The year was 1978 (or 79,I'm not sure),I was just another kid strolling thru Disney World with his family. Like any kid I just wanted to hang around Tomorrowland and eat cotton candy. When all of a sudden I felt this irresistible pull...towards the toy store. I can't remember the store's name back then,but it was the materialization of every 6-year old's material desires. When I entered the store (cue the Ark theme from ROTLA) I was immediatly attracted to a series of colorful boxes with strange writting on them. In those boxes there were toys like I had never seen until then (I had apparently been too busy oogling Lee Majors and reading the damn Ep. IV text crawl). While I was looking at these marvels from the other side of the world,I saw a catalog (also written in that strange language called Yaa-paa-nize) and I felt a mixture of envy and rage. How it was possible that I had been denied access to such awesomeness? In a fit of unchained fury,I raised my fist to heavens and roared: "KHAAAAAAAAAN!"
Well,OK,I didn't yelled that (duh!),but I sure as Hell made enough noise to make damn clear to my folks that I wasn't leaving without a sample of that treasure hoard . After some shouting,tantrums and haggling, I came back home triumphally with Robotman:
This was my first exposure to Takara's Microman. A Japanese toyline/manga/tokusatsu series that was basically a mix of mecha show with some Johnny Quest/Sealab 2020-like elements.
As you can see,it bears some resemblance to the classic Ultraman design,but this baby fired each of those rockets and it transformed into a fully motorized,battery operated tank (and this was looong before the first AE!-UH!-OOH!). To Hell with Luke and his speeder,this was my new GOD!
^ See the tank threads in the back? Lucky me,just a year before Mego had acquired the license to launch the Microman series in the US under the name Micronauts. However,the line that was distributed here wasn't always the same ones from Japan and sometimes the toyline designs would drastically vary. To give you an example,this is the American version of Robotman:
UGH! It looked like a Polynesian deity or something. Thanfully,Mego did managed to preserved some of the original Takara vehicle designs
Sadly,after the fall of Mego nobody else brought Microman over here. However,Robotman,that very first robot that caught my eye,would return years later under a new name and sporting a new design:
The rest,as the saying goes,is history.
Well,OK,I didn't yelled that (duh!),but I sure as Hell made enough noise to make damn clear to my folks that I wasn't leaving without a sample of that treasure hoard . After some shouting,tantrums and haggling, I came back home triumphally with Robotman:
This was my first exposure to Takara's Microman. A Japanese toyline/manga/tokusatsu series that was basically a mix of mecha show with some Johnny Quest/Sealab 2020-like elements.
As you can see,it bears some resemblance to the classic Ultraman design,but this baby fired each of those rockets and it transformed into a fully motorized,battery operated tank (and this was looong before the first AE!-UH!-OOH!). To Hell with Luke and his speeder,this was my new GOD!
^ See the tank threads in the back? Lucky me,just a year before Mego had acquired the license to launch the Microman series in the US under the name Micronauts. However,the line that was distributed here wasn't always the same ones from Japan and sometimes the toyline designs would drastically vary. To give you an example,this is the American version of Robotman:
UGH! It looked like a Polynesian deity or something. Thanfully,Mego did managed to preserved some of the original Takara vehicle designs
Sadly,after the fall of Mego nobody else brought Microman over here. However,Robotman,that very first robot that caught my eye,would return years later under a new name and sporting a new design:
The rest,as the saying goes,is history.
Delete Confirmation
The year was 1978 (or 79,I'm not sure),I was just another kid strolling thru Disney World with his family. Like any kid I just wanted to hang around Tomorrowland and eat cotton candy. When all of a sudden I felt this irresistible pull...towards the toy store. I can't remember the store's name back then,but it was the materialization of every 6-year old's material desires. When I entered the store (cue the Ark theme from ROTLA) I was immediatly attracted to a series of colorful boxes with strange writting on them. In those boxes there were toys like I had never seen until then (I had apparently been too busy oogling Lee Majors and reading the damn Ep. IV text crawl). While I was looking at these marvels from the other side of the world,I saw a catalog (also written in that strange language called Yaa-paa-nize) and I felt a mixture of envy and rage. How it was possible that I had been denied access to such awesomeness? In a fit of unchained fury,I raised my fist to heavens and roared: "KHAAAAAAAAAN!"
Well,OK,I didn't yelled that (duh!),but I sure as Hell made enough noise to make damn clear to my folks that I wasn't leaving without a sample of that treasure hoard . After some shouting,tantrums and haggling, I came back home triumphally with Robotman:
This was my first exposure to Takara's Microman. A Japanese toyline/manga/tokusatsu series that was basically a mix of mecha show with some Johnny Quest/Sealab 2020-like elements.
As you can see,it bears some resemblance to the classic Ultraman design,but this baby fired each of those rockets and it transformed into a fully motorized,battery operated tank (and this was looong before the first AE!-UH!-OOH!). To Hell with Luke and his speeder,this was my new GOD!
^ See the tank threads in the back? Lucky me,just a year before Mego had acquired the license to launch the Microman series in the US under the name Micronauts. However,the line that was distributed here wasn't always the same ones from Japan and sometimes the toyline designs would drastically vary. To give you an example,this is the American version of Robotman:
UGH! It looked like a Polynesian deity or something. Thanfully,Mego did managed to preserved some of the original Takara vehicle designs
Sadly,after the fall of Mego nobody else brought Microman over here. However,Robotman,that very first robot that caught my eye,would return years later under a new name and sporting a new design:
The rest,as the saying goes,is history.
Well,OK,I didn't yelled that (duh!),but I sure as Hell made enough noise to make damn clear to my folks that I wasn't leaving without a sample of that treasure hoard . After some shouting,tantrums and haggling, I came back home triumphally with Robotman:
This was my first exposure to Takara's Microman. A Japanese toyline/manga/tokusatsu series that was basically a mix of mecha show with some Johnny Quest/Sealab 2020-like elements.
As you can see,it bears some resemblance to the classic Ultraman design,but this baby fired each of those rockets and it transformed into a fully motorized,battery operated tank (and this was looong before the first AE!-UH!-OOH!). To Hell with Luke and his speeder,this was my new GOD!
^ See the tank threads in the back? Lucky me,just a year before Mego had acquired the license to launch the Microman series in the US under the name Micronauts. However,the line that was distributed here wasn't always the same ones from Japan and sometimes the toyline designs would drastically vary. To give you an example,this is the American version of Robotman:
UGH! It looked like a Polynesian deity or something. Thanfully,Mego did managed to preserved some of the original Takara vehicle designs
Sadly,after the fall of Mego nobody else brought Microman over here. However,Robotman,that very first robot that caught my eye,would return years later under a new name and sporting a new design:
The rest,as the saying goes,is history.
Oh yeah, I haven't thought about Microman since Jimmy Carter was in the White House, lol! Thank you for the outrageous pics. Now this is a blast from the past!
System
79987 Posts
15 years, 11 months ago
Guild_Navigator
I still got one of those under my bed at my other place. I wonder how much it would sell for now...
Delete Confirmation
Guild_Navigator
I still got one of those under my bed at my other place. I wonder how much it would sell for now...
knuclear200x
5908 Posts
15 years, 11 months ago
Microman sucks, well...the ones I got sucked. they came with vehicles that combine into a cool robot. they were the late ones, and got em at KB.
System
79987 Posts
15 years, 11 months ago
I also had the guys you could join together and put guns, caterpillar tracks and drill bits onto.
I'm still not clear why Robotman didn't catch on. Was it a distribution glich that hindered wide release or do you need an ad campaign with a cartoon to get attention? Guess timing is the key. Robotman was too soon. Gotta say I love toys with Japanese writing on the container. Now That's Cool!
triviaprofessor
164 Posts
15 years, 11 months ago
Wow! What can I say! Micronauts were my favorite action figures growing up. I could chat about them for hours! I still have my Micronauts inside one gigantic cardboard box, but several of them were dissasembled, or interchanged with other ones. Back in the 1970's, I liked my "Star Wars" figures, but absolutely adored my Micronauts. I had most of the figures and the small vehicles but envied my classmates who had the larger vehicles, stations, and cities. I also had a few "Metal Man" action figures, but they could not hold a candle to my "Mics" (as my peers, and I, called them).
Enjoy!
http://www.micro-outpost.com/pictures/pictures.html
http://www.bugeyedmonster.com/micronauts/
Cheers!
Sincerely, Steve B. :)
Enjoy!
http://www.micro-outpost.com/pictures/pictures.html
http://www.bugeyedmonster.com/micronauts/
Cheers!
Sincerely, Steve B. :)
They have a new toyline of micronauts in Japan that are pretty cool looking. Just go to Takara's official site.
http://www.thespacesheriffblog.com/
uchuukeji69
They have a new toyline of micronauts in Japan that are pretty cool looking. Just go to Takara's official site.
Mmm,it kinda lost its "Johnny Quest" angle in favor of more mecha-happy antics,I guess.
Delete Confirmation
uchuukeji69
They have a new toyline of micronauts in Japan that are pretty cool looking. Just go to Takara's official site.
Mmm,it kinda lost its "Johnny Quest" angle in favor of more mecha-happy antics,I guess.
Did somebody say my name?