What could end 2021? What could be the final review of the year, a final send off to the year that reminded us "things could get worse"? Up until the last week before it was released, I did have this guy on pre-order but ended up cancelling it due to the rocky nature of 2021. JobKeeper was ending. Work wasn't restarting reliably; it was hard to justify an $800 toy with no stable income coming in. So, I wrote it off, thinking I wouldn't get a chance to see it in person, let alone review it. Well, that chance would eventually come when Melbourne's version of Oz Comic-Con came around. On Wednesday Night group chats for the Transformers Collectors Club Australia, I said I'd be willing to help them with events as, to quote myself, "it's what I do for a living anyway." The current president of the club backed Unicron and brought his copy along to the event, and it's thanks to him that I was able to work on this review. Notes were taken at the show, though, and while I didn't get a chance to transform him, I did pay close attention to him transforming it, along with the transformation videos on YouTube by others who have reviewed it. Logistically, this was the best way to get this review done, even if it means it's not as thorough as other reviews have been in the past.
I'll start with the accessories, as most are nothing to write home about. The largest and necessary one is a display stand primarily for the planet mode. While the robot can support its weight in robot mode, the stand can remain attached to the figure in both modes and dramatically helps with the transformation. While elements like the removable back leg for the sake of moving the figure closer to the wall is an excellent addition, one thing it could have benefited from was a rotation point at the base of the main arm to help move all the weight during the transformation process. Due to the weight and all the ratchet joints in the figure, an inbuilt way to spin it would help immeasurably. Due to their small size, what wasn't on display at the booth was the nano figure of Galvatron, Hot Rod, and the Autobot Shuttle. Galvatron and Hot Rod are nothing special, but considering as the two characters are barely a centimetre tall, there's understandably not much to them. From what I've seen in other reviews, though, the Shuttle's well-sculpted and is an excellent small display in its own right, in a similar style to models like the old die-cast Star Trek ships, but on a much smaller scale. A nice pseudo accessory he comes with is a removable head. While it's not a Headmaster, the gimmick is a nice inclusion for those who want to display the head on its own and a battle-damaged alternate face to replicate its status in Season 3 of the cartoon. The head has its own separate stand that can hold the minifigures and ship mentioned above, with room to include the ones that come with the Generations Selects Behold Galvatron set. However, these are small fry to the main event.
As for Unicron himself, I was stunned seeing him for the first time in Planet Mode. Words can't describe how big this guy is. For what is effectively a ball with spikes, Unicron is genuinely impressive. The transformation is almost seamless, with the panel lines for transformation blending effortlessly into the sculpted detail. The planet mode is the most eye-catching model for Unicron, and even in this form, it's nice to see the gimmick with the maw, where all the teeth can move in unison if you spin the yellow ring around it. It's a nice novelty feature, even if it's not one many will use. The blast effects posts on both the planet and robot mode are... divisive for me. On the one hand, I like that he has them, as specific blast effects would work well on him to make it look like the Autobots and Decepticons are firing their most potent weapons at him. On the other hand, some of them are in awkward places, and the variety of effects parts isn't there to justify the feature, let alone the ones that would look good on him (ones like Earthrise Soundbarrier's, for example). While the planet mode looks good and is an excellent representation of Unicron's most iconic mode, it's hard to talk about what is essentially a plastic ball with spikes and a ring, so let's get to the more exciting mode.
In robot mode, the only way to describe Unicron is imposing. The biggest ever Transformer lives up to the name thanks to how big a footprint he takes up in any display. Unicron demands attention with even the most basic positions you place him in. However, you'll likely only be placing him in these basic positions because of how heavy he is and how strong the ratchet joints support his weight. With that said, though, almost everything you'd want to move for poses can move. Seeing it in person, the only thing I could think of that would be nice to move around more are the wings, having a hinge where they connect to the shoulders to splay them out more, but that is an incredibly small nitpick. Like in the planet mode, I love all the sculpted detail on him; every surface in both modes is sculpted beautifully. Even the wings, which are very hollow, look really good due to how purposeful the open spaces appear. It helps make look Unicron even bigger. However, one major flaw that many have with the toy is how the designers handled the execution. Unicron is a shell former; almost, if not all of the planet mode, ends up on either his shins or his back in robot mode. In photos, this does look bad, really bad. But in person, it's something that works to his advantage, as the kibble helps make him look even stronger, even more imposing. Could the engineering be improved? Yes, see "Totally not Zeta Toy's Totally not Unicron" that was announced simultaneously and released before this project was. But the issue with better integrating the planet into robot mode, the more frustrating the transformation is, something that I've seen first hand as transforming Unicron isn't easy, purely due to the weight. I'm terrified to think how painful of a transformation "Studio Cell" Unicron would be if he were as big and heavy as Haslab Unicron is.
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| Credit to Nathan who took this photo of the booth. |
When looking at this from its perspective being a Generations-style release, there's very little to criticize. There aren't any major issues that bring the figure down. By the same merit, though, $800 for a Generations figure is hard to justify, even more so when you compare it to the roughly $500 Studio Cell figure that had Masterpiece styled engineering and was more accurate to the movie. For the cost, it's not unreasonable for people to want something with more complex engineering to help clean the figure up. However, all the barely contained planet chunks help give the sculpture a unique presence that the movie-accurate design doesn't have. I know first-hand how much attention Unicron got as many people stopped to look at how impressive it is. He's one of the best shell formers ever released by Hasbro, but on the matter of if Shellforming was the right approach, that's more debatable and up to personal preference.
