Super7 is reviving Micronauts in their ReAction+ line. In their words:
“…starting with a heroic Biotron and the villainous Baron Karza. Designed to look and feel like toys from the original toy line, these throwback figures feature O-Ring construction and have 12 points of articulation for ultimate poseability.”
For the first wave, we get Baron Karza and Biotron, purported to be like the originals but to be honest, not really. The Biotron toy from Mego was huge; this one looks to be the same size as Karza. The Darth Vader-like Karza had magnetic joints, which allowed for parts to swap out with both his arch-nemesis Force Commander and his horse Oberon (for a neat frightening centaur). While they won’t really be the Micronauts some of us remember, they still look cool.
When Marvel got the rights to reprint their groundbreaking Micronauts series, it did not take a Time Traveler to know something was going to happen with the toy line. Originally a Japanese toy line called Microman from Takara, Mego brought the line to the U.S. and renamed it Micronauts. Small, yes, and more importantly with parts that could be swapped out with other figures.
Then came Marvel’s series by Bill Mantlo and Michael Golden, giving them a solid science fiction story line that both acknowledged Star Wars influences but was completely its own thing. Eventually Micronauts sales dropped, though it was one of three titles that Marvel experimented with making direct market only. (See? Kind of groundbreaking.) Mego folded and Marvel stopped publishing their adventures.
Attempts to revive the toys as both action figures and comics largely failed, despite them being some of the coolest toys out there. Image, Devil’s Due, and IDW all briefly published new adventures that tried to both be and not be what Marvel had done, because of course Marvel owned their concepts, if not the rights. Thus the market said thanks but no thanks.
Hasbro may currently hold the license, and did release a Comic-Con exclusive in 2016. That set featured Galactic Warrior, Orbital Defender, and Pharoid, reproduced from Takara’s only surviving original molds. In 2017, Hasbro released another exclusive set for the IDW Revolution event that crossed over many of their action toylines. That was when Hasbro Studios had plans for both a movie and an animated series, which seem to have stalled out. (Hasbro has licensed several toys to ReAction for figures, including Transformers and G.I. Joe.)
From the back card copy ReAction shared, it’s mostly Marvel mythos around these toys. I could be wrong, but while the Space Glider figure was essentially owned by Mego, the name Arcturus Rann was created by Mantlo. It’s time to crack open the first volume of the reprint omnibus from Marvel and refresh whether or not Karza had led the evil Acroyear race. Mantlo had made it more complex, with the heroic team of Micronauts including Prince Acroyear, fighting to free his people.
Could this portend a revival at Marvel beyond the reprints? It’s fun to speculate.
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