Welcome to the Bob Slay v2 Project.
Here, I took on the task of building a Bob Slay v2 from scratch. The only additional option that I selected was a handle, which is not standard on the v2. This review will be more whimsical and satirical in nature than the MSI Windtop Barebones Project, because I was not as hyped about this one and the actual process of building it was actually more eventful than the other one. If you're in a hurry and want to just know the skinny, I don't like this case. I also have a theory on why Mountain mods charges so much for something that, say, CoolerMaster would be able to sell for cheaper, but you'll have to read this review for that one.
Well, without further ado, here is what I got:


Yes, despite its humble appearance this puppy cost me upwards of $150 and I had to sign for it before the Fedex person would release it to me. In case you're wondering, because it's not assembled it is pretty skinny:


I also decided that there is no perspective in these pix, so here is it when compared to the size of a keyboard:


I was about to get out my box cutter when I realized that since this is acrylic, it's going to pick up things like prints, cat hair, and dust like a frenzied crack addict who just won the lottery. I couldn't do anything about the cat hair, and my wife wasn't home to clear the dust so I put on some latex gloves and then got busy opening the box. And what, to my wonderment, did I see? Yo dawg, I herd u liek boxes!


This was getting pretty awesome already, so I totally expected Chuck Norris to pop out of the box next and fight with Jack Bauer over who's the next candidate for the island, but instead I was greeted with peanuts. A lot of them.



Well, peanuts are boring, so I just cleared all of them out and took my gear out of the box.



Sorry, I just realized I have to go back to the peanuts because I didn't clear all of them out. There is, in fact, a FALSE BOTTOM to the box!


I fully expected Mountain Mods to hide some sort of Easter egg, but alas, it was just more peanuts. All in all, I think I could make a kitty ball pit out of the peanuts that I got. That's saying quite a bit because when you really think about it, ball pits act kind of like water: displacement is based on volume not mass. Given that one of my cats clearly has a midsection that has a greater circumference than my wife's thigh, I would say that we're talking somewhere between 2-3 gallons of peanuts (yeah, that's right, GALLONS of peanuts).

Anyway, after taking stock of all parts, I pulled up the instruction manual that is in PDF format on the product page at Mountain Mods' website. It was at this point that I realized my packaging did not include an acrylic PCI lock thing or the 8 elongated case screws that I was promised. I did, however, receive 6 ATX screws---in addition to the other baggies of standard screws. More on this later.

It took me about 2 minutes to assemble the first side:


It took me about another 15 mins or so to assemble the second side and put the peripherals in. This is because I only have 1 5.25" item, but the case comes with a way to anchor 2 in the case. However, it doesn't tell you that if you only have one that one must go in the bottom slot. The acrylic drive mount does not connect to the bottom panel of the case itself, the drive must be attached to the case.

One thing I think most people would be concerned about as far as the bottom half of the Bob Slay goes is the possibility that their PSU is too large. Well, here's my Thermaltake Toughpower 850W modular chillin' out:


As you can see, there's enough space to the left of the PSU for the acrylic block (more later), and you'll see in the later pix that there is enough space on the back and top. The top shouldn't be a problem, larger PSUs tend to be deeper, not wider anyway.


Notice the ample room for cabling at the back side of the PSU.




At this point, I think I should mention that these panels are being held together by acrylic blocks. I also feel compelled to point out that these blocks use Phillips head screws:


This is very important as it prevents slippage and scratching the panels with your screwdriver. This was a complaint with v1 that they apparently addressed.

These acrylic blocks have holes in 3 sides (as opposed to all 6) and they come in two varieties: left angle and right angle. Unfortunately, I don't have a clear picture of both, but here is one that has been installed:


As you can see, the block has the mounting holes staggered because the shafts extend past the middle of the cube (or more than half of the length, if you will). While this makes perfect theoretical sense, this causes all sorts of craziness when you are trying to get things to line up. Mountain Mods also usually does not indicate in the instructions which type of acrylic cube to use (left angled or right angled) and it certainly doesn't indicate how to rotate the block. The panels each come with one side covered in a protective adhesive. That is the brown you see in the images above. This confuses me. Why would only one side need protecting? Also, if you notice by looking carefully at the pictures of 1 side done and 2 sides done, you will notice that the side that needs protection isn't always the side facing out or facing in. As if I wasn't easy enough to confuse, now building this case is a huge effort of trial and error. The case has 7 panels, 5 of which are clear of their orientation and facing. The top and left panels are unlabeled with anything beyond F and G to indicate which is the side and top respectively. Couple this with the lack of direction regarding the orientation and type of block required and you've successfully confused an Asian for 5 hours.
It's kinda like a jigsaw...where the pieces don't fit:





And just to illustrate that I truly screwed up and will likely have to disassemble and reassemble, this is the block directly below the one above:

Well, anyway....this is what it looks like when you cleverly hide the fact that your case does not have the required level of structural integrity:




 
To the astute people, yes, that's only 3 sticks of RAM. Yes, this is a quad kit. The last module is in my Home Server.
The motherboard tray offers reasonable clearance for wires on 3 sides, so unless your PSU has REALLY short wires they should all reach. You may be able to see that my 8 pin connector is actually going up through the space near the front of the case while the other wires go up through the space near the left side (opposite the I/O shield and PCI slots).

Well, at this point I was really getting bothered with the problem of things not lining up properly with the acrylic blocks, as above, and I realized that once I close the case by putting on the top, I'd probably be lazy and finish the review and not correct the misalignment, so I emailed Mountain Mods. For the record, I did not correct the misalignment. You see how well that turned out, right? This is what I got as a response:

Subject:
RE: Enquiry from Mountain Mods
From: "Mountain Mods" < mountainmods@mountainmods.com>
Date: Sat, 15 May 2010 16:20:32 -0700
To: {me}

Hi {me}.
First let me address the issue you brought up with the U2-UFO panel.
It states specifically in the description page that the replacement panels are for “hyper modular” designs only.
Obviously you must of have not been aware of the meaning of “hyper modular” and probably should have asked or read past news and reviews.

Now moving on to the relevant issue –
It’s really a non issue.  The case you ordered is bob-slay revision 2 – not the Bob Slay revision 1.
The revision 1 has an acrylic PCI IO panel.  The revision 2 has an all aluminum on that comes already fastened.
No Brace is needed as it operates like a normal case where you install the cards and fasten them with those 6 x 6-32 screws into the IO panel.  Bob Slay revision 2 does not include any fan screws.
Obviously there is only one switch hole in revision 2 so there is only one switch, and no LEDS as in revision 1.
The case assembly is the same minus those changes.  There is no specific installation guide for the revision 2 currently – being much the same we point to the revision 1.

Best regards,
503.631.7797
WWW.MOUNTAINMODS.COM
========================================================

From: {me}
Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2010 3:37 PM
To: Mountain Mods
Subject: Enquiry from Mountain Mods

This question is regarding order #7###.
I received the order today, thank you first of all for the fast processing of my order. When I opened the box, it appeared to have all the panels, the handle, 5.25" and 3.5" expansion acrylic panels, and the PCI cover plates. However, I do not see the acrylic PCI locking bar. Additionally, I got to the point where the instructions state:
"Now install your intake and exhaust fans using the 8 long fan screws included with the case (standard
fan screws will not be long enough)."
I see no such screws. The only screws that I have are:
1 bag of 3mm screws for the acrylic blocks that hold the panels together,
1 bag of slightly fatter screws (the 6/32 screws)
1 bag of screws and screw mounts for the motherboard
1 bag of 6 regular case screws. These screws are too short to even make contact with the fan through the acrylic panel, and there are only 6 of them.

I have searched in the box for these missing parts, but I do not see them. The box was divided into two areas with a cardboard partition; I searched both partitions, and I still cannot see the PCI locking bar or the 8 long fan screws.

While I have respect for the innovative stuff that you provide, this is the second time that I have had basic problems with your products: the other time was when I bought a replacement U2-UFO panel and when I could not determine how to install it, customer service told me that the original panel was welded to the frame and I could not return the panel.

So basically: I'm an idiot, and I'm having problems with things that are non-issues. Ok, I can live with that, I'll just finish the box and pretend I'm smart then:






So yeah, I just need to add some fans, and figure out how to put in these extra 10 screws that I have and I'll be done. When it's dark I'll add night pix, and you won't even be able to see it wobble when I prod it. It will be like one of those earthquake resistant skyscrapers that travel a full foot left and right when there's a scale 3 quake.
I also used the 6 ATX screws on the PCI slots. Of course, this is clearly NOT what they were meant for. How do I know? Because there are 7 PCI slots.

So that pretty much clears up everything, except...wait, I'm not an idiot. Or at least I'm only a partial idiot:


Only a partial idiot would miss the part on that page which states that the v2 does not use the acrylic PCI block. And only a complete idiot wouldn't ask for it to be pre-assembled, given the problems in manually assembling it.

Lastly, I promised to divulge Mountain Mods' great secret on why their prices are higher than other case manufacturers. One reason is the peanuts. The second reason is this:




Yes, that's plastic wrap.

THE END

P.S. I did send a follow-up email to Mountain Mods asking if I'm the only idiot who can't assemble their cases. I am pretty sure that if I am they won't have any hesitation telling me. Since I haven't heard back, I'm thinking that they're either:
a) addressing my question (1% likelihood), or
b) trying to keep an Asian in suspense. This is not hard, they were able to do that for 5 hours with just a Russian cardboard box, peanuts, and plastic wrap.