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MGA-03 |
| MAGNEACROYEAR
METIS MICROMAN
2005 MAGNEFORCE SERIES |
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MICROMAN
2005
RELEASE
DATE : 5/??/05
RETAIL
PRICE : 1,575 Yen
Microman
Magne Force were sold in half-size blister card. (About the same size as
Microman Military Force packaging)
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OF
MAGNEMO and TITANS
Magnemo
is the term coined by TAKARA for their magnetic ball joint
system. The very first toys to use this ingenious design was
Kotetsu Geeg series in 1975 (TAKARA first true licensed property
toys, prior to this, aside from the Henshin Cyborg costumes,
TAKARA only produced their own in house design for their toys
lines). There were two scales or sizes for the Magnemo series -
the smaller 8-size and the larger 11-size. (The numbers denoted
the size of the metal balls). TAKARA also combined the Magnemo-8
style with Microman series and resulted in the first
"Microman Magnemo" line called the Titans. (Thus the
Titans belong to both Magnemo and Microman category).
After Geag, TAKARA continued the Magnemo line with Gakeen and
then Baratak. But the Magnemo series lost its popularity by late
1970's and TAKARA eventually canceled Microman Magnemo series
(the Titans) in 1979. TAKARA attempted to revive Magnemo line
with Machine Sourer and Death Cross in early 1980's but the
series never catch on. When Mego licensed Microman in 1977,
Magnemo-11 Geag was used as basis for Micronauts
"Magno" series. It was not until 1999, that TAKARA
brought back the Magnemo toys with Microman Magne Power series.
Titan
T401 Hercules (c.1975)
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Microman
2005 Magne Force was clearly a homage to this
short live Microman spin-off series from 1978
called Space Traveler Timanic. The Timanic
featured 7" tall Microman-like figure with
magnet light-up gimmick that was used in
Microman Police Keeper line. Timanic series only
lasted about a year (1978-79) and consisted of
only a handful of figures and vehicles. (See
also Micro Heritage :
Timanic)
Red
Timanic 1 (c.1978) |
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MGA-03
Magne Metis
Equip
with "Slide Slasher" and Ares Armor. His twin
swords and armor make him thirst for battles. Metis
seeks only his own gain and prefer solo action. He
became stronger when faces with superior opponents.
While
the Magne Force figure use the 2005 Magnemo Body, their
design is actually based on the old TAKARA Timanic
series. (See below). Both
Microman and Acroyears Magne Force are very similar in
appearances, this is because the Magne Acroyears, at one time, were
part of Microman Magne Force team. Phobos, Atlas and
Mentis betrayed M.I.C.R and joined Acroyear
Emperor.
Metis'
Side Slasher
"3mm
to Magnemo-8" connectors
in
matching orange color
Instead
of the the standard 2004 figure stand, each Magne Force
figure came with matching color stand with metal core
for used with the figure magnetic feet. While these
figures can stand pretty well on their own, they are
still very top heavy with the magnet block in their chest
and metal balls, so the metal lining stand was really a
welcome added bonus.
Like
the other Force Series, Magne- Force figure came with
extra hands. Microman come with white hand while the
Acroyears come with black.
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MICROMAN
MAGNE FORCE STORY
(as
translated from Infomercial Vol.05 by Tomoyoshi Araki)
AD
2007, International Organization M.I.C.R. created next generation
of Microman. Although, Micro Final War ended over two years ago,
the terror of M.L.T. (Micro Living Thing = Acroyear X) still fresh
on everyone minds, so the UN (United Nations) feels there is
possibility of M.L.T again resurfaced with Unknown Accident
(Unexplainable Incident). UN ordered M.I.C.R. to develop a New
Concept Microman (NCM). Previously Microman has been constructed
as "Living Being with Machine Enchantments", the NCM
project however took the Microman in opposite direction. The new
Microman is now made as "Machine enchanted with Micro Living
Cells". They named these new Microman the "Magne
Force"
Magne
Force, being a New Concept Microman, has full Mechanical
Body constructs around five Hyper Magnet called "Magne
Ball" and used the new management system - "Magne Ball
Joint System" or MBJS. With this system, the New Concept
Microman Magne Force will have great possibility since they will
be able to easily Transform, perform Mode Change with ease.
One
day a new Acro Virus incident occurred in Peru. The Magne Force
were send out on their first mission to gather information on this
incident and remove Acro Virus. However, the unimaginable
took place instead. The 1st Squad of Magne Force which consisted
of three Prototype unit - Phobos, Atlas and Metis somehow became
infected by the new Unknown Acro Virus and they attacked their
partner Achilles. The other two remaining Magne Force
members, Theseus and Icarus who were on stand by, witnessed three
beams of light shot up into the sky. Those were the renegade Magne
Force members.
"EMERGENCY!
We have new mission. CAPTURE or DESTROY the THREE INFECTED MICROMAN!"
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MICROMAN
2005 TAKARA
released Magne Force Microman in the spring of 2005 and marked the first
series of Microman for the 2005 Series. The Magne Force consisted of a total of six figures - three Magne Microman (MGM) and three Magne
Acroyears (MGA). TAKARA split the release into two waves with the first
wave comprised of MGM-01 Achilles, MGA-01 Phobos and MGA-02 Atlas and
the second wave comprised of MGM-02 Theseus, MGM-03 Icurus and MGA-03
Metis. RETURN
OF MAGNEMO-8
The
Magne Force series marks the return of Magnemo toys once more to
Microman series. However instead of using the Titan name (vintage series
name for Microman Magnemo-8 series), the new series uses the
"Magne" name from 1999 Magne Power line. TAKARA has done
a remarkable job at combining the Magnemo feature with the Full Action
Body style of Microman Force series. Unlike 1999 Magne Power Titans
which used only Magnemo-11, the 2005 Magnemo body uses both the smaller
vintage Titan Magnemo-8 and the larger Magnemo-11 for the joints. The Magnemo-8 balls
are
used for arms and legs and a single Magnemo-11 ball is used for the core waist.
This design is just simply amazing with the two halves of the figure
combine around the single core loose metal ball. The usage of both
Magnemo-11 and Magnemo-8 allows for some very cool Interchangeables
with the older Microman Magnemo toys. The Magnemo body usually
gives the Titan figures
some great articulations but by combining with the Full Action Body style
these figures can do some pretty interesting poses. The shoulder joints
even have the same double joints design as the standard Microman Full
Action Body.
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OR
IS IT RETURN OF TIMANIC?
However,
while the Magne Force uses the Magnemo-8 for limbs like the old vintage
Microman Titan series, the body design resembles very little of the old
Titans. Instead the Magne Force body actually is a homage to another Microman
spin-off series from 1978 called "The Space Traveler Timanic". The Magne Force
body is build around the chromed "skeleton" frame with clear
chest and each comes with armor pieces that can be attached to the body.
In fact MGM-01 Achilles color scheme clearly resembled that of Red
Timanic 1 figure which had the same red armors and even the same clear orange
parts.
Magne Force also adds for the first time the "light pipe" or
"light port" feature to Microman line. The
"light port" feature is heavily used in the Transformers toys
whereby the head has added clear plastic part that formed the eyes and
allows light to shine thru and give the figure the glowing eyes effect. The
"light port" also help gives these Magne Microman a more
colorful design heads, instead of the usual bland all chrome looks.
Also like the
late Magne Powers Microman and the old Punch Microman, Magne Force
figure has magnetic feet that allow them to stick to metal surface.
Acroyear
Magne Odyssey
MICROMAN
TITAN SUCCESSOR
Magne
Force figures are simply some of the best Microman TAKARA put out for
the new 200X series. Each Magne Force figure has strong magnetic
joints with nice tight standard joints. The armors fit well to the
figure with little or no problem. TAKARA seem to have greatly
improve the 3mm connections on the new series. While the skinny skeleton
body frame might appeared to be fragile, the figure is actually very
well constructed and very sturdy. Magne Force 2005 Magnemo body
also contains many 3mm ports and allows for more fun interchangeable
with the other Force series. Each Magne Force comes with several
chrome accessories parts and 3mm to Magnemo-8 connector parts that when
combined with the parts from other figures from the same team allowed a
Magne Microman to transform into Magne Griffon Mode and a Magne Acroyear
into Magne Odyssey. The Griffon and the Odyssey are reminiscence
of the old Titan Space Knight jet mode. These parts also double as
"weapons" for the Magne Force figures, though this was a bit
of a stretch and the only weak part of this otherwise excellent series.
ACROYEAR
METIS
Magne-Acroyear
Metis is the third member of the Acroyear side. The name Metis is also
from Greek-Roman Mythology (and also name for many celestial objects)
which is in keeping with the old Microman Titan series naming
convention. Metis is actually a goddess in Greek Mythology, but TAKARA
never make quite clear if Acro Metis suppose to be female. (I thought that Metis is female from the
promotion picture). Metis has
yellow armor with amber inner body and is probably the best looking of
the Magne Force figures.
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