MST3K Official Bot Building Booklet

Many of us have seen this cool little booklet , but I’m posting this for those who haven’t!

This is the Official Bot Building Booklet by Gary Glover and BBI. It has tons of cool pictures , and lots of information! An awesome part of bot building history!

I did reach out to Gary Glover , and we have permission to host these images ! Thanks To Gary!

If you prefer , here is a link to a pdf version

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It’s funny how much more we know now, how much harder some things are to get (of course), and how in a couple of instances items have not popped up more than half a dozen times in 30 years… sigh.

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Wow… I had no idea that Gary Glover worked on the booklet during the show’s original run. All this time I thought that he started to work for MST3K to do official artwork since the Netflix seasons!

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Seeing this for the first time and comparing to my own thoughts on mechanisms, it’s cool to sort out the different approaches. I’ve also just seen more BTS for the first time, and am trying to reconcile a lot of it!

Sometimes fandom is hard… :wink:

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But I wanted to know how to build Mike’s huge head!

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Oh ya. Some of the original pieces are so rare now, it’s insane. I keep a constant eye out for anything, and some items I’ve never seen in the wild! It would be interesting to see what “unconverted” pieces we all have in our possession some time .

I came across 2 boo bowls at a local Goodwill the other day, and I considered that a major score! I haven’t seen any in a long ,long time, and these things were mass produced for years. Same goes for the everready flashlights. Way more common than say the GM Loveseat or the Cooper face cage , but even they are becoming scarce :pensive:

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It’s great comparing different building techniques! Some similarities , but some slight differences . You can look at a build that Joe Crow would have done, or something Toolmaster Jeff or Gary Glover did and sometimes find something different that works as well. It’s invaluable information really! It’s really awesome keeping this stuff out there !

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I have never actually read this before and now I’m certain to make a few dozen nanites to distribute throughout my house.

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Garry’s still around on the facebook group, he’s been a big help on sourcing and making Bot parts. Highly recommend paying a visit!

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I like the publishing information at the bottom of page 2.

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I think that the only obscure parts for the Nanites are the specific cam buckle for the mouth (written up as sourced from a duffle bag) and the box and buttons that make up the eye, though it looks like film canister lids and also plastic washers do well. It’s a slippery slope! Next thing you know you’re going to be driving to every antique and clearance and goodwill and… etc in the County for WLP 81s, e pins, XL7 FGs (hm you might have luck with these, let me know! :smiley: ), floating lanterns, and soap dishes :wink: I hope you make a few (well, would be cool to see a lot of them, I’ve already got mine named, they need friends)

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ok so at Camp MSTie this Summer we need to have Nanite building on Arts n Crafts Day, right?
And ah… Rock’Em Sock’Em Bots between the Camp teams, as well as… building a Killbot Army to invade Camp Deep Hurting and… launching Rocket No. 9, and… oh yeah friendship bracelets with Jack Perkins and… oh jeez I’m getting away from bot building here.

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Thanks for posting! I have one of the original booklets but it’s nice to have a pdf version. Crow is the one that gave me the most trouble when building but I got him done.

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I traded with Gary around 1999 before this was released and he threw in a galley along with my bot parts. It is well used/loved.

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ideally, one of these years we will have an MST3K museum showing off all the original items used as bot parts in a display case…

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Gary’s the best and has a wealth of stories to tell. Was fortunate to get this picture with him at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta a few years back.

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