i like the first release the best. for some reason pumpkin just doesn't hit me the same way it hits others. but good luck either way with your choice.

 

Get the most expensive one cus it’s always better.

 

Personally, I like cell. In bright photo lighting he can look a bit washed out, but looks good in person. I feel like pumpkin is a bit too dark & saturated color wise once he's not under overpowering photography lights.

It can help to highlight the differences between the figures when it comes to making a decision:

Pumpkin is more readily available, cheaper, and has a slightly more accurate planetmode (orange circle on the back) at the cost of having an orange taint in robot mode that sticks out if you display him somewhere you're looking up at him. The prototype shots on most stores don't show the orange taint, you have to find a picture of a production sample: link

The color blocking is a bit different as well. Cell has annoying yellow linkages in his collar and the white tabs on his shoulders stick out, but Pumpkin has those sculpt-breaking black elbow joints.

All depends on what your priorities are.

 

It's like you read my mind. I agree with most things you noted. The grey elbow joints especially. It's just hard to tell from pictures, in one pic cell will look better, in another shot pumpkin will look better. I honestly wish they would do a version of cell and just add some grey to his blue colors. I prefer cell in planet mode, and I'm undecided about robot mode. In all honesty though, $300 for pumpkin is a great deal and he is an easy find, I might just break down and get him. Though I'm tempted to wait out for a 3rd version.

 

The blue version, for a lot of people, *is* movie Unicron. That's a big sales pitch for most.

On the other hand, the pumpkin version is technically more accurate in some of the movie scenes and the planet mode has the rear circle painted on that the blue does not. There's even a slight bit of remolding in that spot.

Pumpkin is more affordable from Show.Z, cell is more expensive across the board.

 

I always thought Cell looked washed out, I actually prefer the deeper colors with Pumpkin.

 

I’m torn. I got cell recently but I do love me some pumpkin

 

That's fair, but I personally feel like a lot of that is powerful photography lights that make everything look washed out. Under normal light Cell looks totally fine, he's even pretty close to the official colors on the HasLab. The yellow is almost an exact match, as is the dark blue-grey. The silver gets swapped for off-white and light blue-grey, in keeping with the recent MP theme of not using metallic silver paint:

Source


Which looks better is entirely a matter of personal opinion, but Pumpkin is more oversaturated than Cell is washed out.

 

I'll say this, no matter the color, Pumpkin/Cell makes Haslab Unicron look like trash in robot mode.

 

I feel the same, Haslab has too much detailing on the body, just too too much !!
Obviously, I know it's an updated G1 incarnation for a new toy line, but all that extra detail lines, for me it's just too much !! Way over done for sure.
Still, I like the height more than Cells.

 

Zeta: Orson Welles at the start of his career
Haslab:Orson Welles at the end of his career

 

Don’t get me wrong, the haslab unicron is cool but the zeta one is miles better in my opinion. Having either is awesome but the zeta one is just cleaner overall and more like the animation in my eyes

 

Also, you're going to put effort in to transform either of them, might as well do the Masterpiece if you're going to do it at all.

One of my biggest complaints about Unicron is the backpack but not in the way most think... (It was in the beginning, I'm over that aspect) it's having to move all those shell pieces while trying to get the robot pieces moved and connected/disconnected and then having to futz with the shell when it's all said and done.

Cell/Pumpkin has a little bit of that as you're forming the planet's crust but it's really not in your way.

Plus those shoulders on HasLab... *shudders*

 

Agreed. Haslab Unicron does look great in planet mode though. Nothing beats its presence. Especially if the maw is painted or stickered to make it orange.

I Toyhaxed up the maw on mine last week and applied *most* of the stickers. Makes quite a difference.

 

It's funny you bring that up, I just saw those stickers for the first time yesterday. They make it look much better.

 

I hope they tackle IDW Unicorn in the future.

 

Even as I gaze into the emerald eyes of my Pumpkin, I still have no idea what 01 Studio did to make them reflective when the LED is off and transparent when it's on. I'd love to do it to other figures with light piping if only I knew how. Is it some special type of plastic or paint?

 

I don't know for sure but a guess might be some sort of reflective paint that becomes invisible when light is present (like a two way mirror). That's probably too complicated though lol...probably the case is that the led is directly connected to light piping (all the same clear piece as the eyes). I'd be surprised if someone hasn't taken one apart to find out...

 

Looks like some sort of gas deposition coating, like sunglasses have.

 

So, I took apart his chest to loosen the neck/torso slider.... That's not a process I'd wish on my worst enemy, I hope the factory workers have jigs they can use. That said, I did loosen the slider.

The obvious way is to disassemble the top part of the upper chest, where the shoulders are attached. Don't do it this way. The problem here is that there are several heavy duty springs and a lot of loose parts, getting it back together is almost unmanageable.

My recommendation if someone wants to do this is to disassemble the bottom part of the upper chest, where it connects the slider to his abs. There are no springs in this piece. Note which side of each piece removed is the front and the back. This will let you push the slider out the top of his neckhole without dealing with the shoulder ratchets. From here, remove the slider teeth (if they didn't already fall out) and the springs that apply the pressure. Compress the springs as much as they can be compressed for a few minutes. Using something heavy like a large hardcover book can help. Reassemble the torso, being careful to feed the slider in past both teeth.