The Energon Pub

Anybody else absolutely love Microman? I love the little guys to death. The body sculpt is amazingly posable and all the snap on armor pieces and such are so cool! I've owned only five though, since they're a bit hard to come by in stores down here and my mom is always very reluctant to buy me stuff online, even knowing full well that I'll be paying her back.

Anyway, all of these have been either somehow lost or destroyed by something or someone.

Acrobiom, part of the 2004 line and purchased at Suncoast.
Acrocleve, same series, same store
Biomachine Trinity, part of the 2004 line, purchased at KB toys (holy ****!)
Magnamicroman Theseus, part of the 2005 line, purchased at local comic shop.

My comic shop doesn't get these in very often. Suncoast always had a few, though, before they closed. That place made the mall so much better.

So do you guys have any? Do you know any online store that sells them on the cheap? I'm looking for a 2004 Acrovoltech in specific...

BizZzzZzzzZZzzZZzzZzZzump!

From experience, when people don't know what you're talking about, pretty pictures help. Otherwise, threads like these get ignored. Also, bumping one's own thread and adding nothing to it is pretty lame.

Personal experience with Microman was... not that good.

Chosen wrote:From experience, when people don't know what you're talking about, pretty pictures help. Otherwise, threads like these get ignored. Also, bumping one's own thread and adding nothing to it is pretty lame.

Personal experience with Microman was... not that good.

Well, in that case, I guess I can brief you.

Microman was a line started in '74 by Takara, or maybe by some obscure Japanese company that was later acquired by Takara. Anyway, they were originally smaller, portable versions of the twelve inch Henshin Cyborg dolls. They evolved from that to have their own story and a wide range of action figures. They were marketed in the US as "Micronauts".

The series got a complete reboot in 2003, introducing the new microman full action body sculpt (shown below), which has been used as the basis for every new figure since. The sculpt is super-posable, with around 30 points of articulation, and stands as tall as Star Wars or GI Joe figures do. This, coupled with each figure's usually excessive amounts of accessories which may include armor, a vehicle, or armor that becomes a vehicle (or an octopus), have planted this series firmly in the ground of collector's items. Each figure is guaranteed to have a lot of chrome. A LOT of chrome.

"How does this relate to Transformers?", you may ask. Well, other than being a line owned by Takara, overlord of Transformers in Japan, there has also been a figure tied exclusively to the transformers mythos --- Kicker (shown below), from Energon. Kicker came either as a standard toy, or packaged in a special 2-pack, sporting new chromed gear and a special big buddy, Grand Convoy, shrunken down to deluxe size and given the ability to powerlink.

Other attempts to crossbreed Microman with American franchises have been lackluster for the most part. The Microman AVP line was found to suffer from defective plastic on the Predator side. The Superman figures (2006) just looked... crappy, aside from the Takara-designed cyborg Superman. Micro-Batman, started in 2004, was relatively much better, featuring both comic book versions of the character and toys based on Batman Begins. Also released was yet another Takara-designed toy, "flight gear" Batman, which is essentially Bats in a new suit with a new helmet and what seems to be Deathscythe's cloak from Gundam Wing. And even another, Samurai Batman, which requires no explanation on the grounds that I'm lazy.

If you need any more info, go ahead and head on over to http://microforever.com/.

On with the pics!

Oh, I know plenty about Microman, it's the unwashed masses not posting in your thread that probably needed prodding. That's what I meant.

The fact that you didn't even mention that Microman is the source for Soundwave and the Minibots is just depressing! Some history lesson. Also, Henshin Cyborg was based on GI Joe (the big 12" dolls, that is).

Chosen wrote:Oh, I know plenty about Microman, it's the unwashed masses not posting in your thread that probably needed prodding. That's what I meant.

The fact that you didn't even mention that Microman is the source for Soundwave and the Minibots is just depressing!

I thought that was Diaclone.

Or are they one and the same?

Not even close.

Are you actually looking at the site you're telling people to visit?!

http://microforever.com/1983microchange.htm

In my haste, I forgot some others, like Megatron.

Chosen wrote:Not even close.

Are you actually looking at the site you're telling people to visit?!

http://microforever.com/1983microchange.htm

In my haste, I forgot some others, like Megatron.

Oh, well, I only use that site for reviews of figures that I'm never able to get. Frankly, I find the site's navigation system as a whole to be useless.

Don't mind Chosen is cranky because today was his birthday and he is getting older

Wheeljack35 wrote:Don't mind Chosen is cranky because today was his birthday and he is getting older

I know what could cheer him up!

Ordering me some Microman stuff!

That always cheers people up.

Gah, that's the worst possible way I wanted anybody to mention it!

Navigation is pretty crappy, unless you know what you need. That's what happens when you design a site in 1998 and never change the layout since.

Chosen wrote:Gah, that's the worst possible way I wanted anybody to mention it!

Navigation is pretty crappy, unless you know what you need. That's what happens when you design a site in 1998 and never change the layout since.

Heheh. Is there a TF section of that site?

Also, have you had any of the new series of Microman?

Never had any Microman, but I did a thread to learn more about them and Micronauts like six months ago, didn't go anywhere, and fell into the depths of obscurity.

I do remember that when I was looking through the stuff, I thought this guy:

http://www.microforever.com/2005Grabz.htm

was a semi-homage to Octopunch:

http://www.tfu.info/1989/Decepticon/Octopunch/octopunch.htm

Note how the crab has similar colors to Octopunch, and they are almost the exact same shape.

I go to an art school (I study game art and design) and have seen a few people become the center of attention bringing back from anime conventions the plain "material force" microman figures. Everyone drools over how poseable they are, perfect for reference. I just wish they would stock them in the stores I go to.

Izanami wrote:I go to an art school (I study game art and design) and have seen a few people become the center of attention bringing back from anime conventions the plain "material force" microman figures. Everyone drools over how poseable they are, perfect for reference. I just wish they would stock them in the stores I go to.

I wouldn't mind one of those for reference.

Don't forget that our very own Seibs has a gallery with one.

http://www.seibertron.com/toys/fullsize.php?id=636&size=1&image=0

Meet Ga'Mede. He was issued along with Magnificus as an eHobby exclusive.

I have the 2004 Acroyear Acrobiom that I got at Suncoat for $5.

Kick.

Ass.

Yea.

I got my friend the Acroyear Acrovoltech from the same line for his birthday.

Both of us have modified and painted ours.

Sonic wrote:I have the 2004 Acroyear Acrobiom that I got at Suncoat for $5.

Kick.

Ass.

Yea.

I got my friend the Acroyear Acrovoltech from the same line for his birthday.

Both of us have modified and painted ours.

I had Acrobiom, in fact, that was the first one I ever got. Same store too, but mine was $12. WTF!

Dispensor wrote:

Sonic wrote:I have the 2004 Acroyear Acrobiom that I got at Suncoat for $5.

Kick.

Ass.

Yea.

I got my friend the Acroyear Acrovoltech from the same line for his birthday.

Both of us have modified and painted ours.

I had Acrobiom, in fact, that was the first one I ever got. Same store too, but mine was $12. WTF!

I got mine at a going out of business sale.

Dispensor wrote:

Sonic wrote:I have the 2004 Acroyear Acrobiom that I got at Suncoat for $5.

Kick.

Ass.

Yea.

I got my friend the Acroyear Acrovoltech from the same line for his birthday.

Both of us have modified and painted ours.

I had Acrobiom, in fact, that was the first one I ever got. Same store too, but mine was $12. WTF!

I got mine at a going out of business sale.

Sonic wrote:

Dispensor wrote:

Sonic wrote:I have the 2004 Acroyear Acrobiom that I got at Suncoat for $5.

Kick.

Ass.

Yea.

I got my friend the Acroyear Acrovoltech from the same line for his birthday.

Both of us have modified and painted ours.

I had Acrobiom, in fact, that was the first one I ever got. Same store too, but mine was $12. WTF!

I got mine at a going out of business sale.

Ah, damn. Should have stopped at mine when they were closing.