Part 1 of 2: Bot Mode So, this is what crowdfunding gets us...the largest, heaviest, and most expensive transforming figure to date. I need a new base and display setup for him. Cost: $574.99 via Pulse. This figure is already going for over $1500 on the aftermarket. Weight: 7.37 kg or 15.4 lb (my own measurement via bench scale, including all included accessories) Height in basic stance: 27" (my own measurement from bottom of feet to top of head horns) This was purchased from Pulse. The Unicron box was packaged in a bigger box. Still had some dings, however. There is some nice art on the box. Unicron itself is packaged in styrofoam in planet mode. Our instruction manual was packaged poorly and mangled. Still no missing pages or anything. Accessories: Large display stand, clear head stand, Autobot shuttle ship, Galvatron slug figure, Hot Rod slug figure, alternate face plate, alternate chin, and downloadable e-comic (the comic code never worked for me). The large stand is the hero of the day: 4-pronged stand that is able to withstand Unicron's weight and allow for otherwise impossible posing. It does feel scary to pose Unicron without the stand. The large stand has storage underneath for the alternate face plate and chin, which is of dubious utility especially when Unicron is on the stand. The clear head stand holds the Autobot shuttle, head in planet mode, and the slug figures. Of note, Unicron does NOT come with the gray Optimus Prime slug figure; this figure is only available with the Centurion kit. The stand has 5 10 15 spots for slug figures. The shuttle arm may be changed to the other side. The head arm may be rotated. The Autobot shuttle has silver detailing. There is a 3mm port underneath. The slug figures are unpainted, outside of Galvatron's stand. Again, Optimus Prime does NOT come with Unicron, but he does fit perfectly in the stand. On a side note, the instruction manual is terrible: very difficult to follow and missing steps. Articulation: Unicron is highly articulated. Despite his size, he does pose like a modern Generations War For Cybertron figure...although posing off the stand feels uncomfortable. Head: Jaw moves up and down. The lower teeth are spring loaded and able to move lower when the jaw closes. The horns are able to rotate. The head is able to tilt back but not towards the front. There is limited side rotation. Technically, neck rotation would be just short of 90 degrees to the sides but is limited due to, um, collisions with surroundings. There is a slider bar on the back of the head to rotate the eyes. Upper body: The shoulders have just under 90 degrees of outward rotation. Forward / back rotation is technically 360 degrees but limited due to collisions with surroundings. There are bicep swivels. Elbows bend 90 degrees. He technically has full waist rotation but is again limited due to surroundings. Hands: There is full wrist rotation. All the fingers have extremely limited backwards movement but able to flex all segments fairly well. The thumbs have two parts. The thumb bases have hinges but not able to rotate towards the middle. The other fingers have 3 segments and are able to move independently of other fingers. The fingers cannot spread apart. The wings cannot rotate at the shoulder attachment point. Yes, they do; the wings rotate. Lower body: He has side, back, and front hip skirts. For the hips, he is able to do full splits with 90 degrees outwards rotation. He has about 70 degrees of forwards and backwards hip rotation. Knees bend about 60-70 degrees. Ankle tilt is a little under 45 degrees. Toes and heels are able to rotate downwards with limited upwards movement, however, they cannot support Unicron's weight alone. The inner feet support panels are also able to rotate down. He has forward ankle rotation of just under 90 degrees. Deco: Unicron is highly detailed with generous paint apps. Despite that... Yes, the maw. It's bluish gray. To us, it looks OK in person. So, we're not going to change it. Hasbro really had no reason not to paint over it or apply an orange cap over it. There's plenty of orange paint over the bluish gray plastic. Oh well. The only other area where people may complain is the lack of silver paint on the lower teeth. Face plate-less mode looks fine with the bluish gray teeth, though. The main figure itself has 4 5 base plastic colors: creamy orange, bluish gray, light gray (feet), black (stand attachment), and clear (face plate and eyes). It appears that the eye lens and eyes are clear plastic painted over with fluorescent green. Rest of the color details are painted on, and there's a lot of paint on this figure. The large stand is in black plastic primarily with gray for the connector part. The shuttle is in creamy orange with silver paint detailing. Bot Mode: Unicron is an absolute beast and feels quite scary when posing and displaying off the stand. His level of detail is amazing. Rear view: Yes, he's a glorified shellformer...and that's great. Panels, panels, panels, etc... Side view: Panels, panels, panels, panels, etc... Posing: Aside from the 1st pic, he is capable of more complicated posing, but again, his size and weight makes posing feel rather uneasy. This is him balancing on one foot. Head Display Options: There's 4 different combinations of face plates and chins. Default face plate and chin: Alternate battle damage face plate and split chin: There's also an option to go without the face plate and chin. This configuration also allows the eye movement to be seen. Here, the eyes are facing left. Size Comparison: Left to Right: Unicron, Scorponok, Takara GS Volcanicus, Netflix Optimus Prime. Conclusion: As for criticisms, pricing is often discussed. The price is quite high, although honestly, I believe Unicron is worth it at the original backer's price. I would not pay the aftermarket prices for the figure, though. I wish the bottom teeth were painted silver, and I could not find a damage-free way of isolating just the lower teeth part. The maw will be discussed further in the next post. His mammoth size and weight do make posing more difficult to deal with. It will take more time to get used to. Yes, he's a giant shellformer with lots of paneling that some people may not like. I thought I would be more bothered by it, but actually not in person. I wish he came with more accessories. The artwork on the box and manual show the Quintesson ship in particular, so it would've been nice to have that ship as an extra. The e-comic download code never worked for me. Some people who don't have the Centurion pack may not be happy if they want to get the Optimus Prime slug figure. As the largest transforming figure to date from HasTak, Unicron does not disappoint. He is highly detailed, highly articulated, and a true monster of a figure. Unicron will easily be the highlight of any fan's collection. Edits: Fixed various typos and added more details.
Part 2 of 2: Planet Alt Mode The planetary rings are what give his alt mode presence. Height: 33.5" from bottom of stand to top of planetary rings. Planet mode is going to be the less interactive of the two. The large stand is required in order to attach the planetary rings. The stand hides well with a dark background. The head is the only strictly partsforming part of Unicron, and his head goes on the clear head stand. It is easier to transform by taking the planetary rings off, but they can actually stay in place. Transforming back into planet mode from bot mode took a loooooong time due to how terrible the instructions are....let alone read in reverse. Finally got it right. Inserting the stand was a frustrating experience. The instructions don't mention there's an additional small panel that needs to be un-tabbed in order to put the stand in. I did find it easier to put the stand in while Unicron is upside down (on a rug to avoid scuffing paint), and then turn the whole setup right-side up. Undo the small panel marked in red before inserting large stand. Deco: Yes, people have complained rather loudly about the maw color. The early prototype and renders show an orange maw. However, the final ended up having a bluish gray maw. It is paintable, as Hasbro has painted over a lot of bluish gray areas with orange on this figure. We're part of the "It's OK in person" camp and does help to break up all the orange. We do plan to leave it well alone. Otherwise, the rest of the deco looks great in planet mode. We do like how the hollow plastic design was used to add detail to the planetary rings and to help keep the weight down. Articulation: There's not much in planet mode. The two large horns are articulated at the bases. For the maw, there are 12 teeth that move. The large orange ring around the maw is able to turn, which then operates all the teeth at once. Individual teeth may still be positioned. Teeth closed and horns moved inward. Teeth opened and horns moved outward We don't have any styrofoam balls to act as planets. Here is Unicron trying to eat a 4-Star Dragonball. Other Views: Side view: Rear view: You can see the bot mode forearms on the rear of the planet. See below regarding position of longer stand panel. Conclusion: He is a glorious shellformer. We'll likely end up keeping him in bot mode primarily. Transforming back into planet mode for the 1st time was a frustrating experience due to how poor the instructions are. Planet mode would seem 'small' if not for the planetary rings: Unicron setup is taller in planet mode. Yes, the maw is not fully orange. It's OK in person for us but may not be for others. Time to invest in styrofoam balls for the planet eater to munch on. Edits: Fixed improper rings transformation @AndreyOfDoom and some typos. Extras: Brainstorming LED ideas for the maw at the moment. His head, however, has plenty of space for a LED mod. Used LEDs with a magnetic switch here: Edit: Longer stand panel position. Panel is able to tuck in for a cleaner stand look. This requires taking apart the bottom rear center panels in order to tuck the panel in. However, this may result in a vertical gap in the panels, "ripped pants". Here, the gap doesn't want to stay closed. Having the panel out is much easier to do. When viewing from front, this is covered by the stand. In this position, able to close the vertical gap.
I knew he was a shell former, but I did not know it was that bad. to be honest, a figure of this size and supposed complexity, especially with that price, should offer a bit more of involvement in its transformation then just being a shell former. don't get me wrong, it's beautiful looking. But I don't think it's worth the $550 price tag. I'm kind of seeing why I've noticed some reviewers leaning more towards the third party option, if I'm being 100% honest. That being said though, if I could get him for more around $400, maybe 4:50, I think I could stomach that kind of purchase a little easier It's just.. that backpack, dude.
Honestly I bet like $200 of it went to shipping from from the factory of the US then to everybody home.
Agreed. It definitely looks very nice, but given the sheer size and price point of the thing, you’d think the engineering and transformation would be more intuitive and clever. Instead of wadding up almost the entire surface of the planet mode onto the back and lower legs.
Going to fix, thanks. Camera angles, and you can't get a perfect circle with 2 offset semi-circles. Hmm, I left out some lines about paneling and edited them in. Yeah, I wish at least some of the panels were integrated better, too. At his size, though, Haslab had to make the panels thick instead of what we're used to (support Unicron's weight without the stand). They are not millimeter thin like ER OP or MP figures. Thick panels can't fold up or integrate as nicely. I thought I would be more bothered by it in person but actually not. Price is definitely high for a Hasbro offering. Yet people are paying almost 3x as much on aftermarket....and will only go higher.
No it's literally transformed wrong. Check the other pics on the box or instruction manual. You didn't bend the spikes 90 degrees and plug the peg into the hole to make them a circle. Yes they form a perfect circle
It's easy to miss. I myself was surprised how clever they are! Hopefully the picture I attached above with the red circles shows you which part. Also the rings are upside down in my pic. They actually want the other side to face forward by rotating the ports at the shoulders.
I'm actually surprised this is the only review that's popped up so far. I was under the impression several people had already got him. I expected a rush of enthusiasm for this monster!
Ikr? I kept saying in the thread I wanted to see a photo review since the first english video review came out. Nice job on the review
Silly question, but what where the box dimensions? I need to know if I need to take the cargo control rail(s) out of the back of of my truck before I go pick him up...
Thanks. Fixed the post. We actually had it the right way the first time before transforming to bot mode, but I didn't put it back right when transforming back to planet mode after being frustrated trying to figure it out. He's not exactly the easiest of figures to photograph. The actual box is 23x23x23.75. If enclosed in another box, then that may vary, like the 25^3 mentioned by @pokemonsdoom.
I really do like him, but I have a problem. This piece on the right leg is the same as the left and thus it can't lock in with the other parts
