didn't even get that email...

 

I wouldn't worry.   You can always log in to Hasbro Pulse and see your order status. Mine is still "Unfulfilled" at the moment.

 

The order exists so no need to worry if it's in your history. However, if you worry about stuff shipping & watch it, Hasbro Pulse is known to ship w/o posting change in status on the web page for weeks/months. Just an FYI as that is my experience with them.

 

Am I the only one that's going to panel-line the bejesus out of this thing?

 

Now that is something I'll be really interested in seeing. With the sheer amount of surface detail, I think it might do more harm than good, but more power to you.

 

Not sure if this has been seen prior but Unicron.com just posted a really good interview with a rep from the Transformers brand team talking about why they changed the colour of the maw (Around the 15:20 mark)

 

Unicron.com has a video interview with Ben Montano. They're saying there is zero precedent for the inner maw to be yellow. What parallel universe am I living in then?

 

That should put the issue to rest.

 

That's not what he said at all, he said the coloration has been inconsistent throughout the various versions of the character

 

For those of us currently unable to watch the video, could we get the cliffnotes of that part of the interview? Just curious.

 

The change was mostly made to consider the long-term durability of the maw functionality. So I guess it was a materials thing.

 

It's in the text of the Unicron.com Facebook post.

UNICRON on UNICRON.COM! Exclusive Interview with Ben Montano, #Transformers Sr. Director Global Brand Marketing
Interview highlights & topics:
• Unicron will begin shipping to (*some) backers “very soon” - within a week! They are not going out all at once, but are set to begin rollout “keeping in mind all the different parts of the country, some will get him before others.” #HasbroPulse will be in communication with backers about when, specifically you can expect to receive yours.
• Design process and unique challenges to producing something this big: Entire task force @Hasbro in partnership with @TakaraTomy. This figure is tripling the weight versus previously produced Titan figures - it’s not just as simple as making joint mechanisms bigger ...
• Design decisions and priorities: Engineers started with two goals in mind: a *perfect sphere in planet mode* and have the robot be as screen accurate as possible without making portions of the robot spherical where they shouldn’t be.
• Standing without the stand!
• Changes to color, the challenges of yellow: painted vs. molded, variations in yellow plastic ... prototype was more canary-yellow, decision was made, pivoting to a more orangish-hue yellow. A much appreciated update!
• The maw - changes made with the color, to preserve the long term integrity of the toy, with the maw mechanism being as complex as it is. Also, there is zero precedent for his inner maw ‘dentition’ to be solid yellow. The only reason we fans expected it, is because of the prototype... (see comparison photos in the video...)
• Other changes: paint on the mini-figures. These are SO small, that the paint would look like a paint blob, didn’t look as good.
• Companion pieces to the Ark/Unicron head stand: coming soon to HasbroPulse... Stay tuned!
• HasbroPulse UK now live, should improve European distribution for future projects.
• The stress of hitting the (8K crowdfunding) number! The psychology of “F.O.M.O.” and why it took so agonizingly long!
• Another run of this product? No!
If there ever would be a plan to re-rerelease, it would be significantly different.• Packaging Inspiration: less emphasis on MISB, keeps the focus on the toy itself. Also styrofoam storage, keeps it safe and out of harm’s way when not out on display. They considered making it “Gen Selects” this was pulled so fans who want to be completionist about Gen Selects can be, if they weren’t able to back Unicron. But still maintained visual esthetics of that packaging model.
• Goatee or soul patch?!
• Video of manufacturing process - MANY talented people had to be involved, to pull off a project this large and ambitious. 3 years in the making - from senior management at Hasbro/Takara to design, to manufacture, to distribution ... this project tested the teams at Hasbro and Takara to do something that’s never been done before!
• What’s next?! Taking requests for a next HASLAB Transformers project?!?!
Stay connected - via site & app unicron.com & TFDb http://bit.ly/TFDb-appwww2.unicron.com/2021-transformers.html
See also Haslab Unicron character page for links to prototype gallery, final gallery, the interview and more.
#MORETHANMEETSTHEEYE #MTMTE #TransformersTheMovie #Unicron
Hasbro Pulse

 

So it sounds like the reason the maw color was changed was because the plastic used was more durable over time.

 

It was an issue of materials and product longevity. In other words, yellow plastic or paint would not have been durable in the long run

That's not what was said in the actual video, and judging by context that statement is actually referring to the chompers that are in the very center, of which there is no precedent for those being yellow

 

I can’t wait! A few more days and Unicron will be here! How long till the second box with his head and wings are shipped?  

 

So I'm guessing the "zero precedent" are the words of the staff from Unicron.com. Just wanted to point out the fact that showing the prototype on the ordering page, plus showing the same or similar prototype at Toy Fair does not add up to "zero precedent".

If Hasbro changed the color because they thought the materials would be more durable in the long-term, that's at least understandable, but you can't expect that no one is going to call out Hasbro on the coloring change. I think Hasbro could have saved themselves quite a few customer service emails if they had communicated this change in one of the backer updates.

I'm over the maw coloring at this point. I'm just excited to get this beast in hand!  

 

They mean just the chomping jaws part, dead center. And that's true. Even the idealized deco in the Unicron instructions keeps them blue/gray.

 

In other words, lazy response to criticism and backing out of any fix by just saying "I mean, what says its supposed to be yellow?". Hyped AF for this guy, but I can't say I'd support anymore of these projects. They have more inconsistencies than mainline figures with massive prices.

 

Yeah, and I wish they had just left it at that. I don't know why they had to try to further justify the change with that talk of inconsistent precedent and by focusing on the chompers to the exclusion of the rest of the maw. The bit about durability, if true, would be a sufficient explanation/justification on its own.

Oh well. Let's get this guy shipped!  

 

What really pissed some people off is that Hasbro said in their customer service reply email that the colour change WAS communicated in one of the updates and that they are being very transparent with us. Not true at all. I can’t tell if they are blatantly hiding the truth or if they are that dumb. I also still find it absolutely bizarre that so many people worked on it for 3 years and yet they still have not shown off marketing photos of the final product. You would think they would want to celebrate its completion and show it off.

The interview is way too long so I only read the summary. Did the Hasbro rep actually say they are looking for suggestions for the next HasLab Transformers project? Or is that just wishful thinking from the interviewer? If it takes 3 years to complete one of these projects I would assume they have already been working on whatever is next for a while. Doesn’t matter to me what it is because I won’t be doing this again.

I also found it interesting that they said in the interview (again I’m going by the summary) that they would not reissue this release. But if they did make it again it would have a very different deco. I’m still holding on to hope that Takara releases a better version down the line like the repaint they did for Armada Unicron. I would buy that in a second and sell this one.