ROBOTO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

Okay, so it’s worth noting that I *have* reviewed something Masters of the Universe-related this calendar year, but its also been since all the way back in January, which is something of a gap.  It sort of happens with Masters, due to my more selective collecting.  On my short list of characters I pretty much always buy in any given style is today’s focus, Roboto.  He was added to the Masterverse line-up in 2023, while they were still pretty heavily leaning into Revelation style figures, so that was his focus.  Despite that being a generally classic take on him, he’s never the less gotten a revisit, aiming more at specificially updating the original figure, which I’m looking at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Roboto is part of Series 16 of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Masterverse line.  He’s under the “New Eternia” banner, which serves to update the classic designs more directly, and also offer up some optional “improvements.”  The figure stands 7 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Like most modern Robotos, he lacks mid-torso movement, and this time around the swappable hands are worked into the standard wrist peg system, rather than adding an additional cut joint.  The mouth plate is movable, but not quite to the extent of the Revelation version, so it doesn’t really feel much like practical articulation in that sense.  Despite both being based on the original Roboto design and sharing a number of common design elements, there are not parts shared between the two Masterverse Robotos.  It’s not terribly surprising, given there’s just generally been very little crossover between the two themes.  He does, however, share his legs with the New Eternia Trap Jaw, continuing the trend of that particular re-use.  Though totally new sculpts, they’re using the same general set-up as the Revelation ones, complete with the same slightly odd layout of the kneepads relative to the articulation.  From the mid-section up, he’s an all-new sculpt.  It takes the broad strokes designs of the vintage figure and sort of does its own sort of thing with them.  He’s a bit more rounded, especially on the torso and head designs, and there are more intricate elements worked into things.  The head is more involved than we tend to see, using a three-piece assembly.  He’s got the usual mouth guard, as well as a “helmet” piece, both of which can be removed to reveal a robotic skull underneath.  The torso brings back the gear turning action feature we frequently see with this guy, which is a lot of fun.  The color work on this figure is in keeping with the generally metallic leanings of the more recent New Eternia figures, which I do rather like.  The helmet is totally clear, which makes for an iffy look in the photos, but looks really, really nice in person.  Roboto is packed with an alternate take on his mouth guard, a standard right hand, and axe, blaster, and claw attachments, which pretty much cover all of the basics.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After getting the Revelation Roboto, I didn’t really feel like I *needed* another version.  But, a Roboto’s a Roboto, so it’s not like I was really going to balk at buying a new one.  The pictures on this one were sort of iffy at first, so I wasn’t sure how much I’d like it, but in person he looked really good, and I have to say, he turned out really nice.  Personally, I think I still lean a bit towards the Revelation figure, but it’s cool to see a different approach to the same general design, and there’s a lot of really fun elements to this figure’s implementation.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.