This is part 4 of 4 translating the Microman Directory from 1977's Microman Book Kodansha TV Magazine special edition.
Part one is here.
Part two is here.
Part three is here.
Microman Encyclopedia
Presenting Microman's High Performance Machines!
RobotMachine Z
Transfer Fortress
Surveyor 1
Despite leading this section, no further info is actually given on these three classic Microman mecha here, which is a shame given they are all exemplars of the period.
Conning Tower Base M-115
Upper image caption: Control Panel (Operation Room)
The central control panel where commands are sent to Micromen all over the world. Jets are equipped on the body, allowing the base to move to any location
The main body contains a super high-performance photon engine, an anti-gravity device, and photon energy absorption cells, serving as the energy source for the entire base.
Middle image caption: Photon Engine
Each component has its own built-in independent power device and minicomputer enabling the base to transform into multiple configurations following commands from the Operation Room.
Lower image caption: Tower Base Transformed
The M115 "Conning Tower" Base set was the original, first Microman base released at the end of 1974, a perfect all-in-one playset for the four original barefoot Microman Zone figures. It would receive a couple of production runs and was also one of the first larger sets a couple of years later as the Micronauts' Mobile Exploration Lab (affectionately called "MEL" by long-time fans), with only the only alteration being a single safety tipped missile launcher replacing the original chromed double pointed missile launcher (though it would serve as the basis for the non-firing double launcher features later on the alien Hornetroid ornithopter).
However, the design was not as well suited for non-barefoot riders, leading to a significant redesign for an upgrade released in the 1979 Microman Rescue sub-series.
RoadStation Base
The traffic control center for Micromen. It monitors the movement of all cars. Upon discovering an unidentified flying object or other vehicles in the vicinity, the base immediately enters full combat readiness.
Right page image captions:
Photon Engine
Elevator Mechanism
Conning Station
Middle image caption: Control Room
The control room, which could be called the “ears” of the RoadStation Base, captures every bit of information from all over the planet.
The Conning Station works tirelessly to protect the safety of the "Microman Air Routes", the paths through the sky and sea used by Micromen.
Left image caption: Conning Station serving as defensive countermeasures
It's no coincidence these two iconic playsets are shown together and are often displayed together as they originally were both part of a larger unified city playset concept design which also included a parking garage and other features that would later be echoed on later sets such as Titan Command Base and Build Base, such as a crane.
Cosmo Cars
Cosmo Porsche: At a glance, it looks like an ordinary Porsche, but when faced with the Acroyears, it can transform into a dragster in a split-second: what a remarkable machine!
Cosmo Countach: To fool the Acroyear and their minions, it is often displayed at hobby shops. However, during battle, high-performance Microman weapons emerge from its undercarriage.
This appears to have been made before the Cosmo Countach transformation was finalized, as the inset image shows a dragster form similar to the Cosmo Porsche and the description doesn't really match the more famous alternate half-robot mode that has been believed to been an inspiration for the Diaclone Car Robots a few years later. Interestingly, the same Porsche model would also receive a Diaclone treatment, the two better known together later still in Transformers as the characters Sunstreaker and Jazz.
Command Cars
Earth Jetter: Developed by Microman Command, this jet fighter can perform horizontal and vertical take-offs and landings as needed in battle. It stands up against the Acroyears with its 2,800-horsepower Superhydrogen Engine.
Twin Racer: Capable of travel on any rough road, it fires photon missiles and super-vacuum guns while dodging between the feet of the giant Acroyears. It too was developed by Microman Command and is also known as the “Skeleton”.
The Earth Jetter is the only Command Car to reflect the "ancient alien" theme of the Command Series, being based directly on an Incan sculpture resembling a jet fighter (but was more likely depicting a fish or mythical creature).
Command Cars
Racing Buggy: Developed by Microman Command for speed, to help investigate ancient ruins and find sleeping comrades around the world. It is loaded with electronic features such as information-storage devices.
Tyrrell Machine: This machine was also built for investigation, but like the racing buggies, it performs so well that the Command teams have been neglecting their work to spend all their time on speed contests and rallies.
Spy Cars
Marine Condor: A super spy machine primarily used for espionage activities at sea. It has hydro-engines in its wings. Speed: 100 knots at sea, 450 km/h in the air.
*A travel speed of one knot is equal to one nautical mile (1,852 meters) per hour
Sea Spyder: This is the underwater-focused spy machine. It can withstand 1,000 tons of water pressure and travel through the deep sea at a speed of 50 knots. It is used to sneak into the seabed to uncover the Acroyears’ secret plans.
Of the six released Spy Cars, three were released as Micronaut vehicles with some alterations. The original Spy Cars each had one or two secondary "spy" play features/gimmicks. Marine Condor had a little spring loaded roulette wheel of character images you could "call" on it like a communication device. This was removed from the Micronaut "Aquatron" and its color was changed from green to orange.
Sea Spider had a little magnet based game as its extra gimmick and was molded mostly in translucent clear and opaque blue plastic. Both it and Marine Condor came with a battery powered propeller attachment that had been previously used in Marine Copter (aka Micronauts' HydroCopter).
Spy Cars
Racing Wolf: when electronic countermeasures are preventing radio communication, this machine becomes a courier. With its 900-horsepower photon wave engine, it can reach a top speed of Mach 5. It can also fly off the ground with an on-board autopilot.
Drag Tiger: A small, three-wheeled motorcycle that can travel at 500 kilometers per hour. Designed for espionage, it can be flipped over to reveal a specialized crossbow on the underside.
Drag Tiger was given a heavy die-cast silver-gray body as the Micronauts' "Neon Orbiter", its crossbow gimmick was removed, a 5mm seat peg was added to better secure a rider, its plastic orange parts recast in white, and additional red plastic parts were added from a totally different Takara toy, the Gowapper 5 Turtle Tank. The original Drag Tiger had no die-cast and was a subtle dark purple that appears black when not brightly lit.
Racing Wolf never saw a Micronauts release, perhaps due to its similarity to Formula Z, which did see release as Warp Racer. Cast in dark blue and white plastic, it featured wheels that doubled as tops and a small dart launcher. It was however among some Microman toys that were imported to America by some retail distributors, as this writer personally witnessed one on a K-Mart shelf in Michigan in December of 1977!
Spy-Cars
Gyro Panther: No matter where the Acroyears hide, they won't escape this! Besides having incredible speed, Gyro Panther can fly through even the narrowest gaps, as small as a 15-centimeter opening. It's truly a spy machine for the urban landscape.
Jet Mirror: Leave aerial combat to this one! It's equipped with radar and an autopilot, allowing it to fly at Mach 2 even through a typhoon. In addition to a warp flight device that allows it to travel through four dimensions, it's also equipped with laser guns and missiles.
Gyro Panther is an unusual looking vehicle with a periscope, crossbow, and rubber band propelled drone flyer. It never saw a Micronauts release, but its colors are the same as chosen for the Aquatron version of Marine Condor. While it appears a little bit in the manga, it was also prominent in the MAFF Microman fan circle's self-published manga as the main vehicle at first for a lone black and purple Spy Magician named Dean. The manga artist behind it, Yasuhiko Enari, would later go on to create his own Microman-adjacent Astro Midget series (licensed to Bandai as Beta Midget Gashapon toys).
Jet Mirror, like Drag Tiger, also got the die-cast conversion by Mego as "Thorium Orbiter", replacing its white body with a metallic gold painted die-cast one, and adding some dark red accents and a pointed tip for the nose cone to replace a kaleidoscope gimmick removed from the original. The twin periscopes that form its namesake jets were, however, retained in the Mego revision
This concludes the monochrome section of Microman Book (aside from the manga portions). I am hoping to do the front, color "99 Secrets of Microman" section later once I have a chance to further edit the compiled page scans. The "secrets," as mentioned before are generally mostly recompiled material covered in other Micromsn paraphernalia, but the accompanying images include some of the best promotional spreads from the early run of Microman Club in TV Magazine and definitely worth seeing for their own merit.
In the meantime, I'm hoping to advance the 2005 manga further, bring some updates on the "Lost Adventures", more interviews and features, with a few surprises perhaps in store. Of course, life is chaotic these days, but hopefully won't get in the way of at least one of these many potential projects coming along further sooner than later.
This is part 3 of 4 translating the Microman Directory from 1977's Microman Book Kodansha TV Magazine special edition.
Part one is here.
Part two is here.
Führer Acroyear
A321 Devils 1. October, 1976 2. Off the East Coast of America, Bermuda Triangle 3. The "boss" of all Acroyears. Devils is exceptionally clever, but also incredibly selfish. If things don't go exactly as planned, he will start destroying everything around him.
Caption: "A Führer Acroyear riding in the underside of his car.”
A322 Satandar 1. October, 1976 2. The Sunda Trench south of Indonesia. 3. He uses his "Mad Telepathy," a psychic attack, to confuse the minds of Micromen. A terrifying magician, Satandar considers himself the world's greatest villain and immensely proud of it.
A323 Daemon 1. October, 1976 2. The seabed off Nishinoshima Island, Japan. 3. He possesses a heart that is three times more evil than the other two Acroyears. He hates to see well-constructed things such as buildings, and will fire a gas that corrodes objects from his chest.
There's some minor controversy over how to interpret 総統アクロイヤー in English. It sometimes is written on Japanese media as “President Acroyear”, but “Supreme Leader Acroyear” and “Führer Acroyear” are other common interpretations and are just as valid. To add to the confusion, there's only one of each Acroyear type depicted in the manga and even the materials here sometimes seem to forget whether there is a single leader or a triumvirate. Perhaps he's a split personality? Or do they take turns?
This was the third main Acroyear type, introduced in October of 1976 along with his Acroyear Navy retinue of three sea creature cyborg minions. His car shell makes him among the earliest of Takara “Transformer-esque ancestors” and is specifically designed to allow him to also link to his three minions as one rolling monstrosity. A gift playset was sold that packed the four together in one box. Aside from the car shell, he also carries a club with a magnet in it and a tiny ball bearing inside his chest that can be pulled with the magnet into a small “window” as if it were a weapon firing. His body would be reused a couple of years later with a new chromed torso front and large clear head as the Acroyear Amazons, his resurrected, mutated and upgraded form.
Acroyear
A301 Red Star 1. April, 1975 2.The toxic sludge at the bottom of Tokyo Bay, Japan. 3. A nature scientist, Red Star can freely control the natural phenomena he once studied like wind, rain, and tsunamis. On days when the wind is strong or the sea is rough, Red Star may quite likely be on rampage in the vicinity.
A302 Silver Star 1. April, 1975 2. The riverbed of the Thames, London, England. 3. He is a cruel chemist well-versed in deadly poisons and bacteria. He usually stayed cooped up in his laboratory, doing nothing but sinister research.
A303 Blue Star 1. April, 1975 2. The seabed of the Port of Naples, Italy. 3. A heartless, merciless thug, when Blue Star sees beautiful flowers or birds, he crushes them directly by hand.
Kaniroyear (Crabroyear) 1. October, 1976. 2. Kaniroyear is very belligerent. He will face any opponent, no matter how large, with claws that can even cut through steel.
Takoroyear (Octoroyear) 1. October, 1976. 2. Takoroyear is primarily responsible for sea reconnaissance. He blows ink-black gas from his mouth.
The first of the Acroyears (released as the second one in the overseas Micronauts line, confusingly) is meant to have a skeletal appearance with a die-cast skull-like torso and with its distinct polygonal horned helmet-like head perhaps slightly evokes the cursed armor of an undead samurai or an “oni” devil. Its chromed ball-like hands evoke wrecking balls and it also has a simple (and somewhat awkward) vehicle mode it can parts-form into.
In some ways, the design feels a bit rushed out the door, but with its multiple 5mm parts, it does have a lot of good Microman play potential and was an inexpensive antagonist for kids to get early on in the series in 1975. There's some hints that at one point the prototypes of M11x and/or M12x were explored as candidates for this role, and there is in fact an Acroyear mascot logo that looks more like a prototype M12x than an Acroyear.
The 1999 replica series reproduced the figure in high quality and quantity, making it very easy to acquire. Recently, Takara Tomy has shown a prototype for a possible Legacy Soul redesign that might go into production in 2027. The 1999 Magnepowers “Demon Acroyears” are also modeled as an upgrade on the design, and the 200X series introduced a character named AcroVoltech that could change his appearance into a rough approximation of the vintage design.
The character descriptions for them and Acroyear 2 here are a bit confusing as the official materials state that their mutations on the sea floor fused their brains into being “unicellular” (with the exception of Führer), and that they are dumb brutes, yet here most of them are described as mad scientists. A clue to possibly resolving this came in one of the descriptions of Acroyear 2, that suggests that this is actually partly describing their past identities, so while the text itself isn't clear about the tense in the original, I have rendered it in past tense while maintaining some of the ambiguity.
Given that Legacy Soul so far has been using this book as a reference source for the Command profiles, I am curious if it will do the same for the Acroyears or further clarify these profiles…
Also listed are two of the three members of the “Acroyear Navy”. They are cyborg sea creatures befitting the Acroyears’ deep sea toxic sludge origins. If they seem a bit cartoonish, that's just the start… it will be good to keep in mind that the Acroyears are portrayed similarly to villains in children's tokusatsu hero shows and as such would logically have a number of cartoonish, anthropomorphic minions. The Acroyear Navy is also based on the idea of covering land (Kaniroyear), sea (Takoroyear), and air (Eiroyear in the next page). The trio come with die-cast “dash rollers” (also used on the UFO Titan sets) they can glide along on, resembling the “roller skates” on Acroyear.
The Acroyear Navy and Führer Acroyear would much later be resurrected conceptually as the Emperor Acroyear, AcroOptom, AcroGrabs, and AcroStella in the 2005 ExoAcroyear wave of Microman 200X. These included a number of new features along with all their original functions, including a new combined mode as a giant AcroWyvern, which grows to enormous Kaiju size as the "final boss" in the epic climax of the 2005 manga, "Theology" (which hopefully we will get to translating with more time!).
Acroyear 2
A311 Mad “Mud” Pink 1. November, 1975 2. Off the coast of New York City, USA. 3. Usually very quiet, but when he smells exhaust or sludge, Mud Pink suddenly becomes violent and uses telekinesis or "Mad Telepathy" to trample people.
A312 Mad “Mud” Green 1. November, 1975 2. The seabed near an industrial zone in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. 3. A genius for evil deeds, Mud Blue was the boss of the Acroyears until the Führers showed up. Originally a scientist, he is skilled at making weapons.
A313 Mad “Mud” Blue 1. November, 1975 2. Liverpool, England. 3. He possesses incredible physical strength. When he gets angry, even a Führer can't stop him.
Eiroyear (Rayroyear) 1.October, 1976. 2. Eiroyear flies through the sky and can fire intense beams from his eyes.
The second Acroyear delivered a much more robust play experience than its predecessor, with a sizeable pair of rotor wings, die-cast roller wheels, a spy bird drone accessory used for its alternate transformation, and a matching chrome dagger. It's a bit unsurprising the Mego Micronauts led with it instead.
While for decades most fans have assumed they were named “Mad” like the effects of the “Mad Telepathy” attack, the 2026 Legacy Soul upgraded redesign has translated it as “Mud”, which seems a rather odd and possibly mistaken choice, but could make sense if we consider once again their origins in the polluted muck of the ocean floor. I have opted to use both for now in the translation, in any case.
While the vintage figure itself never received a replica in the 1999 reissues, between the Mego Micronauts release back then and the misfortune-beleaguered Palisades retro release (which, while mostly best avoided for the first “Series 1” release, provided a vintage-quality red variant in its limited “Series 1.5” release), samples are not too difficult to find even today.
Interestingly, the roller skate like feet were derived from a Shonen Cyborg accessory and were at first conceived as part of an accessory set for a Microman concept design that was also the predecessor of the Super Steel and Titan figures (before the integration of the Magnemo features).
The third, aerial manta ray-based member of the Acroyear Navy, Eiroyear (which could also be read as “Aeroyear”), is also detailed here. This is a little confusing as the three were more clearly attached to the Fuhrer Acroyear, whilst the original two Acroyears had simultaneously assembled their own gaggle of minions, the bizarre Uniquer Corps…:
Uniquer Corps
U601 Akubē Tarō 1. October, 1976 2. Among the scrap in a precision machinery factory in Tokyo. 3. Smartest of the Uniquer Corps, Tarō is very compassionate, but his head sometimes has a screw loose.
U602 Akubē Jirō 1. October, 1976 2. Among the scrap in an automobile factory in Kawasaki. 3. Jirō is strong and indulges in road repairs, but he is impatient and often gives up halfway through.
U603 Akubē Saburō 1. October, 1976 2. Among the industrial waste in Chiba. 3. Saburō loves playing with broken toys. If things don't go well, he immediately joins in with the Acroyears.
Lighton 1. June, 1977 2. Born from an electric lamp stand. 3. Lighton may have a goofy face, but he's remarkably facile with mechanical things like bicycles or cars.
Camelar 1. June, 1977 2. Born from a camera. 3. "Say cheese!" Is the catchphrase of this camera-robot, but Camelar’s l "Camera Flash" is his ultimate weapon.
Tokeidar 1. June, 1977 2. Born from a high-end Swiss clock, Tokeidar puts on upper-class airs, but he is actually very lazy about keeping to schedule. A veteran at being late for meetings.
Ah yes…the Uniquer Corps. While probably all but entirely dismissable by most Western collectors (not at all unlike the Micronaut clown robots, the “Trons”), there’s quite a bit more to these “comic relief” clowns of the Acroyear line-up than meets the eye that merits further explanation.
First let's note that the order of presentation here is slightly reversed, story-wise. The three junkyard scrap robots were built by Acroyears 1 & 2 to augment their forces (Führer was not at all impressed), and despite their comical appearance, were somewhat effective weapons of destruction. Akubē is where things take a very strange turn, however.
You see, nobody actually knows where he comes from. No, really! When the Acroyears built the Uniquers, a mysterious “egg” appeared in the scrapyard, calling out for “Mommy”. This “egg” magnetically self-assembled into Akubē and imprinted on the Acroyears, and continued to call them “Mommy”. Somehow, they took charge of the Uniquer Corps. I'm not really clear on just how or why that happened, but perhaps more will come to light as I hope to do a deeper dive into them in a future post.
There is a fun piece of fan lore, which unfortunately I don't have an attribution for currently, that Akube’s core is actually a Microman Titan body. This makes a lot of sense because they share the same Magnemo 8 system and their “BunBun Heli” backpack is clearly modeled upon the Titan Atom Cannon. This would also explain their behavior because unlike the trio of scrap robots, they always get things backwards and wind up repairing damage left by the Acroyears and helping people. Is this incompetence, or could it be deliberate (conscious or unconscious, if the Titan has had memory loss) sabotage? In any case, it's played for laughs on their packaging and catalogs.
Speaking of fan speculation, my own pet theory about the three scrap robots is they are inspired by the Japanese Tsukumogami yōkai, supernaturally animated discarded objects that drew spiritual consciousness over their prolonged period of use and sudden abandonment. This would thematically tie them better with their masters, and even give another possible explanation for Akubē as a kind of mechanical yōkai.
In any case the Uniquer Corps, after a brief role in the main manga series, would continue to appear as characters in a side series of Microman educational manga on subjects ranging from insects and dinosaurs to guns and whaling (oh dear).
While these toys seem silly and perhaps even arbitrary, there's a few more things to keep in mind. When they debuted in 1976, comical robot characters were extremely popular between tokusatsu children’s shows such as Robocon and the highly popular and successful Robodatchi manga with its own kits and toys, some licensed by Takara. It's hardly surprising Takara would crossover this trend into Microman as well, especially given that their target demographic was from kindergarten through third grade at this time (they would attempt to appeal some to older kids and tweens by the 1980s, but not quickly enough to retain many of the first generation of fans). The goofy Uniquers might have helped take the edge off the more menacing Acroyears (especially in the manga) for their youngest potential fans.
I do believe that Star Wars and the American comics may have skewed Western perspective on this series towards a more mature interpretation, but ultimately Takara originally wanted bright, colorful, and fun to play with toys that have more in common with Playmobil than Star Wars or GI Joe. And with that in mind, these figures are actually very fun to handle and have plenty of interesting 5mm and Magnemo parts of potential use for more “serious” toy combinations.
“Unique,” indeed!
Edit: it's also worth noting that the scrap robots and Navy members had the lowest price of any Microman figure, making them particularly accessible for young kids with pocket money.
Study Uniquer Corps
U611 Warubē Bunta 1. June, 1977 2. Among the trash at an Acroyear base. 3. Bunta believes he is the smartest, but his subordinates whisper otherwise.
U612 Warubē Kanta 1. June, 1977 2. Among the trash at an Acroyear base. 3. He is kind enough to share his own parts to fix a comrade, but Kanta’s weakness is being a bit of a coward.
U613 Warubē Kenta 1. June, 1977 2. Among the trash at an Acroyear base. 3. He’s a bit clumsy: Kenta once accidentally sharpened Bunta's arm with his pencil sharpener.
Gosenchi 1. June, 1977 2. Born from a triangular ruler, Gosenchi is skilled at using triangles to build toys.
Dokojar 1. June, 1977 2. Born from a pachinko game machine, Dokojar just wants to play with you!
Akubē B 1. June, 1977 2. He fancies himself a genius designer, but in reality, Akubē B is just a genius at doodling.
Tapeun 1. June, 1977 2. Born from a tape dispenser. Armed with a screwdriver and hammer, Tapeun is a repair expert.
After that lengthy dissertation about the original Uniquer Corps (thanks for attending my ACROTED Talk), there's a bit less to be said here. The Study Uniquer Corps were canonically built by Akubē to…help kids with school? This was also an emerging trend, of toy companies making essentially gimmick stationary products as another marketing tactic, which would really take off over the following years. The Study Uniquers played into that and worked well enough with the Uniquer aesthetic (and even included two female versions to appeal to girls, the only other vintage female figures besides Lady Command). Their Magnemo 8 and 5mm parts do also give some added play possibilities. The style and approach differed enough from Microman that they did receive a further release spun off as a completely separate product line of “Mecha Kits” that continued a bit longer on its own.
The Study Uniquers would actually secretly return in 1999-2000 as the Microman U-Borg line licensed to Media Factory.
Earlier this year, the classic toy fan blog Fanmode.Net shared a deep dive into the fascinating information presented about Takara's history with its continued original SF Land properties from the late 80s onward in the incredible "Takara SF Land Evolution" book. With tons of material translated or summarized, this is an extremely worthwhile read on its own or a particularly handy piece to have in hand while browsing the book itself. Many cancelled or redeveloped toylines are covered and several surprising insights are revealed. Don't miss this one!
1999 Interview with Iwakichi Ogawa, Creator of Microman
The following interview was translated from the fantastic 1999 Tokuma Shoten publication, Roman Album Hyper Mook 6: Henshin Cyborg and Microman Victory Project
President and Representative Director of Russell, Ltd.
Iwakichi Ogawa
From here on [in this section of the book], we’ll introduce the inventors behind the history of creating the Takara original SF toys. Iwakichi Ogawa, having been involved in the development of Henshin Cyborg and production of Microman himself, is a living witness to the history of the Takara SF toys. His eyes shone like a young boy’s as he shared with us the behind the scenes story of these two major heroes.
--Ogawa-san, you handled making prototypes, right?
That’s right.
I was originally in my college’s economics department, with a focus on marketing, and nothing to do with development work, one might say. But you know, I loved doing it and learning everything after joining Takara, so that by the time of Cyborg and Microman, I had begun to sculpt my own prototypes by hand.
--You only started creating models after you had joined Takara?
Precisely. I had a subordinate, a nice guy who had been in his university’s art club who I told, “teach me, too.” (laughs)
--That must have been nice, getting to paid to learn on the job. (laughs)
You mean playing every day from morning to night, and getting paid for it, right? (laughs)
Oh, I played, all right. When establishing the (Japanese localized) rules for “The Game of Life”--adapting this thing which came from America--it couldn’t be anything but fun coming up with the “directions for each space”. If someone complained at the time, “oh, all you’re doing is goofing off,” I would answer, “no, this is work, you see,” but that was a lie. (laughs)
--Well then, please tell us about the time Henshin Cyborg was created.
As you are aware, the forerunner to Henshin Cyborg was Hasbro’s GI Joe, which began around the time I was on “The Game of Life”, so I was not directly responsible for that. “GI Joe will do well” was Takara president Yasuta Satou’s insight. So soon we were all on GI Joe. It was at a point when sales had declined a bit that I remember one fellow suggested, “let’s make a transparent one”. So the molding section at the factory followed up and produced one. Once it was assembled, the reaction was “hey, this looks pretty cool.” It had thick areas where the screws were inside it, right? From the side, it had a really amazing look to it. Though parts of the joints were made out of nylon, I could work with that.
The young guy responsible (he was around 24-25?) had incredibly good sense. Being transparent was just how it started, with it being plain and hollow, of course we needed to make the insides. But at the time, Takara was focused mostly on producing games and Licca-chan dolls, so there was no separate department yet for boys’ toys. Therefore, I wound up taking some kits of motorbikes that the model companies Tamiya and Arii were making at the time which had chrome-plated parts, and put those bits inside. So the first Cyborg we previewed at an industry trade show had a motorcycle engine for his innards.
At that time we stated the head was still under development, and just used a metal spring inside it. When the actual design was made, it was created by Dan Kobayashi (known since for creating Gaiking and Danguard Ace among others). He did all the prototyping for the head and the finer detailing. Though the prototype was made in wax, I noticed quickly that it was green. Normally the wax is brown but when I asked him about it, he said, “sorry, that’s my secret.” It was a custom mix of waxes that was extraordinarily fine and easy to texture and tailor. I managed to get some and started using it in my own prototypes. Kobayashi-san worked with me on the prototypes for Microman as well. The prototypes for the Microman breastplates were made from a kind of plaster. Kobayashi used this plaster because silicon was expensive in those days.
Well, it’s actually called “rebase”, and it’s what dentists use to repair crowns in their work. It hardens quickly, making it easy to work with. Come to think of it, when we were doing Microman Command’s capsule later on, I forgot how it happened, but the mold wound up with a small “Ogawa” (小川) inside it, and I believe you can find it in there. (laughs)
--Well that’s… (laughs) I’ll check later when I get a chance (later on I confirmed that it can be seen molded into Command 3’s capsule). So, speaking of Microman, can you talk about how that began?
In fact, it started with GI Joe. GI Joe sold incredibly well at first, but eventually not so well, which was when my superior Wakase-san said “we should make these smaller.” He had worked in steel manufacturing, a very talented man. “You can’t produce vehicles when they are this big, so make them smaller,” was the advice of my boss from back then. We were still producing the original flesh-colored GI Joe at that time. Yet at that point it was totally undoable, with joints already smaller than you’d find on your own pinky finger. So, after trying anyway using insect mounting pins, I said “this isn’t viable (for production)”, to which Wakase-san answered, “ah, well”. Later, Cyborg became extremely popular. But both GI Joe and Cyborg were still too big to make vehicles for them to drive. So once again I confronted making the “miniature poseable figure” with the desire to make it possible at whatever cost. In any case, we needed to solve the joint problem, so I tried many different methods; using a beaded key chain to try making small ball and sockets, and other such ideas. But these would come apart after repeated use by a child. This was the biggest issue Microman would face. Then, with a portable folding ruler I found something—a tiny rivet, only 2mm wide. I began to hunt for it. It came from the shop making Licca-chan backpacks. I learned they had a machine that could install 2mm rivets automatically, so I checked, but while the rivets were 2mm in diameter, they were much too long. There’s no choice but to make the rivets shorter. After confirming it was possible, I asked Kobayashi-san for about 3 test sample bodies. With that, we assembled them with the fresh rivets, and the heads of the rivets looked quite cool. “This is good,” I thought as I could now put a request in with the boss which would only require a single mold casting. Nikkou Toys (a tin toy maker at the time) or such ought to be able to take the order. When I thought about the potential to use it with translucent parts, I was dumbstruck. Well, once I put these connections together in private, I actually cried. It had been over a year since I had first embarked on this project.
--That’s quite a while, isn’t it? How was it received in the end?
In those days of labor guilds, in spite that there were some who would think heavier was best, others felt “No, lightweight is good”. And with the oil shock of the following year, with the rise of the era of energy conservation, this was a potential selling point (laughs). And see, you could put a Microman on a matchbox, and now it’s a vehicle, right? Or an ashtray can be a flying saucer. When I showed it to sales, they too were, “Yeah, that’s good”. Then, for a company evaluation meeting, we took an electroplated frying pan and put a clock inside it so just the second hand axle was exposed and affixed a Microman to it. That way each time the hand ticked, the Microman would move. This had an incredible effect. “That’s it!” they said (laughs). Not much later this would become the counter display.
(Earliest known discernable photo of Microman prototypes being displayed, via Minoru Sashida.)
--For Microman, the play mechanics were quite novel, weren’t they?
Indeed they were. I put a lot of thought into how to make the series stand out as unique. This was “Episode 2” of Microman’s creation for me (laughs). At that time, Lego blocks were becoming the next big thing, and I had bought a set for my daughter, too. However, living in an apartment housing complex back then, things turned when neighboring children from the third and fourth grade came to play. “So, this is what I got.” “I wouldn’t buy that, it’s like a baby toy.” “But aren’t you playing with it too?” “Sure, it’s fun, but we’re elementary schoolers now.” I felt that they were the target. So the block was shaved down into the form of a wing. These days, blocks come in all forms, but back then they were only in the square form of bricks. And when we manufactured Jaguar, we used 3mm joints of ABS plastic for attachments. Blocks are fun, but for babies. So you have to make it in a form that is clearly not for babies. And if you make them into a science-fiction form, it begins to become interesting. (laughs) So while the figures were ready, the release schedule was repeatedly pushed back to “It will be available when it’s ready”. (laughs) Honestly, I already had something kind of like Robotman worked out by then. But nothing like vehicles yet, on the other hand. So for that I came up with the term “Material Block”. Since the 3mm pegs seemed to break easily, I figured, okay, let’s go with 5mm. From that point onward, Takara has used the 5mm gauge for all their product’s molds ever since. When we went on to create “Steel Jeeg”, we were able to incorporate the 5mm parts with magnets, too. So you could say that 5mm interchangeability started out as the basis for playing with Microman.
--That was profound, wasn’t it? It even became a hit abroad.
At first, when the president and department manager went to try to sell it in America, their efforts failed. Around then, a certain agent in California asked for “a percentage of the royalties if successful”. A half-year later, it became an explosive hit in Japan. When that happened, the company “Mego” was approached. When we showed them, they were interested and agreed. Then it became a huge hit there and his share turned into hundreds of millions. (laughs) When I visited his home after that, even though it was still back in the day, he had a giant projection TV, a home theater. A pool, too. Yet I was still some kind of salaryman. (laughs)
--Even though you’re the real father! (laughs)
The suspension that holds the hips would have broken were it not made from metal. I tooled it on a drill press and welded a hook onto it. It was fully my idea. (The book’s editor suggests comparing with a replica Microman figure release for reference here.) But I didn’t patent it. Back around the turn of the century, a similar design was filed to make wooden artist’s mannequins, so it wouldn’t have passed.
If the owner of that patent challenged us, even if they were wrong, it would have ended everything. But even today, GI Joe is using the same structure as Microman. Yet I was the one who designed it…
--By the way, how did it become called Microman?
It was originally codenamed internally as Microman --it was micro-sized, thus Microman—but it became the brand name in the end. The same for Acroyear which was “’akudoi yarou’ (‘vicious brute’), so we went with “Akuroiya”, or such (laughs).
--Was the story yours, too?
Yes. To sell them individually, we wanted to present them in a clear box. And, I started to think about how we could make the clear box itself a desirable feature. So I had read and researched a lot of science fiction by that point. I didn’t really agree with the theory of evolution. My own fancy was that living things could spontaneously change overnight. I hadn’t seen any fossils of transitional forms. So, I came up with the idea that the alpha H7 gas drifting in the galaxy would cause evolutionary change whenever it came into contact with life, and when MicroEarth exploded, it had a different effect by chance. Back then, there was the notion that Atlantis used crystal energy which I found interesting. Crystals that return the same frequency when exposed to electromagnetic waves. So the setting was created by combining these ideas. That’s what I recorded to a mini-cassette when it hit me in the middle of the night. (laughs) I contacted Design Mate, and gave it as the pitch. Suguwara from Design Mate (see page 80 [of this book]) then edited it and it turned out quite good. I spent a couple extra hours that night on the telephone. “Am I ever going home?” I thought (laughs). I’m sure I was annoying them too (laughs).
--I would imagine you always carried a Microman with you?
I always did. I made a ring for myself, you see. I placed the head of a Microman inside clear acrylic. I really wore it. However, as I gained weight, I had to shave out the center over time. (laughs) It was a lot of trouble to keep shaving down that acrylic.
--Still, it seems like you could put that on the market, now.
You think so? I guess I’ll take it to Takara and find out (laughs). But lately Microman has been getting a good reception from a lot of respectable folks these days, hasn’t it? However, I had gotten rid of most of mine. Such a waste, isn’t it? When it came about, I was “Ah, so that’s how it goes, huh?” (laughs) But, seeing the resurgence in popularity has been fun, you know? Seeing everyone joining in and putting them up on their home pages and such. Sometimes I wonder if I should drop in and introduce myself. (laughs) Ah, well…
--What kind of work are you doing next?
As a person who lived in the toy industry, you could say I wish to make a new “toy launch”. Without an anime launch, a toy that is a hit, becomes a game, then becomes an anime. Right now, I’m planning toward that goal. I’m about 60% there. This is a toy’s true essence! –is what I want to be able to express. That would be something like a new Microman for me. So now, I’m really fired up! (laughs) What’s it about? ….that’s a secret (laughs).
Iwakichi Ogawa, born August 24, 1942 in Fukushima Prefecture
Former head of boy’s product development division at Takara.
Current President and Representative Director of toy development company Russell, Ltd.
The news of both the renewed Waruder invasion and the annihilation of the Mars Zone shook all of the Zones to their very core.
The observation post at Space Station CX-1, orbiting 100,000 km above the Earth, detected the sub-spatial reaction of the Waruder space fortress materializing in the Earth’s sky. Directly below was MetraZone Tokyo City. It was clear their target was LandMaster, the great central electronic “brain” that managed all of the Macro Zones.
Sirens blared throughout Tokyo City. The Zone City’s maximum level attack warning “Signal 11” was officially declared.
Tokyo City engaged its defenses, and a gravitational deflector shield was instantly deployed from the outer wall of the main facilities, as all transportation halted and citizens were evacuated into bomb shelters.
“The Waruder force is approaching! All hands prepare for combat!”
The Diaclone capital defense corps converged around the city’s central dome which housed LandMaster, and helped with the evacuation of the citizens while preparing for the Waruders’ attack from above.
◇ ◇ ◇
In a terrible flash of light, the beams of destruction rained down upon Tokyo City. The Waruders had started their operation to destroy LandMaster. The ominous form of the space fortress could be seen through breaks in the clouds up in the stratosphere, bristling with the strange and myriad gun turrets that radiated from every part of its hull bombarding the city with their barrage of lethal rays.
LandMaster shifted into defensive mode, and the central dome retracted immediately down a large shaft to the evacuation area concealed 1000 meters below the city surface, as massive battle vehicles emerged on the ground one after another in sequence. The trump card of the capital defense, a battalion of twelve great Robot Bases! While the bombardment from the sky intensified and shook the ground, the twelve massive machines reconfigured from tank to battle mode, with cannons equipped on both arms.
“Defend LandMaster with your lives!”
The Robot Base battalion opened fire with their Freezon Beam Cannons from 24 barrels in unison as the Diaclone Corps intercepted the space fortress!
◇ ◇ ◇
The continuous gunfire of the super-dreadnought cannons, which could each take out a mountain in a single shot, gradually whittled away the gun emplacements on the space fortress, finally putting an end to the bombardment. Seizing the chance for a victory, all the Diaclone machines of the metropolitan defense line switched to full-on attack mode and started to converge upon the Waruder fortress, which had remained silent.
But it had been a cunning trap by the Waruder forces.
A gate spiraled open underneath the fortress as if welcoming the the charge of the Diaclone Corps and from it all the Waruder war machines descended upon them all at once.
The invading Waruder forces entered firing range of the newly developed laser blasters of the Diaclone mecha and were gunned down one after another by the fearsome and overpowering strength of the mobilized Robot Base battalion.
However, the continuous rapid firing of the Freezon Beam Cannon had consumed vast amounts of energy and the Robot Bases’ rapidly deteriorating combative power posed little threat to the Waruder attackers. The relentless blasters of clusters of attacking Waruder Machines assaulted them with waves, and even fighting back with Freezon Missiles and Maser cannon-fire, the massive figures gradually were covered in gaping wounds.
At last, the machines of the invading Waruder raiders penetrated the heart of Tokyo City, surrounding the evacuation gate to LandMaster’s dome to menace its defending walls. The walls melted in an instant under the concentrated fire of the laser blasters, exposing LandMaster and putting the entire MacroZone into the most desparate situation imaginable! ….Yet at this moment, a Waruder Machine suddenly exploded, and the surrounding forces scrambled as yet more machines exploded again and again in rapid succession, scattering them as their siege broke up and dissolved.
The strafing fire came from a mysterious battle machine which dove from the sky at incredible speed.
The fighter craft with wings of steel pulled up at the last second, nearly grazing the ground with its nose, blasting the wreckage of the the Waruder Machines as it hurled by in a great arc and soared back upward.
A mysterious group of fighters engaged the Waruder saucers in aerial combat, while on the ground more of the aircraft changed to humanoid and less familiar combat forms and engaged the Waruder forces as a platoon.
With both solid armor repelling the fierce barrage of laser blasters and stronger armament than the enemy’s, the mysterious fighters downed one Waruder Machine after another, and the Waruder forces were swept away instantly.
The tide of battle turned completely, in preparation for the second wave of Waruder attacks, the unidentified war machines transformed into flight mode and began to engage the space fortress above in the sky, assembling into a V-shaped formation. However, after slowly rising to the edge of the stratosphere, the fortress activated their sub-space drive and vanished from known space.
◇ ◇ ◇
Tokyo City’s crisis had ended. Signal 11 was rescinded and as LandMaster resurfaced and the fortresses withdrew, an interstellar signal was intercepted from the region of the dark nebula.
The giant space fortress which had failed was only the advance guard sent to determine the Earth’s war potential--the main body of the force was still stationed in the large dark nebula deep in the unknown far side of the galaxy, well beyond the reach of the human race for now!
(To be continued in ACT 5!)
