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

[shadroch]

Soon after I opened my second shop, I got a collection that included a complete run of Micronauts. I'd only read the X-Men vs. Micronauts series so I thought it would be a good time to catch up on what was then a decent-selling back-issue title.  I came away impressed. I don't remember much about the series but think it was much better than expected.  Mantlo and Golden put together a much better series than the spoon Marvel was pushing out back then. 

I enjoyed the New Voyage, but it didn't have the same bite.

[World Devourer]

Read up about the Micronauts.

The toy line - Micronauts - Wikipedia   

* Note that the first version of Baron Karza was released in Japan in 1975, 2 years BEFORE Star Wars.

The comic - Micronauts (comics) - Wikipedia

The series was essentially one saga, detailing the war between the Micronauts and adversary Karza. There was character development, Marvel guest stars, several deaths, new team-mates and a final victory that cost everything.

The art, inking and colouring were often exceptional.

I recommend it to anyone.

[Black_Adam]

On 7/23/2023 at 1:34 PM, Artboy99 said:

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). 

 

The villain in black armor is an archetype dating back at least as far as the Black Knight in Arthurian literature; the most important representation being, of course, in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the Black Knight getting his legs and arms chopped off was obviously the inspiration for Darth Vader! 

Edited July 24, 2023 by Black_Adam

[theCapraAegagrus]

Transformers are out of their league. Try Mini-Cons. Micronauts still lose. They're just losers.

[OtherEric]

On 7/24/2023 at 7:28 AM, Gonzimodo said:

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... 

I haven't read them in years, so not a hill I'm willing to die on, either.  I've still got the complete run.  And I did say not many people, not nobody.

I had several different Time Traveler figures.  I think my parents loved the fact they were one of the only toys with the action figure included, so I got lots of the vehicles but very few of the figures other than the Time Travelers.  I did eventually get Baron Karza and his horse, and the good guy equivalents... can't remember the names of any of those, though.  All long gone, sadly.

[Gonzimodo]

On 7/24/2023 at 1:22 PM, OtherEric said:

I haven't read them in years, so not a hill I'm willing to die on, either.  I've still got the complete run.  And I did say not many people, not nobody.

I had several different Time Traveler figures.  I think my parents loved the fact they were one of the only toys with the action figure included, so I got lots of the vehicles but very few of the figures other than the Time Travelers.  I did eventually get Baron Karza and his horse, and the good guy equivalents... can't remember the names of any of those, though.  All long gone, sadly.

I never had Baron Karza, but my older brother's friend gave his horse (Andromeda) to me when he was getting rid of some stuff back in the mid-80s.  It's complete in the box, including the plastic tray and instructions, which is almost unheard of coming from a non-collector in the late 70s.  This has been sitting on my bookshelf for years.

Other than the set from SDCC a few years ago, this is the only Micronauts toy I own, so I should either sell it or buy a Baron Karza to go with it.  I think I prefer the latter choice...  

[shadroch]

I really liked Kelly Jones work on the later issues.  He was a new artist who started inking but then took over as the main artist. 

[Brock]

On 7/23/2023 at 5:03 PM, OtherEric said:

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

I think that's the key... Transformers have been in pretty much continuous use since the early 1980s, while the Micronauts are dead IP. It pains me to say it, because I love the Micronauts.

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

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.

Micronauts had nothing like that to offer. There's simply no comparison.

This sounds to me like you grew up on Transformers, and are wearing your rose-coloured glasses... After all, we all do here, from time to time. I grew up as a huge Micronauts fan... 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 Micronauts you got some kind of vehicle PLUS cool looking robot or alien 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.

Transformers had nothing like that to offer. There's simply no comparison. 

As a child of the 70s, I knew all about Biotron or Microtron's back stories. Clunky things like Optimus Prime had little interest for me in my teens... to each their own, of course.

Micronauts was a reasonably big toy hit for a short period, leveraging a gap for science fiction toys in the marketplace in the wake of Star Wars. It helped that they were essentially the same scale as the Kenner Star Wars toys.

I still have all my childhood Micronauts sets, and the genius thing about the line was that it was essentially action figures meet Lego. Every car, every spaceship, every battle droid could be disassembled and combined with any part from the rest of the line. After that, a robot that only transform into a single thing seemed like a bit of a letdown...

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

A couple of years ago, I re-read a letter column somewhere (maybe Avengers?) that said of all the books that marvel was publishing at the time, Perez's Avengers and Mantlo's Micronauts got the most mail.

The first 12 issues were (pardon the pun) golden, and I think the first 30 or so issues still stand up reasonably well.

It's often a surprise for those that weren't collecting at the time, but that first year, Marvel's Micronauts series was a juggernaut, both in terms of sales and in terms of critical reaction.

@OtherEric is right to suggest that without the Micronauts toy line, there would likely be no Transformers toys. But I think you could also say that without the Micronauts comic and its success, there would never have been ROM, Transfomers or GI Joe comics, either.

 

[OtherEric]

On 7/24/2023 at 5:38 PM, Brock said:

I still have all my childhood Micronauts sets, and the genius thing about the line was that it was essentially action figures meet Lego. Every car, every spaceship, every battle droid could be disassembled and combined with any part from the rest of the line. After that, a robot that only transform into a single thing seemed like a bit of a letdown...
 

Lucky!  The only childhood toys I still have (other than a couple stuffed animals) are my Legos.

The only true vintage Micronaut figure I have is the Time Traveler I showed earlier, the others are either Palisades or the SDCC set from a few years ago.  My local retro store knows to call me first if anything comes in, though!

[Jayman]

My only childhood survivor is Microtron. Every once in a while I stick a few batteries in him and watch his arms go around! 

[TRMN8R5]

On 7/24/2023 at 3:34 PM, Gonzimodo said:

I never had Baron Karza, but my older brother's friend gave his horse (Andromeda) to me when he was getting rid of some stuff back in the mid-80s.  It's complete in the box, including the plastic tray and instructions, which is almost unheard of coming from a non-collector in the late 70s.  This has been sitting on my bookshelf for years.

Other than the set from SDCC a few years ago, this is the only Micronauts toy I own, so I should either sell it or buy a Baron Karza to go with it.

Dern.  Wish I'd known that.  You coulda'/shoulda' bought the Baron Karza I had for sale.

Sold both the complete Karza and accessories, as well as a complete Andromeda and accessories; some time early last year, IIRC.  They were both toys that I purchased myself as a kid back when they were BRAND NEW!  Not sure exactly where I got the horsie, but I still distinctly remember grabbing the last NIB Karza off the shelf at a local CSC discount store  ...

[F For Fake]

Micronauts are super cool, but they came out just a little too early. Transformers (along with G.I. Joe) benefitted from a post-Masters of the Universe world where you could create cartoons that were essentially half-hour commercials for the toy lines. Transformers had the toys, the comics, AND the cartoons. Had Micronauts had that additional push, it's possible they'd still be going strong now as well. The Micronauts comic certainly benefited from that great Michael Golden art, and there are some other highlights, but eventually it went away. Transformers have been published in one form or another pretty much nonstop for 40 years. Toys, comics, cartoons, feature films, the popularity may ebb and flow, but they never go away entirely.

[Cat]

On 7/25/2023 at 10:38 AM, Brock said:

I think that's the key... Transformers have been in pretty much continuous use since the early 1980s, while the Micronauts are dead IP. It pains me to say it, because I love the Micronauts.

This sounds to me like you grew up on Transformers, and are wearing your rose-coloured glasses... After all, we all do here, from time to time. I grew up as a huge Micronauts fan... 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 Micronauts you got some kind of vehicle PLUS cool looking robot or alien 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.

Transformers had nothing like that to offer. There's simply no comparison. 

As a child of the 70s, I knew all about Biotron or Microtron's back stories. Clunky things like Optimus Prime had little interest for me in my teens... to each their own, of course.

Micronauts was a reasonably big toy hit for a short period, leveraging a gap for science fiction toys in the marketplace in the wake of Star Wars. It helped that they were essentially the same scale as the Kenner Star Wars toys.

I still have all my childhood Micronauts sets, and the genius thing about the line was that it was essentially action figures meet Lego. Every car, every spaceship, every battle droid could be disassembled and combined with any part from the rest of the line. After that, a robot that only transform into a single thing seemed like a bit of a letdown...

A couple of years ago, I re-read a letter column somewhere (maybe Avengers?) that said of all the books that marvel was publishing at the time, Perez's Avengers and Mantlo's Micronauts got the most mail.

The first 12 issues were (pardon the pun) golden, and I think the first 30 or so issues still stand up reasonably well.

It's often a surprise for those that weren't collecting at the time, but that first year, Marvel's Micronauts series was a juggernaut, both in terms of sales and in terms of critical reaction.

@OtherEric is right to suggest that without the Micronauts toy line, there would likely be no Transformers toys. But I think you could also say that without the Micronauts comic and its success, there would never have been ROM, Transfomers or GI Joe comics, either.

 

Funny that we're fighting about Micronauts and Transformers, when essentially they are one. In 1975 a toy was developed for the Microman line called Cosmo Countach. That toy is now considered the world's first Transformer. But of whom, you ask? Sunstreaker. The vain, prideful Lamborghini Countach who becomes an integral member of the Autobots in season 1, with his brother, Sideswipe. To make it easier for me, here's a link with some pics and info: https://www.google.com/amp/s/thetransformers.tumblr.com/post/50331611497/a-brief-history-of-transforming-robot-toys-part-1/amp

That lead to the creation of Diaclone, which we recognise as the Autobot cars, Prowl, Ironhide, Optimus Prime etc. But they all came with driver figures in the east. That feature got dropped for their Transformers releases, as they were now their own characters, not manned mechs. 

So there we go. Without Micronauts, Transformers could not exist. 

[factory sealed]

Timing is everything. Didn't the original Micronauts line come out ten years previously?

But honestly across any cartoon villain story arch, the team of Megatron, Soundwave, Shockwave, and Starscream is absolutely unbeatable. Whether you are talking the episodes or the incredibly rare and impossible to find G1 toys in 84/85; I remember vividly when we finally scored the last remaining constructicon we needed to finally fully assemble Devastator and the entire neighborhood was at our house to watch in real-time.