Hey check this out new SB member Mircomanzone is a veteran Microman collector and posted this sick Microman magazine from the 70's on his flickr acct
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http://flickr.com/photos/jackszwergold/sets/72157607240540892/
Thanks Jack! Super cool contribution, I hoard all my cool books and mags...

wow! the vehicles for this series were really cool too!

Hey Abe, Thanks for noticing! I bought a semi-beater copy off of Yahoo! Japan a few years back because I actually wanted to read it. And decided hey, this goes for $180-$200 on Yahoo! Japan and I haven't seen any other "beater" copies in a while so I'll share. So happy everyone's enjoying it. And if it revives interest in the old Microman stuff, all the better.

Also folks I scanned in a rare set of Microman cards by Yoshihiro Moritou. They are those small paper cards that came with magazines back in the day:
http://flickr.com/photos/jackszwergold/ ... 082901170/


What's interesting to note is the artist of the illustrations in Zero Zero did the artwork and illustrations for the early part of the Microman line while it was still a semi-Henshin Cyborg spinoff. But for my money—and others as well—the artwork of Yoshihiro Moritou is what really kicked the Microman line in high gear. It's more dynamic and manga-like. He did box-art illustrations as well that still blow my mind when I look at them. Because they are so classic and just perfect for a toy line that's a bit "rougher" than most kiddie toy lines in the 1970s.

Here's an example of the manga cover artwork:
http://flickr.com/photos/jackszwergold/ ... 541867323/

i had a few (now long gone) micromen as a kid and this brings back such memories. thanks for sharing.

Most amazing! Great post!

I love seeing the old art work. The feel of the old art is just so much better than the computer generated crap that comes out now-a-days. Some CG stuff is cool, but it can't beat a good hand-drawn card.

That cover is sick!

Absolutely amazing stuff, MicromanZone! Thanks for posting this!

Best thread in a while...

I watch Microman's Flickr page like a hawk
I am curious what the backstory of the Japanese Micromen are. Care to let us non Japanese speakers in on the story? I am totally OK with the Marvel Comics version of the Microverse but I'm guessing its not the same as whats in this mag.
Thanks again for posting all the knowledge!

Japanese is Greek to me, so can't provide a literal translation. But here's the basic deal: Microman figures had a common story but were unusual because they were never directly tied into a TV show or manga. And while there was a manga telling their story on earth that appeared around 1977/78, the main way the "Microman Story" was told/evolved was through the mini catalogs that came with the figures.

And according to what I know of them, the Micromen were humans who escaped the destruction of "Micro Earth" at some point. On Micro Earth they were basically human beings and that's what the bulk of Zero Zero seems to be focused on: What life on Micro Earth was.

They escaped earth in some crystal shaped capsules—which mimicked the capsules that they initially were sold in—but were transformed by the sun's rays to be more "robotic" with silver heads and such.

The Acroyears were Micromen escaping Micro Earth as well. But what turned them evil was landing in polluted areas of the ocean that warped and corrupted them into the death obsessed robots they now are. (Kind of funny how we're all talking about saving the planet now, but practically all Japanese toys/stories for kids has had some pollution angle since the 1960s).

So that's really the foundation of the series. The Micromen were lost refugees of a destroyed planet. The main story of the line hung around the Micromen traveling around earth and the galaxy to find other refugees and fight off Acroyears along the way as well. I always found that great: The main story isn't good/evil, but mainly a lost group of space travelers trying to find others and their only "enemies" are warped versions of themselves.

As the line grew the story expanded out as well. Some of the "Space Titan" Microman toys that were never released in the U.S. were Micromen that landed on Saturn and were turned into robots there.

And you know the "Pharoid" in the Micronauts line? He was part of the "Microman Command" which consisted of 4 different types: 3 men and 1 woman (the only woman in the line) who were sent to Earth to help us dumb schmucks on Earth build the pyramids, ancient Japanese temples, Easter Island statues and... the Statue of Liberty? (That was the one the Micro-ladies helped build).

So if you look through the scans I have there around page 33 in Zero Zero is the division line between the pre-destruction of Micro Earth story and then the Microman Story that was the basis of the toy line.

You are the fuckin' microman master!!!

Thanks for this very informative wealth of knowledge---amazed by how you summarized and simplified this microman thing.

This post belongs to the other gems I usually bookmark. You rule man! Thanks!

Thanks for shredding. I tried to get with teh micro-forum but admin is lazy or doesn't like me, so happy to see some micro action here.

A happy new year update to officially announce that fellow Microman collector—MicroBry—has generously volunteered to translate this great publication. The first 8 pages (including cover and inside cover) have now been translated. These pages cover the history of MicroEarth in relation to the galaxy. And it's pretty awesome when you realize this whole elaborate backstory was made for 10-year-old kids; there's no talking down and it's completely a world of 1970s sci-fi. And this magazine was the main way the world of Microman was "sold" to kids. No manga (yet) and not TV show. Just cool toys and a rich backstory.

FWIW, 2009 is the 35th anniversary of Microman (debuted in 1974). And sadly with Tomy acquiring Takara last year there are no clear/solid plans for an official acknowledgement of the anniversary in any way. And lord knows this global recession isn't helping either. So consider this the way a handful of U.S. fans are honoring the occasion!

Ultimately MicroBry hopes to re-layout the translated text on the high-res scans I provided him so the scans are seamlessly translated into the pages. But for now, this is the next best thing. I've even taken advantage of Flickr's "notes" to allow in-context annotation when possible on some of the charts.

Enjoy folks!

happy new year indeed.
hard to believe that it's been 35 years.
can't wait to see more.
thanks for sharing, jack.

AWESOME.

You guys rule! Thanks so much for doing this.

Yeah, thanks for sharing. Looking forward to the read.

Hah... I had these cards as a kid. My aunt used to get me TV Magazine as a kid. I have the Luger key chain/screwdriver set, the little cardboard organizer box, and all sorts of other stuff stored somewhere at my parent's house. I even have all my old TV Magazines up there somewhere.

Whoa! Thats awesome... envy!

Wow...these are awesome. Those cards are wild.

Great way to view these is with CoolIris. It's a browser plugin you can check out here:

http://www.cooliris.com/

It does other stuff, but when you get to a Flickr page and put your cursor over an image, you'll see a square/arrow icon in the lower right corner of the image. Click on that and you can view the images in a much cooler environment than the Flickr slideshow.

--
jJ

Wow those illustrations are amazing. I love old school fantasy and sci-fi art

Hey folks. It's 9 degrees in NYC right now. With wind chill it's really, really, really cold for NYC.

So I spent some time uploading some scans from a vintage Microman manga. It's not like the Micronauts comic, and it's not in English, but the illustrations are made by the same artist who did those cards I posted above and they are amazing. Check them out: