- Joined
- Jul 10, 2017
They were an 80's Marvel Comic book based on a Mego Toyline (now owned by Hasbro) that was itself rebranded western offerings of Takara's Microman toys.
This cartoon is not based on the Marvel version of the IP. Sadly. Marvel's Micronauts and ROM Spaceknight books were amazing. And the forerunner to GI Joe and Transformers. Which gets especially weird. The Transformers are the Japanese love children of GI Joe by way of the Micronauts.
In the 1970's Takara had the Asian license to produce 12" GI Joe dolls from Hasbro. But sales were declining. So they spun it into a SciFi line. The recast the body in clear plastic with machine bits inside, chomed the head and called it Henshin Cyborg. And it did really well.
But the toys were expensive. And vehicles were a problem for space limited Japanese homes. Plus the Arab oil crisis hit skyrocketing plastic costs.
So Takara took Henshin Cyborg and shrunk him down to 3 3/4 inches. The new toyline was branded Microman. And sales skyrocketed. The line was built around a modular system of 5mm peg connections that allowed you to combine vehicles and figures in thousands of ways. It was genius. They packaged the individual figures in cool little pods as inexpensive impulse buy items. The figures came in a broad range of colors and each had a random interchangeable chest plate that came in different colors and styles. So getting the exact same figure was rare, until they added the more deluxe die cast guys. The ones we know as Space Glider and Galactic Warrior.
In 1976 Mattel partnered with Bandai and Bandai's Die Cast subsidiary Popy to bring in a line of disparate anime robot toys based on a dozen different anime and tokusatsu shows all under 1 branding. The Shogun Warriors.
Mattel offered the 2 foot tall Blow Molded Viant giant wheeled robots from Bandai's Giant Mechinder line and a wide range of utterly amazing Die Cast toys like nothing that had been seen in the US before. The stuff was incredible and Mattel did well for Christmas 76. They even had a Marvel Comic and a weird chopped up TV show called Force Five. But the smaller die cast toys were very expensive, So while the line did okay, it didnt have staying power. The Micronauts won the day.
In 1977 Mego contracted with Takara to import the Microman line into North America and Europe as The Micronauts. Mego also brought over some other Takara toys and packaged them into the Micronauts line. Most famously modifying and recoloring Takara's toy of anime robot Kotetsu Jeeg into Baron Karza. The Mego Offerings were a less expensive offering of mostly plastic that could connect to everything else Micronauts blew past sales of Shogun Warriors.
In May of 1977 Mego found themselves with Micronauts as the largest SciFi toyline on the shelves when a certain movie hit. They did unbelievably well Christmas 1977. When Kenner was just selling an empty box of Star Wars dreams. It didn't hurt that when Kenners Star Wars toys finally arrived they were the same 3 3/4 inch scale as the Micronauts. So lots of cross play.
Somewhere in there Marvel licensed Micronauts for a comic. The book lasted almost 10 years and outlasted the toyline. It was almost all written by Bill Mantlo. And it was amazing. Much of what we got in the GotG movies comes directly or indirectly from Micronauts. The toyline ended in 1980. The comic lasted to 1986.
Microman continued to do booming business in Japan. So much so that they started to do spinoff lines. Diaclone which offered cars and trucks with little magnetic drivers that could transform into giant mecha. And the Micro Change line. Which was common household objects that could change into robots. Y'know common things like boom boxes, cameras and handguns.
Takara showed these off at a toy Faire in 1982 and attracted the attention of their longtime western partner Hasbro. Hasbro had sat out Megos Micronauts and Mattels Shogun Warriors in the 70's, but now wanted to bring in a shelf ready line from Japan. They just needed to figure out how to brand it all together and have it make sense.
So they called Jim Shooter over at Marvel. Who had just helped them relaunch GI Joe as a new 3 3/4 inch global sensation by dusting off an old Nich Fury SHIELD vs Hydra idea. "Jim we got these Transforming Robot Toys. You got any ideas?"
Yeah we know where this goes.
Meet Optimus Primes Grandfather.
After Mego collapsed in 86 Hasbro ended up with the remnants including the Micronauts IP. They have attempted to relaunch it a few times with comics from IDW and a few others. Unrelated to the Marvel characters. Hasbro had plans for a Micronauts movie in universe with their Transformer and GI Joe movies. I think there is a new book coming out from Robert Kirkmans Skybound studios as part of the Hasbro Energon Universe.
After years of not being available Marvel and Hasbro cut a deal and they republished the full runs of Bill Mantlo's Micronauts and Rom Spaceknight books in premium omnibus form. Which is great news. Bill Mantlo was or is one of comics greatest creators. Among his other creations is Rocket Raccoon. He tragically was involved in a hit and run accident while bicycling in the 1990's suffering a serious closed head injury and has required skilled nursing care ever since. He and his family need all the love they can get.
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