![]() No details have been announced yet about when this will be released or at what price, but at roughly 4 inches tall (close to 10cm), and with what appears to be a 5mm (or maybe 3mm) socket on its back, it will likely fit in nicely with BOTH Diaclone and Microman collections as a Mini-Robotman update! In the wake of the success of Diabattles V2 and the announcement of new Diaclone Powered Suits and Big Powered GV, an unlicensed third party toymaker, Perfect Effect, has come out of left field with a Diaclone-scaled remake of Microman’s Robotman (aka Micronauts’ Biotron)! This updated take includes removable treads (the back-mounted treads being an iconic part of the original design) that combine with a cannon to form a mini-tank for the figure to ride. This is quickly becoming an exciting year for both Micronauts and Microman fans. It remains unclear if Hasbro intends to do other “Micronauts Classics Collection” releases in the future, but given the vast number of molds in TakaraTomy’s possession (including Robotman aka Biotron!), it seems likely we could see more in the future if this launch is successful, including many types of figures that never saw release in the original Mego run. So all in all, these are mostly reshuffled Microman figures that all feature some parts that were never before released as Micronauts. The hood and laser sword, along with possibly the wings (but hard to be certain–and they are also upside down) all come from the Mego Galactic Defender set, which based the hood on Hoodman’s but retooled it to fit the larger body and added a chrome grill to the front. ![]() However, unlike Mego’s figure, these are the only Command 3 parts used in Orbital Defender, who, confusingly, has a Microman Rescue 27x type body, head and pistol (which was originally chromed), Command 1 arms (again!) and Command 2/Pharoid legs. Of these accessories, the chrome winglets on the wrists and thighs (upside down compared to the original) were from the original Microman Command 3 figure which Mego had slightly retooled (removing the glow in the dark chest feature of the original) for Galactic Defender. ![]() Inspired by Mego’s Galactic Defender, the only parts he retains from that classic figure are most of the accessories. Orbital Defender is the strangest mash-up of the three. It’s unclear if the firing mechanism works the same or not, and we don’t know if the figure will be die-cast like the original or (more likely) be cast in painted plastic. The missile launcher features a new type of safety missile that differs both from the Takara original pointed one as well as the rubber “mushroom”-tipped Mego one, but evocative of a mix of both. The torso looks based on the original Galactic Warror/ Super Microman although the collar may be slightly raised. Galactic Warrior is particularly interesting as his arms and legs are both from Command 2, and his head appears to be completely new (or at least has not been found to match any known figure yet). Their later runs switched heads to the same as Space Glider’s (which in turn came from yet another Microman figure, the M11x series) and replaced the “Microman Command” logo with more Egyptian hieroglyphics. The “Time Chamber” capsule is also the original Command 1 version, which was in fact used in Mego’s first run of Pharoids. The rivets on all three figures are also flatter, as used in the 2013 Sunny manga exclusive Microman Rescue figure, suggesting that the same facility in China produced these (perhaps Sunny was something of a test run?). Note that the Ken Kelly art also shows him with Command 2′s wings. Given the parts used, it may actually be true that most of the parts come from those vintage molds…as these figures are actually each mash-ups and not a single one is an exact match to any prior release:įirst off, Pharoid is mostly the original Command 2 mold, except his head and arms, which both come from Command 1 (never released in the Micronauts line before). What IS clear as that they are probably made from Takara’s molds from the 1999 replica Microman series–some of which did use vintage molds, such as Command 2/Pharoid, while others used new tooling… Interestingly, the article claims the toys were made using the original tooling, which is a bit misleading. The comic is being written by lifelong Micronauts fan Cullen Bunn and is, so far, a wholly original take on the series drawing inspiration from both the classic toys as well as some input from Hasbro’s dev team. ![]() A further update on the San Diego Comic-Con 2016 exclusive Micronauts set from Hasbro…it will come packed with this Astrostation tribute cardboard insert! Also included with an exclusive Ken Kelly cover issue of the new Micronauts comic from IDW. ![]()
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