MOTU Origins | Roboto

Roboto is largely unknown to the mainstream fans for Masters of the Universe. The character is a third tier for most of the casual fans who grew up with the original toys without any knowledge of his origins other than the minicomic that came with the vintage figure released in 1985. There have been diverse origins of the character, but most of the basic story leans to the minicomic that Roboto was built by Man-At-Arms based on his personality, which was adapted in the 2002 MOTU reboot series by Mike Young Productions. But the classic Filmation cartoon tells Roboto’s story otherwise.

In the episode “Happy Birthday, Roboto” the character is from the planet Robotika, where he mention there’s a lot of ‘his kind’ from his home world. This was a different origin for the character and one of the rare appearances prior to MOTU 200X series or even the upcoming Revelations animation.

Despite different takes of Roboto’s story is one of the deep cut characters in the MOTU mythology that largely overshadowed by other popular ones that are highly sought after, as this was one surprising early releases in the MOTU Origins line of action figures appearing in Wave 3 along with Zodac, Mer-Man, and She-Ra.

Roboto from Robotika

Just like the vintage figure, Roboto is packaged in the Retro Style bursting rocks and starry sky signature cardback similar to the classic figures of old. This time around it has a blurb “Modern Action Retro Play” and at the same time also say the figure’s gimmick with working gears revealed on his translucent body.

Roboto is part of the Wave 3 assortment also indicating that this was released in early 2021, which compared to his original release in the 1985, is where the Filmation cartoon was on its tail end before it was cancelled. It’s interesting that Mattel has included this character in the early release.

There was not much appreciation for the character in its current release until collectors slowly noticed its appearance in select specialty stores not named Toys R’ Us or Toy Kingdom. Not counting other department stores as clearly MOTU Origins was supposed to be a general retail product.

Mechanical Warrior

Roboto out of the packaging, you see a similar minicomic included titled “Dimensional Doom,” which is also packed in with other Wave 3 featured in the said story. Also, a baggy that includes other replaceable weapons besides his default axe similar to the vintage figure that came with.

This is more similar to how Trap Jaw was released from Wave 2 having two extra weapons that can interchange with his default blaster when he was packaged. Roboto’s is entirely a new figure. But with similar take on replaceable weapons, and has a special gimmick that carries over from his previous iteration dating back to the original 1985 figure, which is the gimmick that made him robotic.

You turn his waist and the gears turn while the mouth/jaw opens up and down as you see his translucent body show the blue and red gears turn just like the original toy. The only minor difference from the vintage version and this version is that this modern version lacks the gears from the back and basically the only change.

Featured Articulation:

• Head on a Swivel Joint
• Ball Joint at the Shoulders
• Swivels/Bend at the Elbow
• Hinges at the Wrist (Left Hand, while Right is the changeable Weapons)
• Turn at the Waist (Activates "Moving Gears" Gimmick)
• Hinge-like Ball Joint at the Thighs
• Swivels/Bend at the Knee
• Boot Cut Swivel
• Ankles Moves Side-to-Side

Minimal Swapable Parts

With well detailed sculpt on Roboto’s muscular arms and a working gimmick it limits this figure to have modular parts removed as the upper body and lower body can’t be detached as only the arms, hands, and feet can be pulled out. The right arm is obviously has the removable weapons as part of its gimmick.

Also, his head is removable as part of the gears that moves inside his body makes the mouth/jaw move, but still Mattel designers made his head still swivel while the gimmick continues to be functional. Unfortunately, unlike Trap Jaw where he can ‘hook’ both of his extra weapons on his belt, Roboto does not have a way to store his other two weapons which can easily be lost.

Best Friends

Roboto is He-Man and Man-At-Arms’ Best Friend. Sizing up the figure beside the Most Powerful Man in the Universe this character stands out. This Mechanical Warrior is quite far off to the sword and sorcery that defined the MOTU franchise, which was so way out there when you look at the aesthetics.

The Mattel design team who originally created Roboto must have been pushing the concept that sci-fi can fit with the way He-Man a barbarian that was originally put together would work. Since Roboto was released earlier this is considered a deep cut on the franchise mythos that doesn’t know that character. But in a way, a brilliant strategy for Mattel’s part in bringing Roboto early to the toyline, which have not seen before is quite so out there.

Overall Roboto is a very unique character, hardly you’ll even recognise if you owned the vintage MOTU figures as he was never that popular. But consider this character one of the underrated ones hard people knew growing up. Mattel made sure to mix it up with the Origins toyline not only to appreciate the well-known characters, but the ones that could stand out and if you’re into mechas Roboto is your guy.

Robot is part of the third wave for Masters of the Universe Origins from Mattel, which is distributed in the Philippines by Richwell Global Inc retailed at ₱ 999.75 (**$ 26.98 AUD | $ 20.86 USD) that was acquired at Ollie & Co Glorietta. For more about MOTU Origins and the store that carry this toyline follow them on their social media via Facebook!

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