The
most significant thing I can think of to say about Multi-Bot is that
I have very distinct memories of the original action figure. Those
memories consist of seeing dozens of it sitting on the shelves at
Lionel Playworld on clearance long after the rest of Masters of the
Universe line had disappeared.
I’m
not sure that I feel any differently now, but I am at least enthused
about this thing as a toy after the sheer excellence of Modulok.
The one thing I wanted after that one was more parts, so even if
Multi-Bot looks like an 80s junk store nightmare, he fulfills the
promise of making his predecessor into an even more hideous and huge
monster.
Said
monster was called Megabeast back in the day:
but
it looks like it might be Ultrabeast now, likely due to trademark
stuff.
FIRST
GLANCE
Every
single part of this toy screams “I
AM FROM THE EIGHTIES – LOVE ME!!!”
I’ll
get into more detail below, but the second I pulled that plastic tray
out of the box I loved Multi-Bot more than I ever thought I would. He
was fulfilling a dream I never knew I had and I’m not sure I’ll
ever have to buy another action figure again.
Okay,
he’s not that
good, but I think he might be the most 80s of all of the Masters of
the Universe Classics figures.
PACKAGING
I
think I might have complained about having to destroy Modulok’s box
in order to get him open. That was silly, as you can’t get any
of the single-carded MOTUC figures out without destroying the
package. I don’t know what I was thinking.
The
flaps are glued shut with that old-school, commercial glue from the
80s that dries harder than the plastic the toys are made of and turns
the same yellowish color as flu snot. There is no way to open this
thing without tearing the side flaps up, but whatever. That’s how
it should be because that’s how the old toy was.
The
graphics are great and are simply an update of the old box art. I may
not have thought much of Multi-Bot back in the day, but I have to
admit that I was intrigued by all of the combinations presented on
the front of the box. I love that they’re repeated here.
On
the one hand I like that Multi-Bot’s “Real Name” is a serial
number. On the other hand, how many of these did Modulok make? 2312
seems a little high. Unless maybe ol’ Professor Nycoff created this
guy in the middle of making Horde Troopers. He got to 2,311 Troopers
and finally finished his work on Multi-Bot, maybe?
I
like the bio, though I can’t help but imagine the Masters just
busting out laughing at the sight of Ultra/Megabeast. The thing looks
pretty gosh darn ridiculous. Also, I’m having a little trouble
imagining it ripping anything from the skies.
LOOKS
I
love that the package presents two complete robot figures right out
of the box. For ease of reviewing, we’ll call the orange-headed one
“Bob” and the green-faced guy “Carl”.
Bob
has a more robotic head, whose shape is reminiscent of the Death Star
Droid from Star Wars, but also reminds me of terrible nightmares
where robotic ants wander around eating people’s spleens.
Carl
must be some kind of robotic zombie, like in Return
of the Living Dead Part 3:
The
green face and absurd genie eyebrows are clearly organic, while the
helmet looks like some sort of life-support apparatus. It’s a bit
Darth Vader-ish, except that rather than covering his hideousness
with a faceplate, the sadistic Modulok left it exposed for all to
see.
The
torsos are probably my favorite part. They totally encapsulate the
80s toy idea of robots. The flat black plastic trapezoidal shapes
with the shiny silver trim is so
“Evil Robot”.
Just
to make this easy – here’s a picture of all of the separate parts
that come with this set:
That
is a ton
of stuff.
The
colors on the limbs are fairly basic, but they are all highlighted
with corresponding bits of paint. The green and blue legs are the hardest to tell, but even those have metallic highlights on various gears and wires:
And
yes – the green legs basically have roller skates for feet:
The
blue legs are supposed to be Attak Trak-based. I still can’t quite
wrap my head around “fighting
as both a humanoid, an Attak Trak Tank and finally combined with his
creator to form the Ultrabeast”.
How was Multi-Bot fighting as
an Attak Trak, exactly? What does that even mean?
These
are all the extra bits and pieces that aren’t integral parts of the
main body/bodies:
There
are four T-junctions, two extenders, one dual-hole piece, one crotch
middlepiece, and one dual-peg piece (the same as the two neck
pieces). I love all of the sculpted detail on the neck pieces. The
T-junctions are pretty ugly and don’t look like something that
should be on the exterior of an action figure. Just a few sculpted
lines would have made a huge difference on these.
I like both sets of arms because they stand
out from any other MOTUC pieces. They come from the same universe as
Roboto or Horde Trooper arms, but look distinctive. The coloring is
plain, but with the highlights looks good and, of course, matches the
vintage toy design.
Each
of the sets of legs look fantastic. I really
like these, mostly because they are stylistically so different from
each other. The blue ones have pistons, heavy armor plating and tank
treads (reminiscent of the Attak Trak). They look sturdy and built
for battle. The green set look more like traditional robot legs, but
with roller skate wheels (that do not, by the way, turn). The red
ones are sleeker and look like they’re built for speed and evasion.
The
combination of colors seems like something of an eyesore. That is,
until you remember this guy:
Any
combination of the parts creates a strange, disjointed-looking
creature that has very few aesthetically pleasing qualities. But
Multi-Bot isn’t here to be pretty. It’s here to serve Modulok and
to basically be a collection of parts and reinforcements in battle.
It was made for go, not for show.
ACCESSORIES
Multi-Bot
comes with two blasters that are similar to Modulok’s. They’re a
little more generic and connect in the same way:
Also,
they’re made of rubber. You guys know how I feel about that. It’s
unacceptable.
On
a positive note, any of Multi-Bot’s hands can hold the blasters,
even the robo-claws. I’m super impressed with the little design
trick they used to enable this:
There’s
a circle sculpted at the base of each claw that the blaster grip
plugs into. It’s super-neat and I am way too impressed with it.
FUN
Multi-Bot
is quite literally a pile of unending fun. On its own there are so
many building combinations that you can sit and play with it for
hours without once hitting on the same configuration.
All
of the connection points work quite nicely. The pegs are plastic and
the holes are rubber, so it’s easy to connect the parts, but they
also stay connected.
It’s
funny to look at the original Multi-Bot in comparison to this one.
All of the legs and arms on that guy were just single, solid pieces.
The new version is loaded with articulation in each and every part.
This
guy is going to stay on my desk for quite some time. The only
potential problem is that I might get distracted while I’m
recording a podcast.
I
wanted to see if I could make a creature that utilized every part in
the box, and I did:
And
this is just the first weird thing that I made:
OVERALL
If
you have Modulok, you have
to get Multi-Bot. If you’re cherry picking Masters of the Universe
Classics, Multi-Bot is a must. If you’re just a fan of fun and
innovative toys, you’re going to want to pick up a Multi-Bot. It’s
another one of those figures that isn’t so overwhelmingly He-Man
that you can’t just have it as a toy.
It’s
fun, all of the parts work like they should, and while the overall
design and color schemes are simple, they evoke a wonderful 80s feel.
If not for that rubber gun this would be a perfect score.
Side
Note: I’m pretty sure Modulok’s gun was also rubber, but maybe it
wasn’t as soft or maybe I just didn’t care as much at the time.
4
out of 5
I
recommend you look around at cons and see if you can find yourself a
Multi-Bot. Otherwise, you can always buy one from Amazon and help
support Needless Things!:
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