Why do the Micronauts not get the love the transformers do? 2 2

[NoMan]

Transformers suck. You know I’m right 

[jdandns]

Transformers too big.

Micronauts too small.

GoBots just right.

[Cat]

On 7/23/2023 at 3:21 PM, NoMan said:

Transformers suck. You know I’m right 

See you in Phil's parking lot. 

[Krismusic]

what is a micronaut? Lol no seriously... i know they came before transformers but we all grew up on transformers and the push from toy companies to sell us action figures, haha. 

[Juno Beach]

Probably in the name of the toy. 

[John R]

On 7/23/2023 at 12:18 PM, Krismusic said:

what is a micronaut? Lol no seriously... i know they came before transformers but we all grew up on transformers and the push from toy companies to sell us action figures, haha. 

Plus the push from the TV show.

 

[JollyComics]

Transformers and GI Joe are in common.

Both have diversity and many characters both allies and villains.

Micronauts have the same small group and one main villain in all way.

Edited July 23, 2023 by JollyComics

[B2D327]

On 7/23/2023 at 12:18 PM, Krismusic said:

what is a micronaut? Lol no seriously... i know they came before transformers but we all grew up on transformers and the push from toy companies to sell us action figures, haha. 

They were both manufactured by Takara in Japan under the Henshin Cyborg/Microman moniker before Mego in the mid 70s and Hasbro (80s) licensed both for US distribution. Marvel would also license both coinciding with the launch of both toy lines for North America 

[TRMN8R5]

Baron Karza was about as close to a Darth Vader villain swipe as you could get witOUT being a complete character steal (like, say, Deathstroke/Deadpool  ).

Edited July 23, 2023 by TRMN8R5

[lordbyroncomics]

It really does boil down to the television show. Regular cartoons and commercials in the Eighties- the last Golden Age of developed toys when toys were still geared towards kids and not guys in their 30s' and 40s'- it was inescapable. If there had been a Micronauts cartoon, they'd possibly have more staying power or at least more vague pop culture status.

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 7/23/2023 at 8:48 AM, Cat said:

On 7/23/2023 at 12:21 AM, NoMan said:

Transformers suck. You know I’m right 

See you in Phil's parking lot. 

Pump!! You up!!

 

 

[MAR1979]

On 7/23/2023 at 3:15 PM, TRMN8R5 said:

Baron Karza was about as close to a Darth Vader villain swipe as you could get witOUT being a complete character steal (like, say, Deathstroke/Deadpool  ).

Agreed Baron Karza was a swipe of Darkseid+Dr Doom combo, er I mean Darth Vader.

 

edit: based on the next comment Karza was not a copy of Vader.  Still I stand by Vader was a rip-off of an amalgam of 2 Kirby creations (and or co-creation) and it now appears possibly also the anime character that inspired Karza

 

Edited July 23, 2023 by MAR1979

[Artboy99]

On 7/23/2023 at 1:15 PM, TRMN8R5 said:

Baron Karza was about as close to a Darth Vader villain swipe as you could get witOUT being a complete character steal (like, say, Deathstroke/Deadpool  ).

a popular opinion, but actually Baron Karza came out before Star Wars was released. The vague resemblance of Karza and Vader can likely attributed to "great minds think alike"

Some fans familiar with Karza only through the Marvel comic have assumed that his resemblance to Darth Vader was an attempt to cash in on the Star Wars phenomenon, but Karza predated Vader, and reportedly was inspired by a character in the Japanese anime Kotetsu jeeg (1975–1976). 

 

[OtherEric]

I’m guessing a large part is because the Transformers never really went away, while the Micronauts did.

If they ever do bring back Micronauts my toy budget will go crazy.

 

[MAR1979]

Why do the Shogun Warriors not get the love the Micronauts do? 

I've seen pics of me as a child wearing Shogun Warriors jammies. Mom was pretty cool.

Edited July 23, 2023 by MAR1979

[MB1952]

On 7/23/2023 at 9:18 AM, Krismusic said:

what is a micronaut? Lol no seriously... i know they came before transformers but we all grew up on transformers and the push from toy companies to sell us action figures, haha. 

 80's animated show plus G.I.Joe 

[Cat]

Kids think hot cars are cool. Kids think military vehicles are cool. Kid think robots are cool. Kids think lots of guns are cool. Now combine them all into one package? Insanity. They were expertly marketed by a high-quality (for its time) cartoon showcasing EVERY character available (bar one, but that figure has a somewhat interesting history so it's understandable), something that's just not possible these days, a high quality and well-selling comic book (who can forget the infamous tag line from the final issue: 'issue 80 of a 4 issue miniseries'). Basically, it's presence was known. The character bios, who the teams were, all names etc, were dreamt up at Marvel, mainly at the desk of Bob Budianksy. It was that character work that formed the bedrock of the franchise, and is what kept kids coming back, along with the cool toys; the bios written on the back, seeing them on the cartoon when it was airing or in the comic. 

We know the character work was important thanks to an experiment called Transformers: The Movie, released in 1986. Hasbro had run out of Japanese Diaclone and Microchange product to reuse, so for the first time we were going to be seeing original designs used for the franchise. They also had some toys that had stopped selling so well, so they wanted to clear them off the shelves. How to both introduce the new characters and say goodbye to the old? Why, a movie! Done as part of a package with My Little Pony and GIJOE also releasing films, Transformers was up first. Within the first 5 minutes of the movie we see 4 of the main Autobots of the first 2 seasons of the show brutally killed; Brawn, Prowl, Ratchet, Ironhide. To make things worse, Ironhide isn't quite dead, and grabs onto Megatron's leg in a heroic attempt to do something, even with his grievous injuries. Megatron simply blows his head up at point blank range. It's suddenly clear this movie is taking no prisoners*. This was reinforced just a few minutes later, when in a climactic battle with Megatron, Optimus Prime received mortal wounds. This lead to him dying shortly after saying his goodbyes to the new characters we didn't even know yet, and then he was gone. There was outrage from parents. Actual outrage. To the kids it became a defining moment of childhood, but to their parents it became a crusade. And it worked. In the next film planned for release, GIJOE, Duke was supposed to die at the end. The scene still plays out as normal, and he's clearly dead, stuck with a snake spear, but they added in a voice-over of another character saying "It's okay guys, Duke is going to be alright!". Roll to credits. 

Season 3 of the Transformers cartoon was very different than the first 2. No Earth vehicles besides the occasional legacy character like Bumblebee, now known as Goldbug, though still a Beetle. Ratings fell, and at the end, despite a horrific episode where Zombie Optimus Prime comes back to terrorise the new crew, the suits finally saw the light and gave the audience what it wanted, though it was too little, too late for the West, these were the last episodes made of G1. That's right, Optimus Prime returned.

So as you can see characterisation played a very strong part in it, along with the inherent coolness of the toys. Kids love race cars, jets, tanks, robots, guns and missiles, and with a Transformer you got some kind of vehicle PLUS a cool looking robot who you knew his story or you could read about it on his bio on the back of the box, which even gave his stats, and of course he came with guns and missiles. A very enticing combination for a child. They were also very well-made models of the cars, with die-cast metal used where appropriate, and stickers to liven them up. 

Micronauts had nothing like that to offer. There's simply no comparison. Without the Michael Golden art it'd be forgotten completely except by a few figure collectors wanting it for its link to GIJOE. 

 

 

*This is the point at which young me started bawling, as I sat down to watch the movie with my Ironhide toy on my lap. Him and Prowl were, and still are, my favourite characters. To suddenly see smoke and fire coming out of Prowl's mouth and eyes was bad enough, but to see the shrapnel that was Ironhide's head was too much, I started bawling. 

[OtherEric]

On 7/23/2023 at 4:20 PM, Cat said:

Micronauts had nothing like that to offer. There's simply no comparison. Without the Michael Golden art it'd be forgotten completely except by a few figure collectors wanting it for its link to GIJOE. 
 

There are a lot of people who like the entire comic run for the Mantlo stories, although I don't know many people who have good things to say about the "New Voyages". 

Those of us who had them back then did enjoy them, though.  ROM was the one where the toy was unimpressive in practice, the interchangeable nature of the Micronauts made them a lot of fun to play with.  They were clearly a step on the way to developing the actual Transformers figures.

[Cat]

On 7/24/2023 at 11:01 AM, OtherEric said:

There are a lot of people who like the entire comic run for the Mantlo stories, although I don't know many people who have good things to say about the "New Voyages". 

Those of us who had them back then did enjoy them, though.  ROM was the one where the toy was unimpressive in practice, the interchangeable nature of the Micronauts made them a lot of fun to play with.  They were clearly a step on the way to developing the actual Transformers figures.

They were partially used for the original line-up. The original line was a mix of a few lines, but mainly two: Diaclone and MicroChange. Micro Change was a companion line to Micro Man. Those toyswerr meant to be life-size, eg the toys we know as Megatron, Soundwave. And Micro Man and Micronauts are related. It all ties in. 

[Gonzimodo]

On 7/23/2023 at 9:01 PM, OtherEric said:

There are a lot of people who like the entire comic run for the Mantlo stories, although I don't know many people who have good things to say about the "New Voyages". 

Those of us who had them back then did enjoy them, though.  ROM was the one where the toy was unimpressive in practice, the interchangeable nature of the Micronauts made them a lot of fun to play with.  They were clearly a step on the way to developing the actual Transformers figures.

Hey, I quite liked New Voyages when it came out.  I had just started reading comics at the time, so it was my introduction to the world and characters.  (I had a yellow time traveler figure I had as a kid, but that doesn't count.)

Haven't read them since they came out, though, so it's not a hill I'm willing to die on...