The Hunt Part 1
I believe the Crater Cruiser (#1787) from the short-lived Unitron series was the first LEGO set I purchased with my own money. Back then, I mixed all my parts together instead of keeping them by set like I do now. While this was better for creativity when building, it makes it harder to rebuild the original sets for use in the comic. Therefore, when I decided to include Unitron in the comic several years ago, I dug out the parts for the flying module of the Crater Cruiser and never got around to rebuilding the land vehicle. The Unitron pilot in the flying module became Ralph Gunbar and fit well into storylines, but it always bothered me that I never showed the rest of the vehicle. While recently visiting my Dad’s house, I FINALLY dug out the rest of the parts from my old storage bins and completed the Crater Cruiser. I couldn’t wait to put this sleek set in a comic, but realized I needed to explain who Gunbar’s (never-before-seen) partner was. Now you know. 🙂
— This is not an official LEGO comic. This is a tribute.
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Lego could have done a lot more with Unitron. I liked the Unitron and Spyrius minifigs best, because the prints implied that the space suits were computerized, armored, and mechanically augmented to a much higher degree than what was represented on other space minifigs. Some of the minifig heads also have prints appearing to represent cybernetic implants.
Unitron might have survived longer on the retail shelves if Lego had given the theme more sets and at more varied price points. Crater Cruiser was the most affordable Unitron set, and it was a medium-sized product which probably cost around $20. I remember that most of the sets I bought as a kid, or received as birthday gifts, were well under $10. The Ice Planet Celestial Sled was $4, and the Blizzard Baron was $8. Anything more expensive was going to be a rare gift (usually Christmas) from adult relatives. Unitron may have missed out on a large volume of small buys from kids going to Toys ‘R Us with $5-$10 in their pocket.
I managed to acquire a Unitron minifigure in the mid-90’s through the $6 “Space Explorers” minifigure pack, but I have many more Futuron, Ice Planet, and Spyrius minifigures, owing to the range of affordable sets in those themes. I really liked the aesthetics and sets of Unitron, and wish that Lego had done more with the Unitrons.
Agreed, the cybernetic highlights, armor and other detailing brought LEGO Space figures into the next generation. Unitron was cool, but it was weird that the theme received so few sets and one was a HUGE and EXPENSIVE monorail! By the way, I do have some Spyrius sets, although they’re one of the only LEGO Space themes that has never appeared in the comic. There’s a storyline reason for that…