The Energon Pub

Well, if HasLab Unicron doesn't get funded (or it does but you can't get one) then we have alternatives.

Personal opinion time: This thing is incredible. More poseable, more accurate, cooler transformation, and if rumours are true cheaper than HasLab. Really the only things the HasLab has going for it over this are raw size and the chompy mouth gimmick (which I will admit is cool).

But what do you guys think?

As usual, 3P do what HasTak don't.

I may even go and sell my Amazon Unicron to replace him with the Zeta one.

3P only does what Has Tak has done

The whole 3P premise their whole basis is to copy what’s been done before.

Let me guess he runs on Angelmoss energy and creates Blandtran Transfermars.

Stargrave wrote:3P only does what Has Tak has done

The whole 3P premise their whole basis is to copy what’s been done before.

Let me guess he runs on Angelmoss energy and creates Blandtran Transfermars.

Er.... You know that I'm talking about engineering, not the characters themselves.

The only time you can say they "copy" things is for straight KOs or the improved ones like Black Mamba's and Wei Jiang's.

So it's like a Ford frame on Porshe guts?

That last post came out pretty salty but I meant it in good fun. I do get passionate about this subject though! And it's hard for me to summarize too I can't always put my finger on it.

We need to get on some tweed jackets on and puff pipes by a fire while I'm turned to the dark side of 3P over a long passionate conversation

I could very well be old and stuck in my Bro ways but I've always felt this moral conundrum with 3P. I think I'm even touchier with wanting the Haslab project to make it so again sorry about the salt. Or pepper. Whichever seasoning I may use at any given time that one find unpalatable to the ear

There are nice things about it, but I’m honestly underwhelmed.

The hasbro one looks amazing mid transformation as a floating not quite ball of death. The third party looks smaller, not quite nailing it in planet mode but makes up for it with out the spike strips/flypaper. If the red chest parts are shiny and reflective in the final version it will have that over the hasbro one too.


Looks a nice replacement/upgrade for armada toy but still doesnt really rival the hasbro one even if it really deals with the bits that irk me the most.

blackeyedprime wrote:Looks a nice replacement/upgrade for armada toy but still doesnt really rival the hasbro one even if it really deals with the bits that irk me the most.

100% agree with that statement. Honestly, we cannot really compare him to the HasLab one. Almost like comparing apples and oranges. Better comparison is with the Armada mold. And for me, this Zeta Unicron is a Amazon/2010 Unicron killer. I will keep my Armada one and it's Throne of Chaos for sure. But I'll most likely sell my Amazon to get the Zeta. This will be the ultimate pairing.

Credit where credit is due. How it deals with the panels is pretty interesting, and what the stand is made of (alternate mouth parts and "suction effect?" is pure genius. However, there are a few points that worry me about the figure as a whole:

- Telescoping legs. Those are my pet peeves as on my G1 figures they've worn out on some. Hopefully they'll incorporate a locking mechanism somewhere.
- Die cast ratchets in the shoulders and waist. I get it, they're for durability, but if the ratchet is stronger than the surrounding parts and it jams up, well...
- Panels on rods, plenty of them. To me those are potential breakage points, no matter how they're justified.

In looks, the thick collar and shoulders don't really do it for me.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Credit where credit is due. How it deals with the panels is pretty interesting, and what the stand is made of (alternate mouth parts and "suction effect?" is pure genius. However, there are a few points that worry me about the figure as a whole:

- Telescoping legs. Those are my pet peeves as on my G1 figures they've worn out on some. Hopefully they'll incorporate a locking mechanism somewhere.
- Die cast ratchets in the shoulders and waist. I get it, they're for durability, but if the ratchet is stronger than the surrounding parts and it jams up, well...
- Panels on rods, plenty of them. To me those are potential breakage points, no matter how they're justified.

In looks, the thick collar and shoulders don't really do it for me.

On the swappable maw and stand, I consider it less of a genius move and more being too clever by a half. Wonderful, it has an alternate maw that is THE maw it should have, but it's a major failure of the design that this isn't integrated from the get go, and it's an admission that the planet mode is, at its core, sub-par.

I also look warily at the telescoping legs and die cast ratchets. There's a whole lot of risk there.

The panels on rods is also disappointing. I get that it's a panel-former, but rods feel like cheating. Might as well be a parts-former.

Whoa... didn't know about dis one. I'm digging the face a LOT more than the Haslab version! The face on da Haslab one just looks wrong somehow. Dis one is sooooo clean in robo mode! I hate all the panel kibble on the Haslab one. It ruins the look. Teh chomping mouth on the Haslab is pretty sweet, and it kinda looks better in planet mode except for the weird extra bits on the ring. Dat transformation on dis one tho... wow fiddly. Cool how they did it hidin' all the panels but he looks about as fun to transform as Masterpiece Megs. Prototype, yeah... Really want to see this one in color tho, not just shopped.

megatronus wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Credit where credit is due. How it deals with the panels is pretty interesting, and what the stand is made of (alternate mouth parts and "suction effect?" is pure genius. However, there are a few points that worry me about the figure as a whole:

- Telescoping legs. Those are my pet peeves as on my G1 figures they've worn out on some. Hopefully they'll incorporate a locking mechanism somewhere.
- Die cast ratchets in the shoulders and waist. I get it, they're for durability, but if the ratchet is stronger than the surrounding parts and it jams up, well...
- Panels on rods, plenty of them. To me those are potential breakage points, no matter how they're justified.

In looks, the thick collar and shoulders don't really do it for me.

On the swappable maw and stand, I consider it less of a genius move and more being too clever by a half. Wonderful, it has an alternate maw that is THE maw it should have, but it's a major failure of the design that this isn't integrated from the get go, and it's an admission that the planet mode is, at its core, sub-par.

I also look warily at the telescoping legs and die cast ratchets. There's a whole lot of risk there.

The panels on rods is also disappointing. I get that it's a panel-former, but rods feel like cheating. Might as well be a parts-former.

... which the test shot practically was

At least the extra maw is repurposed and not just laying on the side. Brownie points there.

I didn't think having a screen accurate robot mode and a screen accurate planet mode was possible. Wrong again!

I mean, I think the mouth isn't done as well as Haslab's, even without the rotation gimmick. But it looks really nice.

Even without pitching in for Haslabs, it just isn't enough for me to ditch my Amazon Unicron, though. Still, it's a good option.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:I didn't think having a screen accurate robot mode and a screen accurate planet mode was possible. Wrong again!

I mean, I think the mouth isn't done as well as Haslab's, even without the rotation gimmick. But it looks really nice.

Even without pitching in for Haslabs, it just isn't enough for me to ditch my Amazon Unicron, though. Still, it's a good option.

The planet mode isn’t going to be screen accurate - that’s pretty much impossible given the conceits of the robot design.

megatronus wrote:The planet mode isn’t going to be screen accurate - that’s pretty much impossible given the conceits of the robot design.

That is 100% correct. Especially for the tiny rings.
Plus that bot have that collar behind his neck.

Still, this one seem VERY interesting. But before final judgement, I'll wait for the finished product and the video reviews of the actual toy.

Screen accurate enough.

Gauntlet101010 wrote:Screen accurate enough.

The chasm between “screen accurate” and “screen accurate enough” is massive, much like unicron himself.

megatronus wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:Screen accurate enough.

The chasm between “screen accurate” and “screen accurate enough” is massive, much like unicron himself.

"Screen accurate enough" is what we must settle for 99% of the time. Only Galaxy Force / Cybertron actually put the TOYS themselves on screen.

It amazes me (in a good way) at how far we've come in Transformers to where this isn't really "screen accurate" anymore.

If only I could own all the toys.

I gotta say, though, I wish that other 3rd party Unicron - the one recreating the BW Neo prototype - didn't seem stalled. If Haslabs comes through it'd bring something new to the table.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

megatronus wrote:

Gauntlet101010 wrote:Screen accurate enough.

The chasm between “screen accurate” and “screen accurate enough” is massive, much like unicron himself.

"Screen accurate enough" is what we must settle for 99% of the time. Only Galaxy Force / Cybertron actually put the TOYS themselves on screen.

https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... nes/43441/

So if the alternate mouth and effects part are the stand, what do you use as a stand if you want to display it with the alternate mouth and effect?

Plutoniumboss wrote:So if the alternate mouth and effects part are the stand, what do you use as a stand if you want to display it with the alternate mouth and effect?

Easy:

UNICRON'S ETERNAL EVIL AND INDOMITABLE WILL!

But seriously, indeed. Will there be a stand at all?

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Plutoniumboss wrote:So if the alternate mouth and effects part are the stand, what do you use as a stand if you want to display it with the alternate mouth and effect?

Easy:

UNICRON'S ETERNAL EVIL AND INDOMITABLE WILL!

But seriously, indeed. Will there be a stand at all?

Only if there's a fall!

Original video have been taken down due to a "copyright claim by Hasbro".

Hmmmmm…..

I greatly suspect that "Hasbro" is a bunch of frustrated fanboys making a false claim.

-Kanrabat- wrote:Original video have been taken down due to a "copyright claim by Hasbro".

Hmmmmm…..

I greatly suspect that "Hasbro" is a bunch of frustrated fanboys making a false claim.

How so? How would the claim be false?