Boss Borot

At this point we don’t need to introduce Boss Borot, do we? Goofy sideckick robot of the original Mazinger Z? If you don’t know, shame on you.

So this iteration of Boss Borot is brought to you by Evolution Toy, purveyors of fine magnemo toys. As a rule, they take what would normal solid robot designs and turn them into shaky messes. I’d like to tell you this is different, but it’s not. At least it’s kind of goofy.

The box is your typical thin Evolution toy packaging. Thin box, thin plastic tray.

The selling point of this set is the accessories, but first lets get into the core toy itself.

Boss is about 6 inches tall, and is made of plastic with metal balls and magnets connecting all the joints. The toy is lightweight and jiggly.

The back has a bunch of holes but Evolution included little plugs to fit in.

One of the big challenges of making a Boss Borot toy is how to handle the arms. In the cartoon they are just flexible tubes with no distinct joints. Bandai tried a multi-segmented approach with their Soul of Chogokin release, and this one attempts to use their magnemo joint system. Why nobody can come up with a bendy arm system for this that looks like the anime is beyond me.

The arm connects to the body at the detented shoulder joint, which also has a hinge, and a rotating bicep. This ends on a metal ball with a joint, and then the next piece ends with the same, then finally, the forearm. None of these likes to stay in any one pose, and they move constantly. They are barely strong enough to hold more dynamic poses. I really don’t like them at all.

The silver fists can be swapped out for open hands.

There’s a small door in the stomach that opens to reveal a cannon.

There’s a lot of parts for the core body. You can see the break down here.

The main draw for me is the inclusion of the beach parts. These parts equip Boss for a day out at the beach!

The feet have flippers that fit tightly over.

Now’s a good time to showcase the rubber pads on the bottom of the feet.

The beach gear comes with a few options and can be configured in various ways. Here you see the head propellor has been added, along with swim trunks and flippers.

You need to separate the body to slide over the trunks. Also, there are pull out joints that enable a greater range of motion in the legs.

Also included is a set of “inflated” trunks that attach in the same fashion. Boss is shown here with those and the scuba mask.

Finally, a white headband is included, but it barely fits around the head.

You may have noticed a few different heads for Boss. Three heads are included and they attach via magnet. Be careful with them, as the magnet is attached to a peg with weak glue. Mine fell apart, then the peg fell out.

The only way to get the peg back in is to separate the head, and you can’t do that without breaking a glue seal. So if you are keeping count, it’s the third Evolution toy in a row with QC issues. At this price point, it’s just not worth it. Unless they get their shit together i’m done with Evolution toy.