Alright, this is a silly one. But, it’s the exact kind of silly that appeals to my sensibilities. So, Unicron, the planet-eating cosmic horror of the Transformers universe, first appeared in the 1986 animated movie, but didn’t actually get a figure until 2002’s Transformers Armada version.
To be fair, it was worth the wait.
But there actually was going to be a toy back in 1986, one that ultimately got canceled. About a foot tall, it would have featured a voice chip, among other things. Supposedly, it was durability concerns, and the voice chip not working very well that led to it being axed, but also, like, just look at it:
Just soak it in.
You can see why it ultimately went unproduced. But the funny thing about nostalgia sometimes is that things that were once considered bad end up acquiring a goofy charm, and over the years, I’ve heard many a fan say they would buy this guy if Hasbro or Takara ever actually produced him, spherical torso and all. And Super 7 seems to have figured out a way to kinda-sorta make it happen, by producing a jumbo non-transforming figure of the design as part of their long-running ReAction Figure toyline. I previously looked at their takes on Hot Rod and Galvatron here, and found ReAction figures to be competent, but overpriced. But this one here was such a unique concept, that I had to have it. And it promptly never showed up anywhere at brick and mortar (or my usual online shopping haunts), so I got one at TFCon for a steep 45 Canadian Dollars. Let’s see if he was worth it.
The Sculpt
The impossible dream made reality.
See, a thing about Unicron is that he’s planet-sized, so there’s no way he’s ever going to scale with the mainline, so a figure of him can pretty much be any size the designers want it to be, in my opinion. In this case, as a jumbo ReAction Figure, Unicron stands 6 inches tall, in scale with my Marvel Legends. He looks smaller than that at a glance, though, but I put him next to a Spider-Man, and nope, that’s basically it.
This Spider-Man is from the 90’s, so I’m presuming he’s making a tasteless joke about his weight.
He still reads as tiny, though.
“Pah, I’m tall enough to take on the so-called chosen one!”
One Matrix of Leadership later.
But he can tower over the usual smaller ReAction figures. A shame I flipped my two Transformers ones at that same TFCon I got this guy at.
Those Worlds Smallest Transformers I got work pretty well with him, though.
The real story here, though, is how closely this replicates the appearance of that G1 prototype. I’ve squinted at all the online images I can find, and they really went above and beyond here. He’s got the portly, oval torso, the stick legs, the big, swoopy arms, and the kind of squashed head, with pursed lips.
This version really does give Orson Welles. He’s about to verbally eviscerate his opponents.
All the jankiness has been lovingly replicated. Even the specific little greebles across his body match the specific lines on all the reference images I can find! I think the one major difference here is the shoulders, which on the actual large toy, have a pair of thin plastic flaps that lay over top of them. On this figure, they’re a bit chunkier and more substantial, seemingly for durability and poseability reasons, which are fair. They even replicated the details on the back of him, which means that they either have access to the prototype, or squinted at the video of Collection DX visiting him at that toy museum where he’s on display.
Imagine there’s tiny Dinobots flying away from his butt.
Speaking of that, something I really appreciate here is that he’s “transformed” correctly, because the actual prototype often isn’t when it goes on display. Usually, his torso isn’t extended, and is instead left shortened into an orb.
Not only is his torso not extended here, but his arms aren’t collapsed. He’s a real mess.
That’s how he looks at that toy museum, and the art on the box even draws him that way! But, no, he’s got the yellow equator around his abs, like he’s supposed to. Also, his arms aren’t hanging low, they’re in their proper place.
The Colors
They’re questioning why they follow this guy.
Unicron’s colors are similarly slavishly loyal to the prototype, with one odd exception, which I’ll get into below. He’s a combination of light blue and yellow, with bits of red, and some odd black accents on his chest, which I think is a speaker on the actual toy.
Let’s Ponder the Orb.
It’s all very well applied, and I’m not sure which deco is plastic, and which is paint. I think it’s a mixture of yellow painted blue, and blue painted yellow, but it all matches very well anyway. There’s some miniscule red bits on the original’s arms that aren’t painted here, but at this scale, it’s acceptable. What’s odd is that he’s got two big circles below his belt that are painted in red (you can see them above), when on the original, they’re unpainted blue, a strange choice on a figure that’s otherwise trying to be a 1:1 replica, but I didn’t even notice until I checked the photos.
Build Quality
Thick and sturdy.
It’s an open question if this guy’s worth the price I paid, but I can tell you this: They didn’t skimp on the plastic, this is a pretty dense-feeling robot, made out of solid, rigid materials. I think the torso might be hollow (but with thick walls), but the arms, legs and head are just solid chunks, making him feel very durable, though the amount of paint on his exterior means I’m not going to drop him any time soon. And despite his legs being these skinny, long things, he’s got huge, taloned feet, so he’s very good at staying standing.
Articulation
You know, I wasn’t expecting much from this guy, and had heard that his poseability was pretty useless, but in hand, it actually turned out better than I expected. So, like the smaller ReAction Figures, he’s got five points of articulation: Neck, shoulders, and hips, and it’s all a little blocked by his torso and sculpt, but not so much that you can’t pose him at all.
“Looking for this?”
His legs have a little bit of back-and-forth articulation, and while he can’t get them high enough to kick, he can walk pretty convincingly, because he’s so stable. His arms, meanwhile, don’t necessarily extend straight forwards, but kind of rotate along his torso. So he can hide his face in shame…
“I can’t believe they never made the full-sized version of me!”
…swing them as he walks…
Interstellar strut.
…politely fold them behind his back…
On his way to classily devour your planet.
And do a few other fun things. Oh, and his head rotates.
You know he had to do it to ’em.
It’s not much, but it’s more than I thought, and really, he’s probably more articulated than the G1 prototype actually is.
Accessories, or Lack Thereof
There’s one little disappointment here: The photography on the back of the box shows him coming with a large blue gun that he can hold in his hand, and the final release lacks it. The original toy had thus gun as an accessory, and it could change into a stand in planet mode. The prototype also had a shield for his other arm, similarly not included here. But, in all fairness we’ve only really seen these accessories in grainy older photos, and on prototype patents. All modern displays of the prototype don’t have them, and they seem to have been lost to the ether.
“Like Bumblebee soon will be!”
Maybe they omitted the gun on this gun because he can’t actually hold it straight due to his odd arm articulation. Truth be told, I only miss it here because it’s on the box. More importantly, though his hands are 5-millimeter compatible, so you can get him to hold pretty much any modern Transformer’s guns, or other accessories.
Taking matters into his own hands.
There’s room for fun to be had!
When the planet’s a bit chunky, and needs to be hacked to bits.
Overall:
This is one of those things where you either get the inherent ridiculousness of the premise, or you don’t. Me, I love it, and this is the kind of weird homage to an obscure thing that just appeals to me. But what’s he worth? $45 Canadian makes him ten dollars more than your average Marvel Legend, and while he’s about the same size as them, they have a lot more going on than this fairly simple guy. So you’re definitely paying a “boutique” nostalgia tax, which is fundamentally always kind of a swindle. But, okay, for what he is, he’s very well-made. The sculpt and colors are slavishly loyal to the original prototype, he’s very durably constructed, and while his poseability and features are very basic, he’s still fun to handle. As a one-off thing, I’m happy with my purchase, and if this appeals to you, you’ll have fun, too.
Unicron encounters a goddess mightier than he.
I do really wish he transformed, though. We know how the original transforms, and it’s fairly simple! I’d buy a small transforming figure of this design. HasTak doesn’t generally allow external merchandise to transform (aside from that one Hot Wheels Optimus Prime), so they should really get on that! For now, though, I’ve got this guy to menace my ’86 movie shelf.
And to pose for Cybertronic Spree group shots!
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