Micronauts was a North American science fiction toyline manufactured and marketed by Mego from 1976 to 1980. The Micronauts toyline was based on and licensed from the Microman toyline created by Japanese-based toy company Takara in 1974.
59-568: Mego discontinued the Micronauts line in 1980 prior to the company's bankruptcy and dissolution in 1982. Years after Mego’s demise, other toy companies, such as Palisades Toys and SOTA (State of the Art) Toys , have attempted to revive the toyline. The Micronauts toyline consisted of 3.75-inch tall (9.5 cm) action figures which were known for their high number of articulation points relative to other toys of similar size and scale in
118-532: A TV spot for Tatsunoko vs Capcom . In short time, SOTA produced Ryu, MegaMan Volnutt , Ken the Eagle , and Tekkaman Blade to be highly detailed, poseable, and colorful. The result was a success. SOTA produced various-sized plush dolls of the Gordiant, the giant salamander boss at the end of Episode 1 of Capcom's game Lost Planet 2 . Although never actually sold by SOTA, the plushes were given away by Capcom at
177-459: A 14-inch statue of WAR, the lead character of the game and the first Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse , atop his fiery mount, Ruin. The statue is currently still in the prototyping phase. Despite the obvious similarity to the earlier Death statue, War is part of a separate line, as it is property of THQ, whereas Death is a SOTA original. The company is releasing a 5-inch tall keychain figure of
236-473: A developer, manufacturer, and wholesaler of collectibles based on licensed properties from companies such as Capcom and Universal . Formed in 2000 by Jerry Macaluso , they have created and manufactured numerous licensed products based on the characters from popular films, TV shows, hit video games, and literary works, as well as legendary musicians and pop stars. Aside from being a developer and manufacturer, SOTA Toys also serves as fabricator and prototyper for
295-515: A five-part miniseries to air on the Sci Fi Channel in Fall of 1998, followed by a syndicated 26 episode Micronauts animated series for 1999, with action figures and a Marvel tie-in comic announced. The project was later cancelled. Boulder Media Limited (a then-subsidiary of Hasbro Studios ) planned to develop a new Micronauts animated series in 2018, but has long since been shelved due to
354-450: A growing retailer disinterest in the line, the winning item, which was a cow, would not be released. Later that year, The Muppet Show was canceled entirely, after which Ken Lilly had posted the tentative series 10 through 14 lineup on their message board. Four items of the series were released while all of the rest never passed the prototype or planning stages. These consisted of basic, Mega, and Mini figures, in addition to playsets such as
413-399: A high-level overview of their Micronaut line offerings. In 2002 Palisades Toys acquired the rights to manufacture a new line of Micronauts toys from Abrams Gentile Entertainment, LLC , the company which was formed in the aftermath of Mego's collapse to retain and manage Mego's licensing contracts, rights and deals. This licensing agreement was done by Palisades under the assumption that
472-520: A line called "Now Playing Presents" depicting characters and creatures from various horror films. Among them were Pumpkinhead , An American Werewolf in London , Darkman , Dune , Dog Soldiers , The Thing , Legend , The Toxic Avenger , Killer Klowns from Outer Space , Jeepers Creepers 2 , The Mummy Returns and Land of the Dead . Not to be confused with the current SOTA Nightmares line, figures in
531-413: A magnet placed inside the figure's head would allow its magnetically equipped hat to sit firmly in place. This eliminated the need for an unsightly hole in the top the figure's head, which was the traditional way of attaching a hat (via peg). In 2001, Palisades acquired the license to produce Star Trek figures to commemorate its 35th anniversary. Concept designs were soon being developed and aimed for
590-401: A public relations point of view, as some felt that this indicated they were trying to still push and mark up known defective product." Nevertheless, while financial recovery would be impossible, Palisades attempted to salvage their reputation and pride with a second Micronauts series, a retooled Series 1, and a special Series 1.5, working more closely with the manufacturers this time. However,
649-471: A significant presence. Finally, on February 1, 2006, Palisades announced its bankruptcy and subsequent sale of the company to Limited by CAS Inc. Horn discussed the situation in a press release noting, "This development parallels a general trend within the toy industry, including the bankruptcy of one of Palisades’ largest customers." While Limited continued Palisades' Factory X branch of statues and prop replicas, Horn and his wife were not offered positions in
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#1732772541232708-400: A staggering level of production, Palisades' also offered some of its merchandise at considerably low prices compared to similar high-end products within the industry. A combination of these factors may have attributed to deep expense on behalf of the acclaimed toy company. However, the biggest blow to Palisades would be during the production of Micronauts , Series 1 . The company initially
767-469: A style similar to the Playmates Toys ' previous Star Trek line. However, due to such comprehensive plans, the figures were never produced. In October 2003, Fun-4-All unveiled plans to produce Sesame Street action figures but had only developed prototypes before its bankruptcy in mid-2004. A few months later, Palisades obtained the hot license. The debut of this collection was culminated by
826-446: A toyline that would offset the sheer cost of producing a full line of plastic-based figures and related playsets as well as acknowledging that basic living space is limited for most Japanese households. Smaller Microman figures would not only cost less to produce during the energy crisis of the 1970s , the line's smaller scale would also take up less physical space in a household and thus be more attractive to space conscious consumers in
885-544: Is also releasing a series of statues based on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelation . They will be made of the same resin material as the other aforementioned products. The first horseman, Death , has been released in early 2010. Although they have a similar namesake, SOTA Nightmares is not intended to be a continuation of the previous Nightmares of Lovecraft line. SOTA's Street Fighter line
944-428: Is continuing this line with Juri , a new character from Super Street Fighter 4 , and has plans to produce other popular characters from previous games. Returning to their horror background, SOTA has released several exceptionally detailed resin statues of H.P. Lovecraft's creatures, Cthulhu and Nyarlathotep , with Dagon ready for release mid-2010. Nightmares is not limited to Lovecraft's imaginings, however. SOTA
1003-553: Is in the gutter right now", and many stores wishing to order the "Micronauts: Evolution" line were going bankrupt. He noted that the Palisades line "disaster…had a huge negative effect", with retailers rejecting SOTA’s upcoming series. Macaluso hoped to release the line in 2007 before SOTA's license expired, and considered funding it himself but the line was never produced. Below is a basic overview list of proposed SOTA Micronauts releases. Since no products were actually produced this
1062-497: Is limited to 200 pieces, while the Satsui no Hadou variant is limited to 100 pieces. SOTA Toys' current flagship product is a line of 1/6 scale statues depicting characters from Capcom's popular fighting game series: Street Fighter . These high-quality resin figures are non-poseable, but feature much more detail and superior paint than any previous works. Having already produced Ryu , Blanka , Sagat , Ken , Akuma and Cammy , SOTA
1121-435: Is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all Palisades Toys releases/variants but rather a high-level overview of their Micronaut line offerings. In January 2005, SOTA (State of the Art) Toys unveiled plans for a collector's toyline called "Micronauts: Evolution" which would be a redesign of the Micronauts figures presented in a slightly larger 6-inch (15 cm) size. Concept art was released and prototypes displayed at
1180-516: Is simply a high-level overview of their proposed Micronaut line offerings. In June 2016, Hasbro announced the special release of a limited edition Micronauts Classic Collection toy set. The set included three Micronaut characters: Galactic Warrior, Pharoid and Orbital Defender and featured packaging artwork by artist Ken Kelly . The set debuted at San Diego Comic-Con . Below is a basic overview list of Hasbro Micronaut toys with size/scale and release dates. Several comic book series based on
1239-553: The Micronaut toyline have been published by Marvel Comics (from 1979–1986), Image Comics (2002–2003), Devil’s Due Publishing (2004), and IDW (2016–2018). In November 2009 during an "Investor Day" event held at Hasbro 's headquarters in Pawtucket, Rhode Island , Hasbro's VP of Global Designs, Brian Chapman, announced the company's re-introduction of the Micronaut toyline and hinted that director J. J. Abrams ’ Bad Robot
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#17327725412321298-715: The Nightmares of Lovecraft line were smaller-scaled action figures with moveable parts. Featured were Cthulhu ( The Call of Cthulhu ), Dagon ( The Shadow Over Innsmouth ), and The Ghoul ( Pickman's Model ). Although the packaging for these products included the Now Playing Presents logo, Nightmares of Lovecraft were intended to be a separate line. Country music star Johnny Cash , punk band Fall Out Boy , rapper Snoop Dogg and horrorcore duos Insane Clown Posse and Twiztid have also been depicted as collectible figures. Talking plush dolls depicting members of
1357-840: The 1970s. The toyline also included vehicles, robots, playsets and accessories. Many of the Micronauts toys used interchangeable 5-millimetre (0.20 in) connectors and ports that allowed parts to be transferred and connected between different toys. Takara first released Microman toys in Japan in 1974 as a smaller version of their popular 8-inch-tall (20 cm) and 12-inch-tall (30 cm) 1972 Henshin Cyborg (Transforming Cyborg) line. Henshin Cyborg figures were based on Combat Joe figures—which themselves were based on Hasbro 's G.I. Joe figures—with their bodies molded in clear plastic, exposing their inner workings and supposed cybernetic parts. By downscaling their size, Takara sought to create
1416-440: The 2005 Toy Fair, with a projected release of late 2005. The figures appeared at the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con . The initial series was planned to include 6-inch (15 cm) renditions of Lobros, Baron Karza, and Space Glider. Plans changed to an online-only box set of all three characters, available on SOTA's website as smaller figures. In September 2006, SOTA president Jerry Macaluso said "the retail environment for collectibles
1475-405: The 2005 convention exclusive Super Grover with box art by Alex Ross . As one of the most highly anticipated figure lines at the time, the first series of Sesame Street was intended for a mid-2005 release but came to a stirring delay. In fact, two series of figures were planned, and many photos of the fully developed, packaged figure prototypes were released to the public. But according to Horn,
1534-549: The 2009 San Diego Comic-Con and through an online contest. Additionally, SOTA mass-produced a small, plastic Gordiant figure as an exclusive for box sets of the European version of the game. In mid-2009, a 12" resin sculpt of the main character from Capcom's upcoming game Dark Void was produced exclusively for promotional sales. Set in the iconic position seen in the game, the figure's jetpack flame and visor are illuminated with LEDs . A 3-inch tall miniature version of this figure
1593-630: The Humping Robot character from the stop motion television show Robot Chicken . These figures feature articulation in the neck, arms, hands, legs and even hips! For SOTA's 10th Anniversary they produced an 18-inch statue of Ryu from Super Street Fighter 4. This statue is a culmination of 10 years of experience and will be guaranteed to impress. Exceptionally bright LEDs illuminate Ryu in an awe-inspiring power-up pose, and are powered by USB cable which can connect to any powered 5v USB port or into an included US wall-socket adapter. The standard version
1652-703: The Japanese market. In Japan, the Microman figures themselves were marketed as actually being 3.75-inch-tall (9.5 cm) cyborg entities that hailed from a fictional planet known as "Micro Earth" and disguised themselves as action figures while on Earth . In 1976, Mego licensed several Microman toys from Takara and marketed the toyline in North America and other countries as Micronauts . During their initial series 1 and series 2 release, Takara produced small quantities of products in Japan before production
1711-538: The Magnemo Kotetsu Jeeg action figures with newly designed heads. In addition, as the Micronaut line grew in popularity, Mego expanded the line by creating whole new figures from scratch such as the "Aliens" line which included Antron, Repto, Membros, Lobros, Kronos and Centaurus. The Micronaut toyline sold extremely well for Mego. According to Neal Kublan, Mego’s Executive VP of Marketing/Vice President of Mego Research & Development (1972-1980),
1770-578: The Series 2 figures which utilized other, more reputable factories in China, but ended up losing more money than expected. As a result, retailers were wary of carrying the new Micronauts toyline, which resulted in the abrupt cancellation of a third series which was already in development. The whole series of events contributed to Palisades’ bankruptcy in 2006. Below is a basic overview list of Palisades Toys Micronaut toys with size/scale and release dates. This
1829-591: The Vanishing Cream Beaker figure. In terms of product quality, Palisades set high standards, particularly with its array of action figures. Such attributes included strong attention to detail and likeness, a high rate of joint articulation and bountiful accessories with tedious working functions. The company frequently employed designers from the fan community of each property they licensed and always credited staff and contributors on packages. Palisades also assigned help from various groups such as
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1888-505: The adult collector market. Established in 1994, the company generally worked within the same vein as competitors such as McFarlane Toys and NECA , producing detailed action figures , statues, plushes, and other collectibles of licensed properties up until its bankruptcy in 2006. Palisades also developed the brand Factory X which continues under Limited by CAS Inc. Palisades was notable for its close relationship and commonality with toy fans. The official message board served as one of
1947-494: The closure of Allspark Animation in 2020 and the live-action film being pulled from schedule. In 2022, Hasbro sold Boulder Media to Australian media company Princess Pictures . According to writer Eric Rogers, 52 episodes of the series were produced, and confirmed the series received a tax write-off. Palisades Toys Palisades Entertainment, LLC , better known as Palisades Toys , was an American manufacturing and distributing toy & collectibles company geared toward
2006-442: The company lost even more money in doing so, and retailers lost interest. A third series was put in development as a last attempt at redemption but canceled. The Micronauts revival would result in "an albatross for Palisades, their biggest financial loss ever." Problems with Palisades became evident as early as mid-2005. A forum poll during the prior year let fans choose a Muppet pack-in character or accessory. However, due to
2065-589: The company's strongest communication platforms where President and CEO Mike Horn and other employees would directly discuss their products with consumers. In fact, polls were often held to let fans decide upcoming products, and news coverage of the company frequently stemmed from Palisades' forum discussion. Horn and his wife, Kate, were also reachable through the buyer's office. The company's concern with adequate distribution of merchandise forced it to introduce Palisades Collector's Club. This offered exclusive figures and came in response to reports of difficulty in obtaining
2124-460: The in-development line were positive. However, it would later be discovered that Ken Lilly, who was head of Palisades’ product development, had been deceived by a company acting as Palisades' middleman responsible for subcontracting the factory. By this point, a significant percentage of the commission was paid to the middleman, and the other portion was to be paid after contract fulfillment. This middleman apparently had no intention of ever collecting
2183-534: The line generated more than $ 32 million in sales for the $ 110 million company during one period. After Mego's 1982 bankruptcy and dissolution, the original molds for many of the toys were sold to Hourtoys/M&D Toys for their Interchangables discount toyline, other original molds were sold to PAC Toys for use in their Lords of Light toyline and even Takara produced several series 5 toys for Italian licensee/distributor Gig's i Micronauti line. Additionally, leftover Micronaut toyline stock from Mego's production run
2242-419: The line would ultimately never come to fruition, due to lack of retailer support. This same problem haunted with The Muppet Show and led to its cancellation that same year. Palisades products were sold throughout the world at various retail outlets including Toys R Us , KB Toys , Target , Electronics Boutique , Tower Records , Media Play , Sam Goody , Suncoast Video , and various comic shops . Due to
2301-458: The line: In late 2007, SOTA released a new line of action figures known as Street Fighter Revolution . This line differs from the previous one in that the joints are character-specific, the sculpts differently styled, and the packaging is a highly detailed box rather than a blister pack . Round 1 features E. Honda , Zangief , Dhalsim , and Rainbow Mika . Preceding the Revolution line
2360-404: The lineup was cancelled after the success of the resin figures. The characters Dee and Demetri from Capcom's fighting game Darkstalkers were produced as mini-busts for the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con. SOTA Toys also produced a 1/10 scale statue of Felicia in 2007. Earlier plans for Demetri and Lord Raptor action figures had been canceled due to low pre-order sales. Earlier on, SOTA produced
2419-493: The massive Muppet Theatre stage. In November, a press release by President Mike Horn detailed the long-standing delay on Palisades' hotly anticipated Sesame Street action figure line: News from the company became scarce in the following months, and it was reported that shortly before Christmas , a large number of key staff members were released. Palisades also did not appear at the 2005 Wizard World Dallas, 2006 UK ToyFair, or 2006 US ToyFair where they would typically have had
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2478-511: The motion picture, toys/collectibles, and video game industry. In accordance with Capcom's upcoming Ōkamiden , limited-edition plushies and pillows are being made of Chibiterasu, the son of the wolf goddess Amaterasu from the previous game . SOTA Toys has announced a partnership with THQ that will result in a series of high-end collectible art statues based on THQ's critically and commercially successful video game title, Darksiders . The first model to be released from this partnership will be
2537-510: The original Mego toyline (such as Repto, Membros and Centaurus) were included in the line as well. When initial manufacturing of the Palisades figures was completed and the new, retro line shipped to consumers and stores, many figures were found to have defective or broken parts caused by manufacturing practices followed by the first Chinese factory. Many consumers who returned defective merchandise were inadvertently given defective replacements by Palisades. Facing these issues, Palisades developed
2596-516: The original manufacturing tooling and molds from the 1970s Mego toyline were still available. When Palisades discovered the manufacturing tooling and molds were not available, it turned to the Micronaut/Microman collector's community to donate vintage toys so Palisades could create new molds to replicate the figures. Most of the Palisades reissues were Mego Micronaut figures based on Takara designs, but several original alien designs from
2655-443: The painting and sculpting talents of Plan B Toys and accessory work by Industrial Zoo. The Muppet Show collection, celebrating the shows 25th anniversary, would become one of Palisades' flagship licenses. The line lasted nine series through 2002-2005 and included various convention and store exclusive figures as well as expansive playset . Aside from the aforementioned qualities, it also boasted an innovative technique in which
2714-744: The part of Palisades would be inevitable. Not only was the Micronauts line affected, but other lines assigned to the factory at the time, such as part of the early The Muppet Show series, suffered though not as heavily. Adding to the strain was slow shipment due to the U.S. dock workers ' union dispute and lockout in October 2002. Already over-budget Palisades quickly addressed the poor quality but had few resorts and only one employee to handle it. The company could only replace badly damaged returned toys with other poor quality product which, according to Wilkinson, "might have been their worst mistake from
2773-453: The popular punk band Fall Out Boy became available in early 2009. During the recording of their fifth album, Folie à Deux , each band member made special recordings for the production of these plush dolls. Other film/television projects previously produced include: Tomb Raider , The Chronicles of Riddick , Charmed , Transformers , and Aliens . Late in 2009 SOTA embarked upon a quest to produce 4 prototype action figures that would star in
2832-405: The rest, and instead, kept most of the money while farming out the production to another facility to develop the toys for a fraction of the cost and with no quality control . The middleman never received the rest of its money and vanished when pursued by Palisades. With numerous errors and mispackaged and defective parts, employees were appalled at the result, but at this stage, financial losses on
2891-511: The selectivity of the company's products, however, this range of retailers would eventually narrow to a select few and play a significant part in Palisades' floundering success. On August 1, 2005, Palisades began a partnership with Blister Direct that made them the exclusive distributor of Palisades merchandise in Japan . On September 18, Diamond Comics Distributors became Palisades' sole distributor of North America . While generally praised by
2950-429: The toy community, Palisades' uncompromising devotion to adult collectors proved financially cumbersome. Many products laid within a narrow niche market of passionate fans or were simply unusual in scale or design; an example would be Mega Meatwad , a 5½" tall, non-articulated figure of the simple, limbless character. Yet comprehensive quality and large supply were being exerted on such selective merchandise. Despite such
3009-399: The transaction. Aside from Sesame Street , the sudden disestablishment of Palisades had left several other planned products left unreleased. Those who bought the first series of Aqua Teen Hunger Force figures, for example, would not be able to complete their set with the second series intended for a February 2006 release. SOTA Toys SOTA Toys , or State Of The Art Toys , is
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#17327725412323068-521: The writers room in April 2016. The release date was originally scheduled for October 2020, before it was pushed for June 2021. In 2019, Dean DeBlois was attached as the writer and director of the film, but the film was pulled from the release schedule in November 2020. In 1998, AGE, Annex Entertainment, Gribouille and Kaleidoscope Media Group planned to produce a Micronauts animated series starting with
3127-444: Was Street Fighter Preview , a sort of teaser line for the then-upcoming Revolution line. Featuring Ryu, Ken, Akuma, and Dan Hibiki , differently-colored variants were available, in limited quantity. SOTA produced a line of 10-inch pvc figures featuring details on par with their resin statue lineup. Rotocast figures feature actual fabric for the characters' clothing. Ryu and Sagat were produced for Round 1, both with variants. However
3186-483: Was eventually sold for sale/clearance in North America by Lion Rock Limited under the Micronauts name. Below is a basic overview list of Mego Micronaut toys with size/scale, release dates and Mego series numbers as well as cross-referenced information connected to the Takara equivalent toys they were based on; Microman and otherwise. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all Mego releases/variants but rather
3245-518: Was given the impression that it would have access to the original Micronauts molds and tooling which would reduce production effort. This would not be the case, however, and plans were scaled back as everything would have to be built from scratch. Curiously, Takara would have no part in this Micronauts revival, so Palisades began seeking out vintage samples from fans to help its development. Throughout mid-late 2002, according to former Palisades toy designer Bryan Wilkinson, reports from China on
3304-481: Was in negotiations to produce a film based on the Micronauts property. In March 2013, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick mentioned they were working on a screenplay and the film was on Paramount's list of possible productions. Wernick said that they wrote a couple of drafts with Bad Robot and their script was deviating from the comic, but described the adaptation as "cool and different". The planned project made little progress, though in November 2015, Paramount said that it
3363-497: Was officially moved to Mego's facilities in Hong Kong . While much of the initial Micronaut toyline offerings were simply repackaged versions of Takara Microman equivalents, some items in the Micronaut toyline were original Mego creations that used modified and reconfigured parts from existing Takara toys. For example, the larger, 6.5-inch (17 cm) magnetic action figures Baron Karza and Force Commander were re-colorings of
3422-537: Was still planning a Micronauts film adaptation. That December, Hasbro and Paramount were planning a cinematic universe combining Micronauts with G.I. Joe , Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light , M.A.S.K. and Rom . Several writers such as Michael Chabon , Brian K. Vaughan , Nicole Perlman , Lindsey Beer, Cheo Coker , John Francis Daley , Jonathan Goldstein , Joe Robert Cole , Jeff Pinkner , Nicole Riegel and Geneva Robertson-Dworet joined
3481-414: Was unique in that the line-ups for each round were voted on by fans. SOTA had set up the voting so that popular characters are evenly distributed between the rounds of action figures. By delaying the release of the most popular characters, SOTA had produced more figures over a longer period of time, allowing obscure characters that would never sell on their own to be produced. List of characters produced for
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