TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

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ganon578's review: Unicron

Name: Unicron
Allegiance: None
Function: Dark God, Chaos Bringer, Planet Eater, Massive Orange Robot
Group: Universe Armada Series

Motto: “That which does not become a part of the one, shall become one with the void.”

Megatron: Why should I, what's in it for me?
Unicron: Your bargaining posture is highly dubious; But very well. I will provide you with a new body, and new troops to command.
Megatron: And?
Unicron: And nothing. You belong to me... now.
Megatron: I belong to nobody!
Unicron: Perhaps I misjudged you. Proceed… on your way to oblivion.

Immortal, indestructible and all-powerful, Unicron is the ultimate evil in the cosmos. Massive silent and unstoppable, he floats through the non-space between dimensions, reaching out with his sensors to find the universe with the most energy. Those dimensions he finds suitable, he consumes, destroying every planet, every star and every trace of life. He has been destroyed or defeated countless times, yet he always returns, hungrier and more powerful than before, for he is more than a mere monster. He is evil incarnate, and as long as there is evil, there is Unicron.

I have no shelf space. I have no money. So as a gift, I ask for Unicron. No money? Solved. Shelf space? Problem. So I make room, and now I have an awesome and massive Transformer on my shelf that can give you the middle finger (offensive in the US) with a lighted hand.

Unicron is one of those characters that everyone loves to see in any form of Transformers mythology as the main villain. He’s huge, orange, and a terror to everyone and everything in the universe. According to TF Wiki, he’s the eternal nemesis of Primus, and he fears nothing. Well, he fears nothing except the Matrix that holds the essence of Primus. Unicron is probably most well known for his role (voiced by Orson Welles) in Transformers: The Movie, where he remakes a broken Megatron into Galvatron, and provides him with Cyclonus, Scourge, and the Sweeps. This Unicron though, is from the Armada Series (though in my collection he is solely from G1) of which mini-cons are used for great amounts of energy and power. Armada (the cartoon) basically boils down to Unicron having almost limitless power, but his fate is sealed when his precious mini-cons turn on him, and by consuming Galvatron he disappears in a flash of light.

Alternate Mode: Unicron’s alternate mode (no surprise) is a planet. A planet-eating planet. This immediately shoots him to the top of the list as weirdest alternate mode in my collection. However odd the mode may be, it’s pretty neat. The planet mode is very similar in design to the planet mode seen in the 1986 movie. He’s mostly transparent purple, with orange as the other main color, and some grey here and there. The detail in the plastic itself is pretty good; there are panels and robotic designs everywhere, which is essential for a toy this large, and the paint apps are done well. One major problem I have with the alternate mode is the lack of hidden robot mode parts. His legs fold up, but are easily seen on the bottom of the planet, and underneath the mouth, his head can be seen. Another problem I have with the mode is the lack of a good position to sit him in. It’s terribly difficult to stand the planet upright since there’s a grey plastic rim around the entire sphere, so it limits you to either leaning him on something or setting him down so the mouth faces straight up. Furthermore, balancing him upright is a chore due to his hefty weight. Despite these flaws, Unicron has some really great features. Just above the mouth there’s a spot for Dead-End (the pack-in mini-con) to fit, so Unicron has a cannon that juts out. Furthermore, you can use Dead-End on the lower sides of the planet to activate missile launchers. Not just any missile launchers, mind you, launchers that fire three missiles at once! It’s a true rarity in current Universe figures, and a welcome one at that. And did I mention that you can attach more mini-cons to the ring in planet mode to get a total of 27 mini-cons on him? No? Well you can, and it’s awesome! That is, if you have the mini-cons to fill the spots. The last gimmick, which I think is the coolest, is the mouth. If you push together the two horns on either side of the mouth, sliding plates close and open mimicking chomping teeth! You can almost hear the crunch/munch of a planet being devoured… Anyways, it’s a solid alternate mode, but it definitely has some flaws. Blatantly obvious robot parts are a sore spot, but I guess it’s better than him being a shell-former.

Robot Mode: Ah, the robot mode. Typically my favorite mode for Transformers (with some exceptions), and I definitely favor Unicron in this mode. Standing upright, Unicron is about 18-20 inches tall (that’s about 46-51 cm for all you metric people out there). This basically adds up to him being GIANT. In this mode, orange is the major color, with grey and purple mixed in (especially in the lower legs and chest). Detail in the plastic is good in this mode too; there’s plenty to see, and there really aren’t any flat, boring areas. As a robot, Unicron has several joints, of which I believe all of them are clicking joints. This means posing is not a problem as everything is locked into place. Articulation is everywhere in this guy, including his fingers. Moving fingers! You can give him closed fists, open palms, offensive gestures, or you can clamp smaller robots inside. That’s just phenomenal. He has twisting wrists and a moving neck too, even though one of the fists and the eyes light up (more on that later). It's a nice feature since wires are running through those parts, and movement could be complicated. Although Unicron is incredibly heavy (and rightfully so for such a large figure), he’s surprisingly balanced thanks to his large feet. The feet have click joints on both ends, so you can balance him out relatively well. As for gimmicks in robot mode, Unicron has several chambers in which you can hide mini-cons: one in each shin, one in each forearm, and one in the abdomen. He also has ports for attaching them directly: one on each shoulder, one on each leg missile launcher, and you could probably stick a couple to his wings on the back. As mentioned above, he has missile launchers on the legs that are the same as the triple shot ones in planet mode. If you need further weaponry, push Dead-End into a mini-con post on Unicron’s back, and a large cannon slides out of his chest and releases a large missile. Unicron's eyes light up, which is activated by a button on the top of his head. He has a light up hand too, activated by pushing down the palm. It’s pretty slick and pretty fun too. One gimmick that is missing is sound effects. For a figure this large with such a hefty price tag, I would have expected some sounds to go along with his lights. Also, the shell that forms half of the planet hangs on his back on the wings. They’re out of the way, which is nice, but I would have hoped there would have been something different that could have been done with them instead of just turning them into kibble. Overall, there’s a lot of value to be had between both modes; but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his faults too.

Dead-End: This is an interesting mini-con. Black and yellow are the colors here, and he wraps up into a tiny cannon-wielding planet. The transformation is easy, and the only bad part about him is the massively oversized cannon he has (not that it’s a problem for the ladies). There’s not much that can be done with him aside from either standing there, or being attached or held on to by Unicron. He’s a decent figure, but it sure doesn’t make or break this package.

Marks out of 10:

Transformation: 7. It’s fun, and not as tricky as I would have expected from a large figure. The wings/shell are a pain to clip on and off.
Durability: 9. The main figure is built like a tank. The wings are another story.
Fun: 10. There are way too many gimmicks, missiles, and mini-con fun that can be done all at once without sensory overload.
Price: 7. $50 at retail is not bad for a large figure with as many features as he has. On the other hand, that’s a decent amount of money to shell out.
Overall: 9. Absolutely necessary? Probably not. He’s a Toys R Us exclusive, so you may have to hunt him down to get him. He sure is a lot of fun though, and he’s got two good modes for play and display. Plus he dwarfs most other Transformers, and if you have mini-cons everywhere, they’ll have a place to sit.