishes with the spikes.

    Summary

    Haslab Unicron typically gets the rep of beautiful planet mode and a weaker robot mode. I think that’s fair, largely because of the kibble, but the insane amount of detail and strong accuracy to the source material goes a long way towards redeeming the mode. If you go part by part, Haslab gets many details right that the third party does not, and I think accuracy, kibble aside, is much more of a draw between the two versions.

    Head sculpt up next, hopefully in a few weeks.
     

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    Last edited: Jul 6, 2020
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  10. 4249david

    4249david Click my avatar, you won't regret it...

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    Is it just me? I can't see any images in this post. Other threads are fine, and previous posts in this overview have also been fine too...
     
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  11. Qabiri

    Qabiri Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the heads up. I can see them on my iphone and in your quote, but will try to redo them later today.
     
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  12. 4249david

    4249david Click my avatar, you won't regret it...

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    The wings ones are showing up now...o_O 
     
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  13. Qabiri

    Qabiri Well-Known Member

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    Seems like my usual image hosting site is not working, so I’ve just attached the images for now. Will pretty it up later

    Edit: I can see everything on my wife’s phone now, so hopefully all set if you reload
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2020
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  14. Lex79

    Lex79 Well-Known Member

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    As usual, interesting and detailed analysis. Good job!
     
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  15. 4249david

    4249david Click my avatar, you won't regret it...

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    All good now! Excellent analysis
     
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  16. XXLMagnus

    XXLMagnus King of Kings

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    I felt like Johnny Mnemonic digesting that post ... in a good way tho :) 
     
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  17. Qabiri

    Qabiri Well-Known Member

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    thanks guys

    Ha, it certainly wasn’t put together in one sitting, probably not best to digest it in one :p 
     
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  18. samisham

    samisham Well-Known Member

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    I wanna preface this by saying I'm not throwing shade, just saying what I think. But to me, while the formally Zeta Unicron is a very impressive design and engineering accomplishment and therefore the designers deserve credit, but I don't really like how either of the modes look.
     
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  19. mjaszewski

    mjaszewski Active Member

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    I agree. I'm gonna have to say that after all of the very well put together analyses and the side by side pics with breakdowns that, despite the kibble, Haslab seems more accurate in both modes. Very well done and appreciated.
     
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  20. samisham

    samisham Well-Known Member

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    For me it's not accuracy, I have no problem with stylized designs, I was 100% down for Takara's Armada Prime before vanished into the void. For me it's the proportions and how it looks kinda like that proof of concept thing Hasbro made more than what I'd think of as a Unicron.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Does anyone else see what I mean or have I finally lost it?
     
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