“That wasn’t so difficult. Now to dig her up again.” – Multi-Bot, after burying She-Ra in snow, She-Ra: Princess of Snow “Black Snow”.
I finally took time to open Multi-Bot last night. I’d been putting him off, thinking that I’d have to put together all these wacky builds and take all these pictures, and try to make a Megabeast, and more pictures. And, well, for full disclosure, I didn’t do any of that! So welcome to the worst Multi-Bot review ever. (Sorry, I’ve been reading a lot of Fantastic Four movie reviews and am prone to hyperbole tonight).
I didn’t have Modulok or Multi-Bot as a kid, so there isn’t a lot of nostalgia involved. I know he appeared in Princess of Power cartoon, looking nothing like the toy, so this classics version is my first exposure to the character. And he’s pretty fun. There’s some nitpicks I’ll get to later, particularly the disparity between what’s above and what’s below the waist, but there is more to like about the figure than anything.
The sculpting is, of course, top notch as we’ve come to expect from the Four Horsemen. They’ve taken the original and dialed it up like they usually do. My favorite pieces are easily the two torsos – they’re so 80s tech that it hurts. They look great – and a nice surprise under the ab torso as even more circuitry and paneling is hidden under there when you lean the figure back. That’s excellent. The two head sculpts are also great upgrades and each almost demands to just be its own character. I need to give these guys names. The arms are a little plain compared to the rest of the figure, particularly the legs that are really dialed up.
The articulation is standard – the arms have ball shoulders & elbows and swivels at the biceps and wrist; the legs have ball hips, swivel thighs, hinged knees (one pair has ball knees), and rocker ankles; and the torsos have that aforementioned ab crunch. And then all the interchangeable pieces add articulation. The necks are ball-jointed at the top & bottom, the extended crotch piece has some swivels built in, and then any point you add in with the extra bits creates either a ball-socket or swivel joint depending on how tight the connection is. There’s a ton of combinations there and all can be pretty well articulated.
The paint work is really my one knock on the figure, but I love the colors. I kinda wish the legs were as bright as everything else; they’re so drab (but its vintage). The bright colors on the arms look great with the silver highlights on the torsos and make a great above the waist package. Unfortunately, the legs just didn’t get any extra love. There’s a little bit of metallic touch-ups on the various legs, but it just needs more. I assume it’s a budget thing, but the legs just come across with a cheap toy aesthetic while the upper body is more what we’re used to with MOTU Classics. Continue to Page 2…
As a kid who had a lot of MOTU (I had Modulok), I remember my mum’s friend’s son had Multibot. Like that was literally the only MOTU he had. He wasn’t really that into it, but it’s all I’d play with when I went over there. I always hoped his mum would just tell him to give it to me. 😛
So I was really happy to get Multibot in this. Probably some of my favourites this year have been the ones I never had a kid (like MB, and Twistoid and Rotar). And now that you mention it, I do wish they went the extra mile and made him able to use Trapjaw or Roboto weapons. That would have been amazing.
Well, whatever YOU think of it, Noisy, I like this review. Fun comics. And you got to this character before Pixel Dan did. So, kudos on that.
Some of us have discussed this here in the IAT forums, but many of us aren’t as keen on Multi-Bot as we were on Modulok, either. Still, it’s nice to have him for a complete-ish collection. (The 2016 Power-Con debacle has pretty much cured me of wanting to be a MOTUC completist.)
For what it’s worth, BBTS still has some Top 2-Packs for $110.
Well, for starters, they’re not going to sell the figures on MattyCollector.com after the convention, something that’s been done with every other convention exclusive so far apart from the raffle prizes, Treasure Chest Imp, and Battle Armour Faker.
Secondly, if you want the figures and you can’t go, you also have to buy a ticket for the convention anyway, AND pay a premium on top of that, something we’ve never had to do before.
Thirdly, these have been produced in a much smaller, limited run, and they’re making a big point of “You probably won’t get these,” which is not a way to make friends in the collector community, especially the long-time fans and completists.
And finally, while I, personally, can live without these figures, there are a lot of fans who have wanted these particular figures for a long time, and being told you can’t get them very easily, have to buy a ticket anyway, pay a premium as well, and probably won’t get one . . . . yeah. That’s where the rage comes from.
For me, it’s more like a case of: if this takes off, what’s to stop them from doing the same thing again and again and again, and with items more people — including me — might want? What if they pull the same kind of stunt with Stridor? They can use this to say: “Look how many tickets we sold! (397 actual attendees, 10,574 non-attendees who just wanted the figures) We are a force to be reckoned with! We want to do this again!” And Mattel will simply look at the numbers and agree, not giving a toss how it makes the wider fan base — their actual paying customers — feel.
Furthermore, and much more importantly, it’s a very small clique of the fandom flexing their proverbial muscles and deciding what direction the brand goes in and who gets access to it (i.e. them and their friends, mainly, and everyone else can go hang), and making everyone else jump through hoops.
I concur, I’ve never been fond of Multi Bot. For two big reasons. First, the review hit it on the head, the “cheap toy aesthetic.” It has always looked really cheap and junky. If the 4H had been allowed to do a full redesign I’m sure it would have become cool, but sticking to the vintage design does not do it any favors. Next to the other figures it just looks like a cheap dollar store knockoff. This is exaggerated by the fact that he’s part of the Evil Horde, the rest of which were all incredibly ambitious pieces, and next to them it looks particularly shoddy.
On top of that, it IS just a knockoff. All he has ever been is a vastly-less-interesting ripoff of Modulok. Literally, it’s the exact same thing just with cheaper-looking parts. One of the big draws of MOTU for me has always been that the vast majority of the characters are all wildly unique, and thus are all interesting. With the exception of the Battle Armors, I have never liked when they repeat gimmicks. That’s why I’ve never been into the Snake Men, they’re mostly just minute variations of the same concept (this one has an extending neck, this one has an extending tongue, this one has extending arms, YAWN). This is just a lazy duplication of Modulok’s gig, and it’s never appealed to me.
Though I shudder to ask, what is this “2016 powercon debacle?”
Ah never mind, just repaints I don’t care about. Whew.
Sorry. Duplication. Hit “Reply” on the wrong section. Could someone please delete the other one?
Well, for starters, they’re not going to sell the figures on MattyCollector.com after the convention, something that’s been done with every other convention exclusive so far apart from the raffle prizes, Treasure Chest Imp, and Battle Armour Faker.
Secondly, if you want the figures and you can’t go, you also have to buy a ticket for the convention anyway, AND pay a premium on top of that, something we’ve never had to do before.
Thirdly, these have been produced in a much smaller, limited run, and they’re making a big point of “You probably won’t get these,” which is not a way to make friends in the collector community, especially the long-time fans and completists.
And finally, while I, personally, can live without these figures, there are a lot of fans who have wanted these particular figures for a long time, and being told you can’t get them very easily, have to buy a ticket anyway, pay a premium as well, and probably won’t get one . . . . yeah. That’s where the rage comes from.
For me, it’s more like a case of: if this takes off, what’s to stop them from doing the same thing again and again and again, and with items more people — including me — might want? What if they pull the same kind of stunt with Stridor? They can use this to say: “Look how many tickets we sold! (397 actual attendees, 10,574 non-attendees who just wanted the figures) We are a force to be reckoned with! We want to do this again!” And Mattel will simply look at the numbers and agree, not giving a toss how it makes the wider fan base — their actual paying customers — feel.
Furthermore, and much more importantly, it’s a very small clique of the fandom flexing their proverbial muscles and deciding what direction the brand goes in and who gets access to it (i.e. them and their friends, mainly, and everyone else can go hang), and making everyone else jump through hoops.
Yeah, part of me really wants to get those exclusives as I’ve pretty much been a MOTUC completest (with the exception of Standar) but I’m really not liking the way they’re handling this. The overall cost for me in the states is still going to be around $250 or more. Plus, they’re already stating no excess stocks if you get a damaged product. Seriously? What a crock.
Another good point, Barbecue. No returns or refunds.
For me, in England, I’d be edging nearer the $300 mark.
They are not getting my money, either directly, or indirectly through scalpers or eBay or anywhere else.
Wow. Didn’t know that last part. I was (marginally) comfortable with the the mark-up. I’m even somewhat understanding of no replacement stock. But no refunds? If you pay $100 and get a broken ****ing toy you should absolutely be entitled to a refund.
I’m actually strongly considering not getting the Granamyr now. My red Granamyr actually had to be replaced because his arm wouldn’t stay in.
I had the same problem with my first Granamyr. Being an International Customer, though, holiday shipping meant that he didn’t arrive until after the replacement window had passed, so I had to keep the busted one.
I ended up bagging another, flawless Granamyr in a later sale. So my original has been relegated to spares status . . . or maybe a possible green repaint . . . ?
Great review. Black Snow was one of the few She-Ra episodes I seen as a child and recorded off TV. Don’t really recall Multibot in it.
I never owned the vintage Multi-Bot so I was pretty thrilled to finally have access to this one. I’m a fan. I definitely don’t mind that you didn’t do lots of crazy mash-ups: Plenty of folks do that kind of stuff on the forums. This guy didn’t excite me as much as Modulok did but he’s close. He and Modulok are both excellent examples of how far Mattel’s design and quality control have come. Imagine this guy being released 3 or 4 years ago? Yikes!
I’m in the same boat. This is essentially my first exposure to the character to which I have no nostalgia. I agree about him basically being a “knockoff” of Modulok — and definitely not as fun. Paint is my biggest issue with the toy.
The “cheap toy aesthetic” isn’t just limited to the legs, but it definitely starts there, the legs are the dullest parts of the figure, they could have used a few more paint hits. Everything above the waist is fine though. The head sculpts are fantastic and deserve much better.
Overall I’m glad to have Multi-Bot in my collection but I’m not exactly thrilled.
Yay! Another review! I sent someone your way last night who dug your Hulkbuster review, Noisy.
A few bullet points.
1. Multi-Bot is an awesome toy.
2. I do not like Multi-Bot nearly as much as Modulok. But that’s my personal preference. I prefer monsters and creatures to robots.
3. I think I do prefer them as individual figure.
As a kid I only had a handful of MotU toys, my Evil Horde consisted of just Leech and Modulok until High School where my friend sold me the majority of his childhood MotU figures, including Multi-Bot. Funny thing about his Multi-Bot: when he got it as a kid it came packed with 2 Green Right legs. So being able to have one with the correct limbs would be cool, but the MotUC version is not that appealing to me as Modulok.