This comes at the end of a decades long, non-public trademark face-off between Takara, Tomy, Abrams Gentile Entertainment (formerly Mego), and other parties. Takara has pretty much owned one major part of the Micronauts trademark since the mid-eighties after Mego went bankrupt. However, AGE laid claim to other parts of the trademark that Takara failed to grab and contested their claim ever since. There were many periods of inactivity from one side or the other over the years where each was nearly ready to relaunch Micronauts, only to get held up again as the other side jumped back in and contested it again. Takara was very close to a major Micronauts launch in the late 1990's, but was forced to scale it back to a Microman-only release in Japan and Korea around 1999. A brief compromise was reached in 2001 that allowed for the Palisades and Devil's Due runs to come about, but it did not last long, and Takara made more moves to try to reclaim the series, continuing after their merger with Tomy shortly later, making a grab for all the other associated trademarks as well (Biotron, Baron Karza, Hornetroid, etc...). AGE fought back.
Then earlier this year, in Summer, something suddenly changed. TakaraTomy ceded the entire interest to AGE. And then, mere days after this was posted to the US Trademark Office, AGE turned around and ceded their entire interest, including the newly acquired trademarks from TakaraTomy (and all the associated ones) to an intellectual property broker called MIC Holdings.
It was clear that some kind of deal had been made, and either MIC was planning to sell to a new owner, or was already acting on behalf of an unknown third party, presumably a larger company. My own guess at the time was that it might be that Hasbro reached a deal with AGE through MIC, and TakaraTomy conceded to allow the trademarks to go to a single intermediary owner at Hasbro's discretion. Mattel had also apparently shown some interest earlier this year in the Micronauts property (at least as evidenced through a poll from their collectors' club), so it may have been a move in order to keep them from scooping it up instead. In any case, MIC also proceded to file for trademarks on just about every other imaginable use of the Micronauts label. No longer facing opposition, the trademarks sailed smoothly through the Trademark Office's red tape, and appeared clear to go just within the last few weeks or so, culminating in Hasbro's announcement at their investor meeting.
Interestingly, Micronauts' prior history with Takara as the original 1974 Microman series was apparently mentioned in the investor's meeting, although its connections with the Transformers property (other than Takara's prior partnership with Hasbro on that license), Mego and the Marvel comic were not. In fact, Micronauts appear to be deliberately equated with the original Microman toyline, as if both series have been one and the same all along. Already the story is being reported in Japan with "Microman" being substituted for "Micronauts" in most sentences.
The very same day, J.J. Abrams announced he is working on getting the movie rights from Hasbro. This information's timing seems a bit TOO convenient, and it seems plausible that it was intentionally timed to help stir interest in the otherwise previously mostly forgotten property (and perhaps overshadow the negative press from the Palisades/Devil's Due 2002 relaunch in the eyes of investors and the media) .
At the investment meeting, Hasbro listed the Micronauts brand as part of its overarching 2010 theme of "reimagining, reinventing, and reigniting" their brands, which they described as "Immersive Brand Experiences" which should each include the following goals: "Toy and Game Product Innovation," "Digital Gaming," "Entertainment Experiences," and "Lifestyle Licensing", with an eye at established, developing, and new global markets.
Now, based on what little is known so far, there are still a few things that we can probably safely surmise as being all but guaranteed. Please keep in mind though that all that follows is my own speculation and does not reflect any "inside information", press releases, announcements or other cold hard facts :
- The product line is likely in development by Hasbro with some form of support from TakaraTomy.
- The brand will likely include use of most Mego-owned names: Baron Karza, Space Glider, Hornetroid, etc. in order to both maintain the intellectual property as well as to spark recognition with those who remember the original series.
- The brand will also likely include a broad marketing approach including a web portal, games, a television series, toys, comics, and a variety of spin-off products.
- The brand will probably have an international release, particularly in markets where the name has recognition (Japan, Asia, Europe, South America, etc. along with the North American and British markets).
- Magnemo toys. Mega Bloks has been doing quite well for itself pretty much owning the entire market share for fun magnetic interchangeable toys, and Bakugan also uses a magnetic gimmick. Microman's well researched and developed magnemo system (originally invented by Microman's own Iwakichi Ogawa) would make an incredible asset to Hasbro in grabbing its own piece of that market share.
- A mix of Japanese and US concepts to appeal in Asian and Western markets. The toyline should contain elements that will make it familiar to fans of both Microman and Micronauts without alienating either. The Acroyears will probably be set again as the main bad guys, but we will likely see them led by Baron Karza or such, for example. Changes will be made to Karza's design so he is not confused with Geag in Japan and Italy.
- An anime series or domestically created cartoon (2D or CG) is a must these days in order to market a new kid's brand. Possible studios they could approach to do this might include Gonzo (Sigma Six), Studio Pierrot (Microman), Sunrise (GaoGaiGar, but mostly tied to Bandai so less likely), Orphanage (Clone Wars), Cartoon Network (Transformers Animated), and Marvel among others.
- Other toy gimmicks such as transforming elements or electronics seem likely.
- Video games on various platforms seem a given as much as a cartoon.
- As Hasbro owns Wizards of the Coast, a collectible card game seems likely. Gotta interchange 'em all!
- 3 3/4 inch or 4 inch figures are probable, given Hasbro's own GI Joe series, Star Wars, and Marvel Universe. Also plausible is the hardy Magnepowers 3-inch format, which has the benefit of looking more apt for the "Micro" label.
- 5mm or 3mm based interchangeability, as these were staples even for Transformers, and interchangeability is associated with the Micronauts brand image of the past. That said, though, we shouldn't count out the possibility of this being abandoned for some new gimmick or format or moving even strictly to magnetic parts.
- Similarly, a gimmick or such enabling and encouraging parts-swapping or a construction set-style theme seems likely for the same reason. Think of Stikfas, Xevos, Bionicle, Mega Bloks, Gormiti, and other successful brands in this category.
- Augmented Reality gimmicks seem to be the new buzz for brand new product lines, starting with the launch of the Avatar toys in particular. I expect most new toys will incorporate some form of AR gimmick or similar technology allowing internet/computer interactivity out of the box.
- A revival of Microman in Japan with new reproductions of toys beyond what has been done in prior runs by TakaraTomy (like the TF encore stuff).
- A repackaging of Micronauts in Japan through TomyTakara done more with chrome parts, etc. to appeal to the local collectors' market
- A Marvel Comics tie-in (both ways--publishing the comic version, and characters incorporated into the toyline), Perhaps even the JJ Abrams movie released under the Marvel label?
- Larger figures--a five inch Micorman format has been rumored previously in Japan earlier this year.
- Smaller figures, a la Diaclone or MicroMachines, playing up the "Micro" theme. Less likely, but an approach I still personally find appealing.
- Some combination of multiple formats released (think of TMNT Mini-Mutants versus the main line).
- Anime styling or "Ameri-anime" styling (i.e. Teen Titans, TF Animated) or a more stylized western look such as in Clone Wars.
- 3D CG animation instead of 2D animation.
- Live action series rather than animated (i.e. Power Rangers)--not my preference, but plausible.
- Return of the Micronauts board game!
- Micronauts table role-playing game or miniature-based game. The toys could work as (full scale) miniatures in a game itself.
- Chrome parts have been minimal or nixed entirely in Hasbro's recent line-ups due to safety concerns, apparently. Don't expect the new Micronauts to have the familiar chrome heads anymore, which probably are considered dated looking or too esoteric by marketing anyway (but we can still hope!).
- Tiny removable parts (choking hazards)
- Direct involvement by Michael Golden (see his prior interview at Innerspace Online) or other original Marvel staff.
- Microman 2004+ style figures in terms of fragility and small loose parts (see second point above).
- Involvement from AGE (different ownership now).
- Comic story from Devil's Due (ditto).
- Retro figure replicas (like Palisades or the Transformer anniversary toys) from Hasbro (maybe from Takara though).
Hasbro brings Micronauts back:
http://toynewsi.com/news.php?catid=2
JJ Abrams in talks for Micronauts movie:
http://www.superherohype.com/news.php?i
More thoughts and such on this soon. I will try to keep the blog updated with news as it comes in, of course. What do you think of this sudden news?
Yes, I'm still alive. I'm actually working on something very special for Rockettubes and have some new plans ramping up, but with other things going on offline, I've been holding off updates until I have some of those special things fully ready to be announced. In the meantime, keep an eye on my Flickr account and you'll probably see some more content there soon in the interim.
Also, as you can see above, I've started toying with Spore again, and I have created a "Sporecast" there that is focused on Micronaut/Microman-inspired creations by myself and others. As of this writing, we have over 30 entries, and I'm going through the toy catalog bit by bit. The Hornetroid creature is my personal favorite creation so far. I'm playing with the creation tools so far much more than the game itself, though I look forward to playing a game in a universe populated with Micronaut-themed creations (among others--lots of fun Macross and Gundam stuff too!).
Do you play or have you played Spore? My user ID is rockettubes and the Sporecast is called "The Microverse" if you would like to friend me or subscribe. If you want to contribute any Micro-themed creations to the 'cast, let me know! Have you created any other Micronaut/man-themed characters or mods in other games?
I've posted high resolution scans of the original Mego Catalog images of the prototype Micropolis set mock-ups at my Flickr account. The detail preserved is actually rather striking, and at this scale you can make out a lot of hints of how hastily these mock-ups were thrown together for photographing, including substituting red tape for connectors and plain masking tape inside one of the sets.
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Rockettubes updates have been dry for a while since the interviews, not due to lack of subject matter, but because of a few outside factors I hope to have dealt with by next week or so. I have a big backlog of some exciting stuff to share though, so please keep checking back and things should pick up here pretty soon. I'll try to squeak in some more quickie posts if possible in the meantime...
Be sure to check out Jack Szwergold's huge mother lode of Microman catalog scans on Flickr, too. I'm going to be jumping into those and translating some here and there as time permits.
Check it out here.
UPDATE: Part 2 of the interview is here.
UPDATE 2: Part 3 of the interview is here.
UPDATE 3: Part 4 of the interview is here.
Also updated the blog below with galleries of the Series 3 concepts, check them out if you haven't seen them!
(NEW) UPDATE 4: Part 5 of the interview is here.
If you are visiting from reading the interview, welcome! RocketTubes.Net itself is kind of in a prolonged archival status at the moment so a lot of links are old and non-working but I'm keeping the site up for those who are still referencing it or curious. Please visit the RocketTubes LiveJournal (http://rockettubes.livejournal.com ) blog to see more current links and other info not presented on the LJ feed that is patched into RocketTubes.Net. And thanks for visiting! :D
Check it out here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/microbry/se
You can also, as always, see more of my cg renders from Micronauts and other series over at my portfolio site.
Do you have any favorites? Or are there some other unproduced color variations that you would have like to have seen? Let me know what you think!
In other news, I am tentatively planning a large staged update and overhaul to all things rockettubesian to re-centralize things. There might be some downtime on my archived sites, but the LJ page will continue unabated (save any maintenance on LJ's own part) until RocketTubes.Net 3.0 is ready to launch...
Update 2: Fixed. For now. I will be resturcturing the site soon, but hopefully not before I can put some redirects in so no one gets lost. :) In the meantime, 98% or more of the site should be back on line, with only a few images missing on some old posts that will later redirect to Flickr versions anyway. There may still be some minor issues as I have switched servers and the old server hasn't been shut down yet, which can cause some DNS issues. Hope to have that fixed by Monday at the latest.
Part Three is here.
Part Four is here.
Part Five is here.
Part Six is here.
Way back in 2002, we had assembled a consultant group for Palisades as a "think tank" to come up with new ideas and concepts to give a multifaceted source of inspiration and sense of direction for where to take a new original line of Micronauts toys. After it was over and the plug had been pulled on the Micronauts, Dave Waugh of Innerspace Online and myself both got permission from Palisades and all the participants to host their images in a gallery. Dave got his version together first, and it was so well done, I put mine on hold. Unfortunately, Dave took down this valuable part of his site a few years back and hasn't had a chance to restore it. And with more and more curious inquiries about the designs coming both on the Micropolis Embassy and directly to myself and others on the project, I thought it high time to share these images again, albeit in not as fancy a format as what Dave had presented before.
So, here goes. Please note that all images are copyright their original creators and are hosted with their prior consent obtained at the end of the project. I do not own these images (except any I have indicated were created by myself), and they may not be reproduced without their creator's permission. I will be doing a seperate blog post for each creator, and then link all the posts together into a single index post at the end which will be added to the sidebar.
( First up is the work of Dave Waugh himself! )
Part Three is here.
Part Four is here.
Part Five is here.
Part Six is here.
Continuing the series of concept art from the think tank for Palisades Toys' cancelled Series 3 of original Micronauts toys are contributions by Will Jones, owner of one of the earlier Micronauts sites on the web, Micronet, and creator of many Micronaut-inspired resin kits and other works. Will experimented with CG modeling and explored new clever and innovative directions in his line art as well.
Again, please note that all images are copyright their original creators and are hosted with their prior consent obtained at the end of the project. I do not own these images (except any I have indicated were created by myself), and they may not be reproduced without their creator's permission. I will be doing a seperate blog post for each creator, and then link all the posts together into a single index post at the end which will be added to the sidebar.
( The Series 3 concept work of Will Jones )
Part Two is here.
Part Four is here.
Part Five is here.
Part Six is here.
Mike Bazzell is a talented computer game artist whose work you may have seen in the likes of Alpha Centauri and more recent Civilization games. He also owns the website Mikerotron's Peculiar Drill Attachment, an old favorite of mine that I thought was long gone but appear to still be up out there on the web after all, at least in part. Mike was one of the first to contribute to the Series 3 think tank and had some of the most "toyetic" designs of all!
As with all these posts for the Series 3 gallery, please note that all images are copyright their original creators and are hosted with their prior consent obtained at the end of the project. I do not own these images (except any I have indicated were created by myself), and they may not be reproduced without their creator's permission. I will be doing a seperate blog post for each creator, and then link all the posts together into a single index post at the end which will be added to the sidebar.
( Mike Bazzell's visions for Series 3 )
Part Two is here.
Part Three is here.
Part Five is here.
Part Six is here.
Gordon Smuder is another longtime member of the online Micronauts community and has worked in making props and puppets for television and all sorts of cool things I probably barely know about. I also did one of my very first Micronaut-based CG works long ago based on a concept of his for a miniature Microtron figure. He came in a bit late to the think tank but still contributed both a number of new ideas as well as shared a couple of his older concepts and demonstrated a combination of strong Takara and Mego influences in his work. Not to mention a bit of whimsical fun along the way, too! (Don't take the last image too seriously...)
As with all these posts for the Series 3 gallery, please note that all images are copyright their original creators and are hosted with their prior consent obtained at the end of the project. I do not own these images (except any I have indicated were created by myself), and they may not be reproduced without their creator's permission. I will be doing a seperate blog post for each creator, and then link all the posts together into a single index post at the end which will be added to the sidebar.
( Gordons micro-concepts and imagery for Series 3 )
Part Two is here.
Part Three is here.
Part Four is here.
Part Six is here.
I have to confess, I don't know Robert personally as well as the other contributors, but he's a Micropolis Embassy member who had some last-minute contributions near the end of the Series 3 think tank's run before the plug was pulled on the Micronauts at Palisades. He submitted some cool ideas that take a lot of influence from the New Microman Acroyear designs and other Takara SF Land-inspired ideas with some new twists.
As with all these posts for the Series 3 gallery, please note that all images are copyright their original creators and are hosted with their prior consent obtained at the end of the project. I do not own these images (except any I have indicated were created by myself), and they may not be reproduced without their creator's permission. I will be doing a seperate blog post for each creator, and then link all the posts together into a single index post at the end which will be added to the sidebar.
( Robert's concepts for Series 3 )
Part Two is here.
Part Three is here.
Part Four is here.
Part Five is here.
And bringing up the rear, in more ways than one, is myself. Actually, most of my contributions during the time of the think tank was more in the form of giving input, criticism, and direction, and posting concepts in written form (Dave had a lot of good quotes from this on his old gallery page for the project). This was because I had my hands full at the time getting a huge number of CG models built and rendered for Palisades on top of my day job. I had previously shown Ken some sketches before, though, and I did sketch a number of my ideas in really rough form, but never got these later drawings posted during the period the Series 3 think tank was running, unfortunately. I have shared many of them online since then, but I don't have much in the way of finished concepts so much as some very loose ideas. For completeness' sake though, I will include them here too.
As with all these posts for the Series 3 gallery, please note that all images are copyright their original creators and are hosted with their prior consent obtained at the end of the project. I do not own any of the other images, just the ones I have indicated were created by myself that are in this particular sub-gallery post below. They may not be reproduced without my permission. I will be doing a seperate blog post for each creator, and then link all the posts together into a single index post at the end which will be added to the sidebar.
( Bryan Wilkinson's ideas for Series 3 )
I do expect a partial reprieve in a couple weeks so there may or may not be any more posts here until then, depending on how things go. At least I have a big stack of backlogged things to update on once I have the chance to do so! :D
Antron gets a new ride!
"Discovered" by Austin C. at the Micropolis Embassy, I didn't put much thought into the matter until Michael Jaecks photographed one with Antron inside, then I knew I had to get one as well.
It really looks like a lost Mego vehicle made just for Antron, who seats inside perfectly even with all his weapons attached (I really need to get a new eyebolt attachment and an unbroken "spiked gun" for this guy...). Interestingly, while this is a dark green brained Antron, the blue canopy turns it bright and makes it almost seem to glow in regular light. I may later mod the missile launcher to launch a classic Mego style "mushroom" missile. After some discussion, Michael and I renamed this toyjacked vehicle "Scarabos" (which isn't entirely inappropriate for Blue Beetle, either, really), keeping in style with the similar Micronauts alien vehicle Lobstros.
Onell Design's Glyos System now has a modular interchangeable figure called "Buildman".. Made up mostly of multiple connector pieces, the Buildman's design allow for building up all sorts of original figures, vehicles, and robots. Here's just a couple of starter combos I came up with (not even using all the figures I received in the "Buildman Phalanx" construction set). The possibilities are endless!
A Buildman centauroid.
My idea of a Buildman AcroSoldier...note that it stands at the same height as a 3 3/4" figure! Also Buildman foot sockets fit GI Joe pegs fairly well.
( Read Full Review... )
What do you think of Buildman Ranic? Do you own any Glyos System toys?
Sky Girls was a fairly iffy series.
I enjoyed the original OVA as a fluff piece and watched some of the TV series but got kind of bored with it so I haven't watched more than the first few just yet. But I love the Sonic Diver suits themselves and knew I had to get one if they made toys of them. I had hoped they would do them as Busou Shinki toys, which are fairly direct cousins, but they only did figures of the girls, not the suits.
The plus side is that Freeing designed the suits in a non-scale size that is probably somewhere around 1/15 to 1/12 scale (the girls themselves are quite small in the series...more so than they ought to be for their purported age), and it can easily fit the 2003+ MIcroman figures, recent long-legged Gi Joes figures, as well as some Figma figures, so as far as I'm concerned it's 1/18th...ish. Will have to post more pics later of that... Because of its ambiguous scale, it looks nice next to the 1/15 Yamato Garland toy as well as next to the 1/18 Takara Dual Model Zwei Votoms ScopeDog and such. The toy is impressively articulated, can transform to an autonomous robot mode and a flight mode, and has opening micro-missile pods on the shoulders. Great stuff!
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