My only real complaints on the articulation are the shoulders, which seem like they should be ratcheted, but are not, and are a tad loose. Not to the point that he can’t hold a pose, or hold up his weapon, but they feel like they ought to be tighter. Then there’s his hips. The hips are the infamous 45 degree set, and with ratchets on both sides of the ball, sometimes getting the hip where you wanted it was a chore… but once there, they LOCKED into place.
I’m willing to forgive ease of posing for solidity of construction and posing, but clearly, I’m a unique snow flake, so your mileage on that point might vary. I also have one bicep swivel that is gapped slightly. The joint is still solid feeling, and it presses into place when pushed, but the gap tends to open again when posing, or holding his bat.
Paint applications on this guy are sparse, but generally well executed. There’s the Fox Sports logo on his right shoulder and because I opted to get the Yankees version of the guy, the Yankees’ team logo is present on his helmet and his chest.
I don’t know if it’s a trick of the paint ops, or a feature of the blue plastic that many parts are cast in, but the blue on him frequently, under the right lighting, look translucent. They are not actually translucent though, and none of the photos I took managed to really show this, but it’s a very cool effect when you have the figure in hand. His body is mostly cast in white plastic, and then another color, based on what team version you’re buying.
All of these aps are very tight and well executed. Unlike his Football cousin, there does not seem to be a generic variant to this bad boy. I was able to find several team versions both on Clarktoys and Amazon, but many teams are no longer in stock. A surprise, given that the toy was only released in 2011, but I have no idea, since there’s zero press on these figures, what their production run might look like. I do have some slop on my personal fig, at the piping on the neck and the waist.
The sculpt is top notch. There’s a ton of small detail, and several items to give the appearance of the play features listed on the back of his box (though there are no actual “action features”). To broach the inevitable, no, he is not a repainted version of the Football bot. This guy got his own entirely new sculpt. Check this dude out!
Another pleasing difference between Basebot and Footbot is the accessory. Mr Baseball got a huge baseball bat. The bat is not glued to his hand this time, and the best part? He can hold it in either hand! And thanks to that fantastic articulation, he can hold it in both. The elbows don’t quite allow a perfect “at bat” pose, but it’s pretty darn passable. The best part is, with the tech elements added to the bat, it appears to be a fine bludgeoning weapon too, should you decide your bot needs to bash skulls instead of balls.
Again, at 30 dollars before shipping, this guy is not cheap. However, given the versatility of the design, the quality of the execution, and the relative rarity of the figure, I think the price is fair. He does lack some of the features of his Football cousin, like rocker ankles, ball wrists, and mass (he is noticeably lighter) but he also sports ratcheted joints, and is still a very solid figure for his size. I have no real concerns for the quality of the figure. He’s also very photogenic. If you know any crossover baseball/robot fans, I’m sure they;d enjoy this fig, as he really pulls off posing that I don’t think any other baseball themed figure out right now could hold.
Here’s a few more photos to keep you picture hounds happy. Hope y’all enjoyed this review of the seemingly top secret but secret no more MLB Robot. I would like to note that every pose you see here is free standing, no stands, no wacky tacky, no fishing line… the figure you buy can do everything I photographed.
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Thanks for the cool review, Dayraven! I never got around to picking up Cleatus, but a baseball one is too tempting. If only I could snag a Royals ‘bot (don’t judge me, people!).
Newer readers may not know this, but Dayraven actually left the very first comment on IAT three years and a few days ago (did we forget to mention the site just turned three last week? Oops!)
🙂 it doesn’t feel like three years already… don’t know if that’s a good thing or if senility is already setting in, but it’s been fun! thank you sir for the chance to showcase my nearly nonexistent people skills alongside my bountiful love of toys. my kids were very happy to see the photos in print. they did help w/ lighting and setting things up, so i have to give them props as well for being very helpful. for example, the shots w/ the glowing eyeball tracer, that was my youngest behind me hitting the face plate w/ a laser pointer. i was pretty happy with how it came out.
didn’t the Cards win the i-70 series?
I’d say I forgot, but then remembered that’s when I stopped caring.
I want a Royals one too! 🙂
In some shots the guy seems to wear a cowboy hat which immediately had me tweeting the Saber Riders melody. Neat figure!!
WANT!
if this dude in any way gets around like the football bot did, i can only imagine how tight the customs will be. i had not discovered clarktoys until after ordering my bot, but for those who want this cat as custom fodder, they have a texas ranger version for 18 bones http://mcfarlaneonline.stores.yahoo.net/teramlbfoxsp.html i have no idea how their service is, or what they charge for shipping, but that starting price is pretty awesome (and i suppose if you’re a rangers fan, double trouble eh!)
Great job DR!!! Nice to see you on this side of the site!
Great review, great pics!
But as I don’t give a tinker’s dam about any spectator sports at all, this one’s an easy pass. Might’ve been different if he’d been in scale with some of my other lines and I could customise him for something, but not at that price.
What a cool little robot. 🙂 Great job, DR. ^_^
little? this guy’s all man lady! 😉 thanks ‘neko… i seriously had in my mind that i wanted you a little pissed at me after this review, cuz i’m secretly hoping vault’s intrigued enough to buy one. it’s a damned nice toy, and honestly, while it’s not as detailed as some of the imports he buys, it’s huge, very solid, well articulated, and could easily terrorize a small army of revoltechs or figmas, and falls right about in that price range or cheaper, depending on where you buy it. he’d look right at home posed out trying to tear a deluxe-class transformer limb from limb.
I felt like I was saying that too much, but, yeah, I’m sure this guy will be on his way here, soon. And we all know that, while $30 is a hefty sum for a toy, Vault doesn’t usually balk at dropping that. The saving grace is that Vault isn’t a baseball fan (well… unless you count the Tampa Bay Devil Rays) so maybe I can con him into that Texas one for cheap.
Now, see, this is the sort of thing I love about IAT and the community that inhabits it. DR really stepped up here and did a man’s job. 🙂
I did not know this existed. I did not know that Fox Sports even had a Baseball robot, they sure don’t do jack in promoting it like they did the Football one.
It’s kinda cool. It looks like it lives in the ‘Real Steel’ world. I don’t think I like it $30 worth, but if I saw it on a peg at around $15 or so I’d pull the trigger. Maybe part of the problem is I’m just not a sports fan. Hockey and Pro Wrestling, OK, I’ll watch that and sometimes a football or baseball game (you know, flipping channels and it’s the only choice) but that’s about it.
Great job DR! Now do another. 🙂
you have no idea steve, how hard i’ve hunted to see if there’s an NHL version of this guy somewhere… i’d kill eight people to get a red wings bot. eight fat people, that would be hard to dispose of by myself. or 64 twilight fans. (that seems about right, right, it takes 8 twihards to make 1 real person?)
all kidding aside, i scoured the web for HOURS for mention of an NHL bot. i suppose i could fire actionheads an email, that’s honestly the only thing i haven’t done yet in pursuit of an NHL bot.
as for finding this guy on the pegs somewhere… good luck w/ that. i found zero press on this guy at all, a few fleeting images of him on google images, and then clarktoys and amazon that had any for sale (sadly, didn’t find clarktoys until after the purchase)… this guy had zero traction at retail evidently. and certainly, w/ the positive vibe the football bot got, i’m amazed this guy flew under our collective radars. the distro on this figure had to be a truly mattelian nightmare. i did find at one point an image of the fox sports baseball graphic design, but i didn’t find any info on if that ever hit the air… and the image i found looks nothing like this robot. this might be a “toy-only” design, but for me, that kind of makes it even cooler.
as for getting to do another review… that all depends on when/if noisy asks me back. it’s his site man, i just hang out here. 🙂
Hockeybot would blow my mind. Problem is, NBC has a lock on the NHL for now, so until Fox Sports does Hockey, that’s that. Unless.
I can’t help but wonder if Baseballbot was a ‘concept’ item, either a pitch (haw haw, see what I did there? 🙂 ) to Fox by the toy company or something the MLB had a company do to try and cash in on the Fox Footballbot. Welp, nope, I see the Fox Sports logo on the back.
Am kind of wondering because I don’t see the usual big block of copyright about MLB and Fox and others.
Gotta say, this feels like a line that got s**tcanned after production started. You know how it goes. “great idea great idea WOOPS new V.P. in charge bad idea not my idea dump it”. The kind of toy that ends up at Big Lots. Hurm.
Want Hockeybot with Jagr’s number on it. Just saying. 🙂
Great review DR, didnt know about this, might need to check one out, tho of course id get mine in the colors of the cross town rival Mets
Can’t vouch for this retailer, but just to show you they did make a Mets one:
http://clarktoys.com/newyomemlbfo.html
Ah, just realized DR linked to the same shop above! 😀
no sweat lay ze, thanks for the assist.
and thanks to everyone who enjoyed this. i’m nowhere near the professional level of this sight as far as lighting rigs and quippy dialogue, or crazy dio sets that some other review sites are known for, so there’s always fears of inadequacy. but i do love toys, and love taking photos of cool pieces. this guy fits the bill. for those of you who lurk on the boards, you know i’m fairly regular at snagging photos, and this guy will definitely be showing up again.
Smart review, DR!
I’ve always admired the Footbot, but never found him in my college state colors for University of Kentucky, though I did spot a UofL one a couple years ago during Christmas that gave me hope.
But this guy’s incredible! His slimmer look and helmet/head really push him over the edge for me. I’ve already got one on order. Thanks so much for bringing this one to light!
Amazing review…
I mean, Dayraven, actually using capital letters!!!
After reading the review, I did an immediate search hoping to find a Cincinnati Reds version – their uniform is very similar to the Hiroshima Carps. The Reds apparently never got made, but any red team could be easily modified – but they all seem to be sold out.
One question. Are the logos and markings printed on the figure, or are they decals which could be removed and replaced with the appropriate markings for teams which aren’t represented in the toy line-up?
“Amazing review…
I mean, Dayraven, actually using capital letters!!!”
LOL 😀 😀 😀
they are painted details, but the logos are the only paint on cast pieces so you wouldn’t damage a base coat of paint in removing them.
and yes gents, for one glorious day… i found my shift key.
Man, I don’t usually care about sports figures, but this guy is really tempting.
Great review, DR!
thanks bra… i figure w/ your bot obsession, he’d be right up your ally. the only issue is, he’s very big compared to your usual import bots.