Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre: “Puzzle Expanded”

It’s time for another Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre photo story. The name “Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre” was coined by Kevin Beckett at the now defunct Whetstone Discord server.

My Evil Horde recruitment ad continues to bear fruit, because I have now assembled almost all the Evil Horde members ever made in seven inch scale, though I’m still waiting for the Masterverse Deluxe Horde Troopers to be delivered. Once the Horde is complete, I will retake the epic Horde group shot.

One of the weirder members of what is a very weird group is Modulok, a sort of construction toy turned Horde scientist. I was recently able to acquire a Masters of the Universe Classics Modulok for a good price and promptly had some fun with him by having him join the Horde in the Masters-of-the-Univers-Piece Theatre toy photo story “Puzzle”, where resident Horde tech genius Entrapta tries to assemble Modulok’s body parts. Because that was Modulok’s deal. He had twenty-two body parts that could be assembled in different ways.

Modulok was clearly popular, because the following year Mattel introduced another build-your-own-monster character named Multi-Bot who functioned exactly like Modulok, only that he was a robot created by Modulok who was billed as the “Evil Robot of a Thousand Bodies”.

For even more fun, the Modulok and Multi-Bot pieces were interchangeable, allowing you to mix and match parts and also combine both Modulok and Multi-Bot into a creature called Megabeast. I didn’t build a Megabeast, but here is a video explaining how to build Megabeast with the original toys and here is a video explaining how to build Megabeast with the Classics figures. A Megabeast assembled only from Modulok parts also appeared in issue 2/86 of the German Masters of the Universe Magazine. Both the Classics and the original version require buying mutiple figures, so nope, not happening. Though Modulok has now been announced for Masters of the Universe Origins and I’ll probably buy an extra to make Megabeast, once Multi-Bot comes out.

I had a lot of fun playing around with Modulok and assembling him, so when I found a Classics Multi-Bot for a good price, I snapped him up as well. And of course, I decided to have some fun and have Modulok and Entrapta collaborate (reluctantly on Modulok’s part) to assemble him.

The Fright Zone, Modulok’s workshop:

The Masters of the Universe Classics Modulok poses with the dissassembled Multi-Bot“I can’t wait to show my latest invention to Hordak. Perhaps now that I am about to provide him with the ultimate weapon, he will finally recognise my genius. Maybe I will be appreciated at last. And maybe, Hordak will finally make me chief scientist of the Horde rather than… that silly pink and sparkly girl.”

Hordak, Imp and Entrapta arrive in Modulok's lab to see his latest invention.“Lord Hordak! And… Entrapta – sigh, why did he have to bring her? What is it about her, sigh?”

“Hey, don’t forget me!”

“And Imp, of course. That little annoying piece of…”

“Modulok, did you actually summon me for a reason or are you just going to stand around there muttering to yourself? Cause I still have a planet to conquer and a rebellion to crush, so don’t waste my time.”

“A… apologies, Lord Hordak. I… I summoned you, because I wanted to show you my latest invention. It’s the ultimate weapon that will help you to conquer Etheria and crush the rebellion. I call it…”

“Robot parts! Look, Hordak, robot parts!”

“Sigh…”

Modulok shows off the dissassembled Multi-Bot to Hordak, Entrapta and Imp.“Wow, there’s three sets of legs and two torsos and four arms and two heads and…”

“Don’t touch that! Don’t touch anything!”

“You were saying, Modulok?”

“Ahem, this is self-assembling war-bot 2312, also known as Multi-Bot, the Robot of a Thousand Bodies. He can assemble himself into any shape you please, a tank, an aircraft, a warrior, a battalion of warriors, making him the ultimate weapon…”

“That’s sooo cool.”

“…what is more, I can also add 2312’s components to my own body, turning myself into Mega-Beast, the ultimate warrior…”

“Wow, that’s even cooler.”

“That sounds very impressive, Modulok, but right now I’m seeing only a mess of body parts.”

“Because 2312 is still disassembled. But if you’ll allow me to demonstrate…”

“Can I help?”

“No, you’ll only break things.”

“As I said, Modulok, I have better things to do than wait for you to put your new robot together. So call me when he’s actually ready. And now assemble your robot. Entrapta will help.”

“But sir…”

“Entrapta will help, Modulok. And Imp will watch to make sure that you play nicely together. That’s my final word.”

“Sigh. What have I done to deserve this?”

Entrapta holds one of the Multi-Bot heads, while Modulok freaks out and Imp looks on.“Okay, so where do we start with putting him together?”

“We don’t start at all. I’ll start. And put that down!”

“That’s a great robot head. Love the bright orange colour.”

“I said, Put that down!”

“Careful, Modulok. Hordak said play nice with Entrapta. And Hordak gets very angry when people are mean to Entrapta. And trust me, you don’t want to see Hordak angry.”

“Shut up, you little flying pest! And you, put that down! You’ll only break it.”

“I promise, I’ll be very careful. And besides, I’m a scientist and you can’t do science without sometimes breaking things or blowing them up. I thought you knew that, cause you’re a scientist, too.”

“I never break things or blow anything up.”

“Oh yes, and what about that portal generator you promised you’d build for Hordak? You know, the one that blew up and knocked out a whole squadron of Troopers along with it.”

“Shut up, Imp! That was… an accident.”

Entrapta has put the two Multi-Bot heads on the legs and pelvis pieces, much to Modulok's frustration, while Imp looks on.“Look, I’ve made two robots.”

“You silly girl! Those are just heads with legs. They don’t have arms. How are they supposed to hold weapons?”

“Oh, I thought they could shoot laser beams out of their eyes. Cause that would be really cool.”

“Fix them, you stupid girl!”

Entrapta has added a second pair of legs as arms to one robot, much to Modulok's annoyance. Imp still looks on.“Not that way, you nitwit!”

“But you wanted arms.”

“Arms, not legs. Now he’s just got four legs and still no arms. Argh, I’ll just do it myself.”

Modulok fixes one half of Multi-Bot, while Entrapta and Imp look on.“There, that’s better. Much better. One robot warrior with two legs, two arms, one torso, one head and one very handsome face, if I may say so myself. I modelled it after Force Captain Keldor, you know?”

“Yeah right, you should know how many arms, legs and heads a person is supposed to have, Modulok. Also, your robot looks nothing like Keldor.”

“Shut up, Imp.”

Modulok and Entrapta admire one half of Multi-Bot.“Isn’t he impressive? Isn’t he handsome? Isn’t he menacing? Is he not going to strike fear into the hearts of those accursed rebels?”

“I don’t think you can be both handsome and menacing at the same time, but he is cool. I think we should call him ‘Dean’.”

“His name is serial number 2312.”

“But that’s boring.”

“It’s logical.”

“Talking of logical, what’s that nub on the front for.”

“That’s…. ahem… a connection piece.”

Entrapta assembles the other half of Multi-Bot, while Modulok is incensed that she gave him a tail.“Look, I’ve assembled the other one. With proper arms. I think I’ll call him Sam.”

“His name is serial number 2312.”

“But you already called Dean that.”

“This one is serial number 2312-2, the other one is serial number 2312-1.”

“But that’s boring. And confusing.”

“It’s logical and… Argh, what is that?”

“What’s what?”

“That thing on his butt?”

“Oh, that. I gave him a tail.”

“Robots have no tails, you stupid girl!”

“But they have ‘connection pieces’ on their pelvis…”

“Shut up, Imp.”

Modulok, Entrapta and Imp admire the two separate assembled Multi-Bot robots.“Success. Two robot warriors to fight for the glory of Lord Hordak.”

“Great job, Modulok! Sam and Dean look awesome all put assembled.”

“For the last time, their names are 2312-1 and 2312-2, not Sam and Dean.”

Entrapta finds a pair of spare Multi-Bot legs“Uhm, Modulok, I think we made a mistake. We have a pair of legs left over.”

“I never make mistakes. Two legs are so unstable and insufficient…”

“Oh, I understand. You want your robots to have more legs like you do.”

“More legs mean more stability, more connectability, more power. Because connectability is power…”

“Oh dear, he’s off on one of his rants again.”

“Shut up, Imp! True, 2312 may look like two robot warriors with a pair of extra legs, but they are so much more than the sum of their parts. Behold the true power of connection…”

Modulok has fully assembled Multi-Bot, while Entrapta and Imp looks on.“Behold Multi-Bot!”

“That’s super-cool. But… uhm… his heads look in different directions. How does he decide in what direction to walk?”

“Better question: How will he walk at all, considering he’s fused together at the butt?”

“Like a crab. Multi-Bot walks like a crab. Sideways. Arrrgh, why am I cursed with ignoramuses like you two questioning my genius?”

“What genius?”

“It’s okay, Modulok. Sometimes, we only notice flaws and imperfections, when we put our inventions together.”

“I have no imperfections. My inventions are perfect. Perfect!”

“That’s all right. Imperfections are beautiful.”

Modulok presents the assembled Multi-Bot to Hordak“Lord Hordak, may I present Multi-Bot, the ultimate warrior, the robot of a thousand bodies and a thousand configurations.”

“Hmm, interesting. Very interesting. But why do both heads look in different directions?”

“So he can see the enemy coming from both sides and fire in two directions at once.”

“Very interesting. But how does he walk, when his heads look in different directions?”

“Why do I always have to repeat myself? He walks sideways…”

“Like a crab.”

“Like a crab. That’s brilliant, my Entrapta.”

“Yes, it’s brilliant because it was my idea. Harumph.”

***

Later:

Modulok tinkers with and admired Multi-Bot“Ah, 2312, I wonder what Hordak sees in that Entrapta person. True, she is… not bad as an engineer, but she’s also so unserious and silly. What does she have that I don’t?”

“That is simple. Entrapta is female and Hordak wants to procreate with her.”

“Am I not the smartest and most devious scientist in the Horde? Why does Hordak not appreciate me? Now Captain Keldor, that was a man. Handsome, dashing and he actually listened to me and praised me once in a while. But of course, Hordak had to drive him away. Sigh. Well, at least I have you to talk to now, 2312. Cause that’s the true reason I built you, to have someone to talk to who appreciates my genius, when talking to my second head isn’t enough. You do appreciate my genius, don’t you, 2312?”

“Please do not call us 2312. Our names are Sam and Dean.”

“Aaarrrgh!”

***

Even later:

Hordak gets cozy with Entrapta, while Imp turns away.“My sweet Entrapta. I hope Modulok wasn’t too mean to you. I know his manners are abominable and trust me, he will be punished, if he insulted you. But he does have his uses.”

“That’s okay, Hordak. Modulok is just a little grumpy. And you used to be grumpy, too, before we were friends.”

“Oh my Entrapta, one day I hope we shall be more than friends. One day, I will overthrow my accursed brother and take the throne of the Horde Empire and then you, my Entrapta, you will be my queen.”

SMOOCH!

“Oh, I can’t watch when they do that. It’s just so weird, like watching your parents do… well, you know what. Time to scoot.”

***

Still later:

Loo-Kee appears from a vat in the Fright Zone“Hi, it’s me, Loo-Kee. I hide in places, even scary places like the Fright Zone. And then, when no one is looking, I come out to tell you the moral of the story you just witnessed. Cause you see, every story has to have a moral. That’s – like – a universal cosmic law, established by the all-powerful council of the Federal Communications Commission. Not that I’ve ever met them, but I guess they’re like the Trollan Council of Mages or the Cosmic Enforcer Corps, really powerful and a little scary.”

Loo-Kee comes out to deliver his moral, seemingly unaware of Imp.“Today’s story was about building robots. But it’s also a story about friends and about liking people. Hordak is really, really scary and terrible and an all-around awful person, but he also likes Entrapta and Entrapta likes him. Because even terrible people have friends. And Modulok is lonely, because he used to like Captain Keldor – who later became Skeletor and is really scary and terrible as well – but then Hordak drove Keldor away. And because Modulok is so lonely, he built himself a robot friend. But you can’t build yourself friends. Meanwhile, Modulok doesn’t realise that Entrapta wants to be his friend… – well, not like she’s Hordak’s friend, but you know what I mean.”

“You again! Alert, Troopers, we have a rebel spy in the Fright Zone. I repeat, there’s a rebel spy in the Fright Zone.”

Imp chases off Loo-Kee.“Oops, I’ve been discovered. Gotta go. But remember, everybody deserves friendship and love, even scary and terrible people like Hordak and Keldor and Modulok and…”

“Just wait till I’ll get you, rebel scum! Then Lord Hordak will send you to Beast Island or lock you up in his private zoo.”

“…and even a pest like Imp. Because love and friendship makes everybody a better person. Bye for now.”

***

I borrowed the relationship between Hordak and Entrapta from the 2018 She-Ra and the Princesses of Power cartoon, because I found it oddly endearing, both Hordak being besotted with Entrapta and Entrapta totally failing to be scared of Hordak. I have mixed feelings about the 2018 She-Ra and should probably articulate them in a separate post, but I love what they did with Entrapta’s character.

Modulok’s crush on Keldor was inspired by the Masters of the Universe Revolution prequel comic mini-series, where Modulok is Keldor’s science officer aboard the Horde Cruiser he commands, which is made even funnier by the fact that Modulok was conceived to be Mr. Spock, but evil, by J. Michael Straczynski, who created the character’s backstory, whereas Keldor is literally voiced by William Shatner, Captain Kirk himself.

Entrapta appears to be a secret Supernatural fan, while Modulok has apparently read Henry Kuttner (and yes, the Gallegher stories were solo Kuttner according to C.L. Moore, who should know).

Loo-Kee, meanwhile, does what he does best, namely deliver the moral of the story.

That’s it for today, folks. I hope you enjoyed this Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre Photo Story, because there will be more. I also have a Halloween Special planned, so stay tuned.

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these characters, I just bought some toys, took photos of them and wrote little scenes to go with those photos. All characters are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

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One Response to Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre: “Puzzle Expanded”

  1. Pingback: Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre Halloween Special: “The Tomb of Sibor” | Cora Buhlert

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