| 1975 MICROMAN ZONE |
1975 Microman Zone Series Microman Zone M10X Type - M101 George, M102 Jack, M103 Jesse and M104 John (c.1975) |
||
|
Package
M10X Type was sold in a capsule directly from display box. The capsule colors were specific to each member. M101 came in red capsule, M102 came in sea-blue capsule, M103 came in light green and M104 came in white capsule. The capsule sticker logo was change from the green banner to the Command round logo style in 1976. Accessories
Each M10X came with a white "L" connector.
Each M10X came with a detachable chest piece. The chest pieces were the same as the "barefoot" series. The chromed chest pieces were carry over legacy from the Henshin Cyborg. Microman M10X chest pieces were not randomize but specific to each member. M10X Microman Story M10X Microman were the first to be revived on Earth. They travel to Earth in the capsules after the explosion on Micro-Earth which destroyed the entire planet. They were asleep in hibernation capsules which were covered with crystal-like substance. When they enter Solar system the crystal react with the solar energy and cosmic ray and revived them. M101 George - expert in the field of chemistry. Able to make new elements and compounds very easily. M102 Jack - leader of the original Microman. He is peace loving and abhors the Acroyear attack on earth. He has strong conviction and determination in the fight against the Acroyears. M103 Jesse - has twenty-five special abilities. He also have a very strong telekinesis power. M104 John - well suit in scientific knowledge, especially in circuitry and electronic.
|
In 1975, Takara re-introduced Microman line as its own series and no longer an extension of Henshin Cyborg line. The first series Microman were retool and re-released as Microman M10X Type. These new 1975 version came with 5mm port, 5mm shoes type feet and longer cuff style hands. The M10X, because of their Cyborg influence, were very difference from the two new Microman type, the M111 series and M121 series, released during 1975. M10X series sometime seem almost out of place standing next to the Command Series or even the Spy Magician. If not because of their new feet design, chrome head and the cuffs they could as well be toy from another line. Takara released M10X in the same color variations as the previous year Microman-Zone figures, however, Takara had added names to each figure along with the numerical designation. Clear Microman became M101 George, Yellow Microman became M102 Jack, Blue Microman became M103 Jesse and Orange Microman became M104 John. M10X members were featured extensively in the early episode of Microman manga which made them one of the more desirable Microman figures. Variations Microman M10X Type had several variations and production run changes.
1974 Release 1 - Founder Series or First Series Microman. These early Microman figures were similar in many way to M10X but they did not have 5mm port and they came with barefoot design. The first version had metal tab instead of the rubber tube to hold together the arm sections. 1974 Release 2 - Takara replaced the metal tab design with the rubber tube. The first two released were sold only as part of Microman Kit-Machine toys. 1974 Release 3 - Takara sold the figure separately in white capsule. The early capsule was similar to the later 1975 capsule but the lid had extra engrave details and the bottom capsule tray had two plastic tabs to hold the figure in place. The first three releases actually were sold as Clear Microman, Yellow Microman, Blue Microman and Orange Microman. These naming convention came from the Cyborg since Takara would called each Cyborg by their inner part color such as Silver Cyborg 1 or Gold Cyborg 1 etc. Microman naming and numbering convention were not introduced until the re-launch of the line in 1975 in which Microman became their own toy line and no longer just miniature version of Henshin Cyborg toys.
1975 Release 4 - Takara introduced 5mm port to the original series Microman and replaced the barefoot with M11X style cybernetic shoe. The short cuff style was also change to the common long cuff style. 1975 Release 5 - By mid 1975, Takara also changed the short shoe to the longer type just as they changed the M11X type shoe to the longer type. The early version shoes were too short and made the figure difficult to stand and pose. 1976 Release 6 - Takara added the word "Japan" to the back just above the 5mm port. This was probably done to distinguish M10X from Mego Micronauts version. Takara also changed the design of the capsule sticker from the green badge design to the Microman Command style logo.
1978 Release 7 - In 1978, Takara began to use semi-opaque white shoulder part for the figures. Some of the early Microman figures that became out of stock in 1978, like the M10X, M11X and M12X, were produced with the new semi-opaque part. The semi-opaque shoulder parts would became common for most of the New microman figures. Takara also changed the color of M103 from dark cobalt blue to lighter sea-blue color.
Also added to 1978 version were the small holes on each side of the legs. The hole was design for the Rescue Power Up Accessories. Takara released two set of Rescue Power Up accessories in 1979 and one of the set even came with two new members of M10X (in smoke clear and clear green). Takara planed several more Power Up accessory which would take advantage of the holes now common to most Microman figure since Command series but the Power Up Series was cancel along with the Original Microman line in 1980.
In 1976, Mego licensed Microman toys from Takara and released copy version of M10X as Micronauts Time Traveler. Mego version had few differences from Takara Microman version. Mego Micronauts came package on a blister card without the capsule. |
M101 George
M102 Jack (1976 version with darker color chest piece)
M103 Jesse (1978 version)
M104 John Mego Micronauts Mego released Micronauts Time Traveler in 1976. Time Traveler was based on Microman M10X Series. Mego version however contained several differences from Microman. Time Traveler came in the same color variations as Microman but they came with randomize chest piece unlike Microman whose chest piece was specific to a particular color figure. Mego Time Traveler also came with random color chest piece unlike Microman chest piece which came in a set color for each particular design. Micronauts Time Traveler was shorter than Microman M10X (almost 2 mm shorter). Time Traveler also did not have the word "Microman" engrave on their thighs. The most striking difference was the head. Mego Time Traveler had completely different head design than the Microman version. It appeared the head was copy from Microman but underwent severe alteration. Mego Time Traveler also had "Pat Pend" & "C Mego Corp 1976" on their back along with the word "Hong Kong" on their posteriors instead of "Japan" found on Microman. In 1979, Mego also produced solid color versions of Time Traveler. (See also MicroHeritage - Mego Micronauts)
|
|
