My Obsession With Toys...

   I suppose the best place to  begin is with the Micronauts, introduced to the American toy market in 1976. They were marketed as "The Interchangeable World of the Micronauts." I fell in love with them the very first time I saw one. It was a clear Time Traveler figure that a friend had brought to school. It's all I could think about. I became obsessed with obtaining one. My Mamo(Great Grandmother) didn't disappoint. The next time I stayed with her she bought me one!!! I had my own clear, yellow Time Traveler toy figure that didn't leave my hand that night. Heck, he even sat on the edge of my plate as I ate. I was hooked.

   Needless to say, I began feverishly engrossed in my quest to obtain as many Micronauts toy figures, vehicles, etc. that I could. Thankfully, the basic figures were not expensive and I could buy one quite often with my allowance. The basic figures were one thing but the vehicles and play sets were quite another. My measly allowance and odds and ends earnings would never afford these...especially since I could not save any money as long as there were basic Micronauts toy figures available in so many colorful toy combinations...brilliant marketing, indeed!!! Or, so it would seem, at least, because the insanely successful toy line quietly faded into obscurity in 1980. Although, they would be revived by an ambitious toy company known as Palisades Toys in the 1990s...we'll discuss that disaster at another time.

   The basic toy figure first available in 1976 was known as Time Traveler, a clear plastic figure about 3.75 inches high with 18 points of articulation and a removable chest plate and a back piece. He was available in plain clear, clear blue, clear orange and clear yellow with removable hands, feet, chest and back pieces that were interchangeable with other figures and toys in the Micronauts line. There was also Acroyear, the enemy of the Micronauts and he came with a cool wing pack which could, of course, be interchanged with the back pieces on other toy figures. The metal figures were Space Glider and Galactic Warrior. The leaders were slightly larger magnetic toy figures and their steeds known as Force Commander with Oberon(the good guys in white) and Baron Karza with Andromeda(the bad guys in black). Later introductions were Pharoid, Galactic Defender, Antron, Membros and Repto. The vehicles were equally as diverse ranging from a giant robot known as Biotron to a flying, winged fighter bug called Hornetroid. The play sets were great and scaled up to the large Micropolis and Rocket Tubes. These are all just scratching the surface. Although, unbeknownst to me, there was an entire Micronauts toy universe in existence that I would not be exposed to until I was an adult...which caused me to fall in love all over again.

   I suppose that the real beginning of the Micronauts line was when the American toy company Mego joined forces with the Japanese toy company Takara and created the Micronauts line from Takara's expansive Microman line and marketed it for America's imaginative youth. As it would later come to my attention, the Micronauts were but a fraction of the Microman line. Mego was far too cautious with its most successful toy line and it would cause the fall of the Micronauts...and, ultimately, the entire Mego company went bankrupt in 1982. On a side note the Micronauts were marketed as The Interchangeables, The Lords of Light,  I Micronauti in Italy...some of the vehicles were even reimagined into other toy lines...

   I will spend more time on individual Micronauts/Microman figures and vehicles in later posts. It baffles me that the new copyright holder of the Micronauts toys, Hasbro, hasn't done more with the line considering the quite astronomical prices that the toy collectibles bring on eBay and Amazon.