Microman facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Microman

A scan of the cover of a Microman catalog from 1976.
Type	Action figure
Inventor(s)	Takara
Company	Takara/Takara Tomy
Country	Japan
Availability	1974–2007
Materials	Plastic/Die-cast

Microman (ミクロマン, Mikuroman) was a science fiction toyline created, manufactured and marketed by Takara Co., Ltd. from 1974 to 1984 as well as from 1998 to 2007. The Microman line was a series of 3.75-inch-tall (9.5 cm) action figures with accompanying vehicles, robots, playsets and accessories. Unlike other toylines at the time, Microman figures were marketed as being the "actual" size of cyborg beings called "Micros" that hailed from a fictional planet known as "Micro Earth" and disguised themselves as action figures while on planet Earth.

Description

A photo of a vintage Microman M101 (George) 3.75-inch-tall (9.5 cm) action figure with capsule in the background.

The core of the Microman line consisted of 3.75-inch-tall (9.5 cm) action figures which were known for their high number of articulation points relative to other toys of similar size/scale in the 1970s. The toyline also included vehicles, robots, playsets and accessories. Many of the Microman toys used interchangeable 5-millimetre (0.20 in) connectors and ports that allowed parts to be transferred and connected between different toys.

The Microman toyline was licensed and released in the United States by Mego Corporation as the Micronauts from 1976–1980.

Some of the transforming Microman toys and vehicles from the Micro Change series created within the 1980s New Microman toyline were licensed by Hasbro, along with other similar transforming toys from Takara's Diaclone toyline, in the 1980s to be a part of Hasbro's Transformers toyline in the United States.

Microman toyline influence outside Japan

Micronauts (1976-1980)

In the late 1970s, the U.S. toy company Mego acquired the license for some of Takara’s Microman 3.75-inch-tall (9.5 cm) toys and released them in the United States as the Micronauts. Mego manufactured and marketed Micronaut toys from 1976 to 1980 prior to the company’s bankruptcy and dissolution in 1982. After Mego’s demise, other toy companies such as Palisades Toys and SOTA (State of the Art) Toys attempted to revive the toyline over the years.

Transformers (1984-present)

In 1981 Takara produced a new Microman line called New Microman. A few years later in 1983, Takara launched a new Microman series within the New Microman line dubbed Micro Change. The line featured toys that were seemingly ordinary items (such as cassette tapes, microscopes, watches and even guns) that could transform themselves and "change" into other forms to help Microman in their fight against the Acroyears.

In 1984 Hasbro acquired the license for the transforming object toys from Takara’s Micro Change toyline as well as similar transforming Takara toys in the Diaclone toyline and the two were combined by Hasbro to create the Transformers toyline.

Below is a table showing which Transformers were based on which Micro Change toys and their variants:

Microman related anime & manga

Microman Kodansha TV Magazine manga (1978-79)

In 1977 TV Magazine—a children’s oriented magazine published by Kodansha Ltd.—began publishing an official, Takara approved serialized Microman manga drawn by manga artist Yoshihiro Moritou. This serialized manga was compiled into six volumes released from 1978 to 1979. Additionally, a set of 30 Menko cards featuring Moritou’s manga versions of Microman characters and vehicles was released during that period as well.

Microman Secret File Volume 1 catalog and manga (1984)

By 1984 Takara was continuing the trend of focusing their New Microman line away from the core 3.75-inch-tall (9.5 cm) Microman action figures to robots and other items. Specifically, their new focus was on their line of transformable items in the Micro Change line. Technically Microman Secret File Volume 1 was not a traditional, stand-alone manga one could purchase on their own; it was a combination catalog and manga that was packaged with a few of the new toys in the 1984 Micro Change toyline such as MC-19: Binocular Robo Scope Man. Its purpose was to establish the new direction of the Microman toyline and place the new Micro Change line in proper context within the larger Microman universe. The manga portion of the Microman Secret File Volume 1 contained artwork by Yoshihiro Moritou; the manga artist who created the original Kodansha TV Magazine manga in the 1970s.

Hasbro’s new Transformers toyline and related storyline would supersede many of the concepts and ideas presented in Microman Secret File Volume 1.

Microman: The Small Giant Comic BomBom manga (1998-1999)

From October 1998 to December 1999 Comic BomBom serialized a new manga based on Takara’s new 1998 Magne Powers & LED Powers Microman toylines drawn by manga artist Hisashi Matsumoto. This manga was subsequently compiled into stand-alone volumes and released by Kodansha Ltd. The plot focused on a school boy who receives a package that contains five small action figures that begin to move on their own and start to talk to him. They introduce themselves as Microman, hailing from the planet "Micro Earth" and were sent to Earth to help save the planet.

Microman: The Small Giant Studio Pierrot Anime (1999)

A Microman anime adaption was created by Studio Pierrot, based on the toys and the manga created by Hisashi Matsumoto and serialized in Comic BomBom, and ran from January 4, 1999 to December 17, 1999 on TV Tokyo. The series was subsequently released on VHS and DVD by Pioneer LDC. A companion theatrical movie based on the anime TV series was released in 1999 as well.

Images for kids

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  A photo of a Magne Power Microman 001 (Arthur) action figure.