Tag Archives: Roboto

#3912: Roboto

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

ROBOTO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

It’s been a year and a half since I’ve talked at all about Masters of the Universe Classics.  There’s….reasons?  I mean, the big one is that the line’s been dead for the better part of a decade, so it’s not like there’s a lot of updates.  Also, I’m only a moderate MOTU fan at best, so it’s not like I’ve even got a huge backlog of them.  And discussion of how the line was run is tricky at best, and I’ll just leave it at that.  But, I do have some parts of the franchise that I enjoy no matter the surrounding situation, and one of the core characters for that is Roboto.  He’s just so neat and nifty and retro, and that’s very fun.  So, let’s look at another one of those!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Roboto was the October release for Masters of the Universe Classics 2010 run of figures, making him the tenth standard figure of the line’s third year.  By 2010, the line was pretty much in full-swing, and they’d gotten the subscriptions set up, so Roboto was around for a leisurely 2 hours and some change before selling out, which I guess was pretty nice.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation.  While he loses the mid-torso joint that most figures in the line sported, he does gain an articulated jaw, so it winds up as an even trade.  Roboto’s sculpt was a mix of new and re-used, which was pretty par for the course.  Like his vintage counterpart, he shares his legs with Trap-Jaw (who also shared his legs with Optikk, all three the same year), but his upper half is all-new.  Roboto was very definitely based directly on his vintage counterpart, rather than his 200x version.  At the time, it was the most sensible choice.  There was an alternate head made available later, but that wasn’t present with the initial release.  The sculpt does a pretty respectable job of capturing that vintage look.  The head and torso are very cleanly detailed, and I love the working jaw and turning gears inside the torso.  I also really dig the little heart sculpted around the central gear, in reference to his mini comic appearance.  The arms are fine, but the elbows are notably rather restricted in their motion, which was a recurring issue for the line.  QC was unfortunately a notable issue for this guy.  Thankfully, mine isn’t plagued by the torso cracking, but there was no avoiding the reversed shoulders.  They aren’t the end of the world, but it’s pretty obvious they’re not the way they’re supposed to be.  The color work was actually pretty nice for this guy; he’s really bright and bold, so it makes him very eye-catching.  He’s also got a wash on the silver sections, to help bring out the sculpted details a little better.  Roboto was packed with his classic claw, axe, and blaster attachments, as well as a standard hand.  The weapons are a bit soft and prone to warping, but generally they look okay, and the standard hand is a nice addition.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had only *just* picked up my first MOTUC figure when Roboto dropped, and I wasn’t up on keeping current, so I missed his day-of.  I contemplated getting him a number of times early in the run, but he was always just a little over what I wanted to pay, and then I ended up sort of falling out of it all.  I’ve been keeping an eye out for a bit, though, since he was the only of my regular line-up of characters I didn’t have for Classics.  While on family vacation, Matty wanted to go to the toy store, and they just so happened to have one of this guy for for a price I was willing to pay, so, huzzah, I have one!  Admittedly, in light of the Origins and Masterverse figures, he feels kind of quaint and a little outmatched, but I’m glad to have him nevertheless, and I’ll never complain abut more Roboto figures.

#3864: Roboto

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

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.

#3463: Roboto – Minicomic

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

ROBOTO — MINICOMIC

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ORIGINS (MATTEL)

Something I’ve discussed a lot in my more recent Masters of the Universe reviews is how I avoid getting *too* sucked into Masters lines by sticking to a few select characters and not expanding much beyond that.  It tends to lock me in at one version of a given character per style.  Sometimes, however, it backfires on me just a little bit, when Mattel does exactly what they’ve done here and goes for an easy repaint.  And then I’m over here buying yet another Roboto.  Worse things have happened, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Roboto was released as part of Wave 12 of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Origins line, which started showing up towards the end of the summer.  The line’s been a little out of sequence, so they actually wound up hitting *after* 13, and with a pretty last minute announcement at that.  Whatever the case, we got a new Roboto, and that’s what really matters.  This one is specifically patterned on his early minicomic appearances, which has been a running trend of variants for the line.  The figure stands 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 22 points of articulation, in addition to the moving jaw piece.  Roboto is a total parts re-use from the standard colored version, which isn’t even the slightest bit surprising.  That’s been the mincomic set-up for the most part, and Roboto’s look is pretty much just a palette swap anyway.  It’s still a very strong sculpt, and I like it a lot, so I certainly don’t mind seeing it again.  The main change-up here, of course, is the color scheme, which shifts him to the colors seen in “The Battle of Roboto,” and other minicomics from the vintage run.  His limbs are now orange, rather than blue and red, and, most importantly, he’s got the heart on his chest, which in the comics was the thing responsible for Roboto’s human emotions.  It’s so hokey, but I love it so much, so I’m very glad it’s there.  Just like his first release, Roboto includes his three arm attachments: blaster, axe, and claw.  He’s also still got the standard action feature; turning the torso moves the gears in the chest and moves his jaw up and down.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Roboto is an interesting break from how I was introduced to a good portion of MOTU.  I know most of it because of the 200x series, but in Roboto’s case, my first exposure to the character was in “The Battle of Roboto,” which came with my vintage Orko that I picked up at a toy show in the early ’00s.  I loved that take on the character, and it’s informed my love of the character in general since.  I honestly didn’t expect this figure, but I was genuinely very excited by its announcement and arrival.  He’s not terribly different from the last one, of course, but I love the small little touches.

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.

#3293: Roboto

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

ROBOTO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

My Masters of the Universe reviews around here are getting further and further between, I’ll admit.  Part of that is because I’m trying to really stick to my guns on only buying specific characters from each line.  I have three characters that are a lock for any Masters line I’m picking up: Mekaneck, Orko, and Roboto.  The irony of this is that, up til now, Masterverse, the line I’ve been focussing the most on, has only actually had one of those three, Orko, and he was only as a pack-in at that.  Thankfully, there’s been at least one change on that front, as Roboto has officially been added to the Masterverse line!  Let’s see how he turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Roboto is part of Series 7 of the Masterverse line, alongside Sorceress Evil-Lyn, Stratos, and Frosta.  Roboto falls under the line’s Revelation banner, being specifically based on his appearance in the show.  His very awesome appearance in the show, where he’s the best part.  It was really cool, you guys.  You should check it out.  In Roboto’s case, it means he’s still a pretty classically-inspired version of the character, so he doubles as an update to his original figure, if that’s more your speed.  The figure stands just shy of 7 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation (which includes his moving mouthplate).  Roboto’s articulation is largely pretty similar to the others in the line, though he gains an extra swivel at the top of his right forearm, and lacks the usual mid-torso joint, due to the nature of his design.  On my figure, both of the arms had one half of the double elbow stuck right out of the box, so sticking joints is still a recurring issue for the line.  At least the hips aren’t as bad on this guy.  Roboto’s construction is a mix of old and new.  He’s re-using the legs and feet from Trapjaw; the two of them have shared legs going back to the vintage line, and its consistent with their respective designs in Revelation, so the re-use is a sensible one.  I’m still a little iffy on how the articulation works respective to the kneepads on the boots, but it does bug me less on this release than it did on Trapjaw.  The rest of his sculpt is an all-new, and it’s honestly my favorite to come out of Masterverse so far.  It’s very clean, very sleek, and very sharp.  It matches up nicely with his animated design, while still melding well with the established look of the rest of the line.  In particular, I really like the internal structure on the torso.  Roboto’s color work is generally pretty solid.  The paint application is nice and clean, and I dig the mix of metallic and flat colors.  As always, that clear torso’s a lot of fun, and works well with all the sculpted elements inside.  Roboto is packed with two different styles of blaster attachments to swap out for the right hand, as well as the two halves of the Power Sword, this time in a translucent orange, as if he’s fusing them.  The only thing notably missing is his poncho, which does bum me ever so slightly, but I guess it’s an okay omission.  He’s got the needed sculpted attachments, and that’s what really counts.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Roboto was my absolute favorite part of Revelation, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting his addition to the line ever since the show dropped.  It sure did feel like they were dragging their feet, but he’s finally here.  I really dig this figure.  Lack of poncho aside, he does everything he needs to, and he’s by far my favorite figure from the line thus far.  Just a real standout, all things considered, and one that’s going to be very hard to top.

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

#2803: Roboto

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

ROBOTO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ORIGINS (MATTEL)

NOTE: This review was written before June 6th.

“Heroic Mechanical Warrior!”

When last I looked at anything Masters of the Universe, I mentioned not yet having any experience with the latest iteration of the line.  Well, hey, that’s changed…just in time for there to be another two for me to keep track of.  Yay?  Well, in the mean time, I guess I’ll look at the one I got.  Launched in the hell-hole of a year that was 2020, Masters of the Universe Origins was designed as a look back at the early days of the line, effectively updating the original vintage line but with more articulation.  So, you know, like Classics, but…umm…not Classics, I guess?  Anyway, my first entry into this new line is one of my favorite characters from the franchise, Roboto!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Roboto is part of the third wave of Masters of the Universe Origins, which started hitting shelves earlier this year.  It showed up at Walmarts and Targets a bit earlier, but has been making its way to other retailers in the last month or so.  The figure stands about 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 22 points of articulation, as well as a moving jaw piece.  The articulation on these new figures is pretty much the best the brand’s ever seen, even improving a little bit on the Classics movement.  Much like his vintage figure, Roboto shares his legs with the Trap-Jaw figure from the line, but everything else is new.  He’s definitely following in the vintage figure’s footsteps in terms of design.  It’s a very clean, rather retro look.  It’s a little bit less goofy in this incarnation, but not so much so that he doesn’t feel like Roboto, who should always be at least a little goofy.  The way that they’ve kept the general proportions of the vintage figures, while still giving them the ability to, you know, stand up straight, also emphasizes that almost Bruce Timm-esque top-heavy nature of the designs.  I certainly don’t mind that.  The only slight downside to the construction of the figure is that, due to the interchangeable nature of the bodies on these figures, his waist joint is a little on the rickety side.  Not like he’s going to break or anything, but he does wobble a little bit.  Roboto doesn’t have a ton of paint, largely relying on molded colors from the plastic, but they’re pretty bright and bold.  The paint that’s there is cleanly applied, and follows the vintage design well.  As is typical for the character, Roboto is packed with three arm attachments for the right arm, blaster, axe, and claw.  He also has his usual action feature; turning the torso moves the gears in the chest and moves his jaw up and down.  It’s basic, but fun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Roboto is the first Origins figure to really catch my eye (since they appear to be dragging their feet on Mechanek), so I was definitely down for him from the word go.  He’s a very nicely done figure, and just a lot of fun.  Generally, I’m not so much into the vintage style MotU figures, but for the characters I like, this is a nice style, and I’m sure it’s great for more involved MotU fans.

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.

#1374: Roboto

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

ROBOTO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (2002)

One year ago exactly, I wrapped up a two-week stretch of Masters of the Universe reviews with a review of the Castle Grayskull playset from the 2002 line.  In what I guess is going to become a birthday tradition on the site, I’m looking at yet another MotU figure today.  It’s one of my favorite characters from the franchise, Roboto, Heroic Mechanical Warrior!  I’ve actually looked at Roboto once before, having looked at his vintage counterpart, but today I look at his super awesome 2002 version!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Roboto was added to the re-launched Masters of the Universe series in 2003, as part of the fifth assortment of Heroic Warriors.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation (13 if you count the very slight mobility of his jaw).  Where the vintage Roboto made use of a couple of pieces from Trap-Jaw, this Roboto was a totally unique sculpt.  This figure takes Roboto’s admittedly rather goofy vintage design, and does its very best to make him look, you know, actually pretty cool.  Unlike a lot of things that Mattel tries at, this figure succeeds.  In fact, this is easily one of my favorite designs from the 2002 line, and really Masters of the Universe in general.  He keeps all of the important details from the original Roboto, so you can clearly tell it’s the same character, but all of these details have been made much sharper, more robotic, and more in line with other cool robots of the last few decades.  The head in particular ditches the duck-billed knight looking design of the vintage figure in favor of a more futuristic warrior look, which made more sense in the setting of the updated cartoon.  Like his vintage counterpart, this guy takes advantage of the usual hollow torso of these figures, and has molded it in clear plastic and placed an assortment of gears inside, representing his inner workings.  In terms of paintwork, this guy is pretty great; the application is all very clean, and I really like the metallic re-working of his classic color scheme.  It really pops.  The figure is packed with two arm attachments for his right arm: a claw and a blaster.  Both are updates of the same pieces included with the vintage figures, updated to match the new figure’s style.  He loses the third attachment (the axe) but gains an extra armored piece for his torso, as well as a missile for his blaster arm.  Not a bad assortment of extras at all!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Roboto’s debut episode was one of my favorites of the 2002 show, so I always wanted this figure.  Remember how I mentioned that his re-design was one of my favorites?  Well, I wasn’t alone in this thought.  That, coupled with Mattel’s incredibly stupid methods of packing cases and distribution, meant that I never once saw this figure at retail.  It also meant he was one of the figures to hold onto his aftermarket value, even well after most of the line had fallen way down in price.  Honestly, I’d never even seen this guy in person.  So, when I found him at Lost In Time Toys a few weeks ago, I was pretty excited.  I was even more excited when I found out that he was half-off his given price, allowing me to get him for a more than reasonable price.  I’m thrilled to finally have this guy, and for all the ragging I do on Mattel, there’s no denying that this is a cool toy.

*As an added bonus, Roboto was also the 4000th unique figure to be added to my collection!  Wow, that’s a lot of figures!

#0644: Roboto

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

ROBOTO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE

Roboto1

I am, at best, a moderate fan of Masters of the Universe. That’s mostly a timing thing. It was really big in the 80s, but it was completely gone by the time I started collecting in the 90s. My first real exposure to the line was the 2002 relaunch, which I quite enjoyed at the time. I have a handful of characters I really like, but beyond that, I’ve never gotten super hooked on any iteration of the line. Still, I really enjoy the various iterations of the line for what they are, and I do pick up the occasional figure here and there, including today’s focus, Roboto, Heroic Mechanical Warrior.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Roboto3Roboto was released as part of the 1985 assortment of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe line. He stands roughly 5 ½ inches tall and has 7 points of articulation. That’s actually one more point of articulation than the average MOTU figure, so that’s cool. MOTU figures were generally pretty big on parts re-use, and, while Roboto isn’t completely exempt from that, he has a surprising amount that is exclusive to him. The legs are the same as those used on Trap-Jaw, but the rest of the figure is unique. He’s admittedly a little on the goofy side, but that’s hardly a bad thing. The sculpt features lots of cool hard angles and the “tech-y” details, which gives him a distinctive look. The head is probably one of the goofier aspects of the sculpt, but it does actually present a nice melding of MOTU’s contrasting barbaric and futuristic styles. It’s got a sort of a knight’s helmet look, but also maintains a more classic robot look. The figure takes advantage of the usually empty torso of action figures, and adds some cool gears to represent Roboto’s inner workings. Roboto is somewhat light in paint, being mostly molded in the appropriate colors (the clear plastic on the torso is super cool, by the way), but there’s some minor paintwork for his left hand and boots, as well as a few of the details on his head. The figure is packed with three possible attachments for his right arm: blaster, axe, and claw. All three snap in and out pretty easily, and offer a nice selection of variety. In addition, Roboto features a pretty nifty little action feature; when the figure’s waist is turned, the gears in the torso spin and the mouth guard opens and closes. It’s nothing big, but it’s something.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Roboto is another of the figures I got from the Rehoboth Beach branch of Yesterday’s Fun. Like I said, I don’t usually go for MOTU stuff, but I saw Roboto sitting in their glass case and he just called to me. It doesn’t help that I’m a sucker for robots. So, I bought him. He’s cheesy as hell, but I really dig it. He’s a really fun figure! Oh, and I went a whole review without a single Mr. Roboto joke. You’re welcome.

Roboto2