RS-04

Spartan Form

MICROMAN 2005 ROAD FORCE

TAKARA released Microman Road Force Series in summer of 2005. Road Force Road Spartan line is the second Microman and vehicle set to be released by TAKARA for the Force Series. Each Road Spartan toy come with Roadmobile Road Spartan vehicle and Microman Road Force figure. There are total of four sets in Road Spartan line - RS-01 Mach Slugger with Microman Kaito, RS-02 Ride Python with Microman Ryu, RS-03 Delta Phantom with Microman Thunder and RS-04 Side Caliber with Microlady Ray. RS-04 is the only female member of the Road Force team.

ROAD-MOBILE VEHICLES

Road Spartan Road Force is a series of futuristic motorcycles pack together with Microman riders. Each bike was design of course to match its Microman Road Force rider. Since the days of Microman Zone, Microman line have always been known for its vehicle playset that interact with its action figures, so the idea of Microman and vehicle set is always a welcome one for Microman collectors especially in these recent periods where vehicle toys for action-figures are very far and few in between.  Road Spartan series, unlike the recent Biomachine series, use different approach for the design. Instead of the all chromed, hyper details with small and often fragile decorative pieces of Biomachine line, Road Spartan use solid and steady construction with colors and painted plastics solid unit accent with large piece of chrome sections. The results are very nice, and playable toys instead of just being pretty display pieces. The series definitely has more of the toys feel than most of the recent Microman Force line-up. 

RS-04 SIDE CALIBER

Side Caliber is orange and chrome futuristic bike with side-car. What nice about this bike is the fact that the side-car is fully functional and you can easily put in another Road Force figure as passenger. Most toy bike with side-car are usually non-functioning and only for show only so it is nice to see Side Caliber one really work. The bike itself is separate into two pieces, the main bike and the side-car part. They are connected by simple peg and groove but held together pretty good. The wheels do not have real rubber tires but are nicely done using separate pieces and give nice illusion of real tires. The figure fit on the bike easily but might need some fiddling to get the right pose. The wheels on these Road Spartan also spin freely and smooth and a joy to roll around on hard surface. A very solid construction overall and definitely a big change from the Biomachine vehicles.

ROAD FORCE RAY

Road Force Microlady Ray is the rider of Road Caliber and is the only sole female in the group. The female Road Force body, surprisingly, is mostly new sculpt just for this series. Her suit design, while similar to the other three Road Force figures, is the most unique of the team. Ray is mostly orange with white highlight and mostly pink chest. Like other Road Force, the chest section is painted using clear plastic part and by leaving some sections clear give these Road Force figure really nice unique design. On Ray, only small "M" is left in clear across her chest. She has pony-tail hairdo and the face has movable green visor that cover most of her face when in down position. The use of green tint clear part really gives the Road Force figure a very nice splash of color to the usually indistinctive chrome head look. The figure is well made and very sturdy. The only complain is the shoulder armors which tend to pop out of the socket but overall the figure held together well. Like the other Road Force, the figure has an added feet articulations.

Road Spartan Formation

SPARTAN FORM AND ROAD SPARTAN FORMATION!

As with most recent Microman toys, the vehicles have ability to combine with Microman figures and with one another to form large vehicle. For the figures, the bike chrome parts are used to combine with Road Force Microman to give them their Spartan Form with the only exception being Ray and her Side Caliber. For Ray, her Spartan Form is basically sticks her body into the side-car part and used it as body armor for the figure. The design probably look alright on drawing board but in real practice it just doesn't work well and she ends up looking like she is wearing a giant shell. The vehicles can also be combine and form the Road Spartan. The combination is pretty simple but surprisingly effective and form a nice "playable" larger vehicle. The formation is very solid and the entire thing can be rolls around on the floor without fear of its falling apart. Road Spartan Offensive Formation mode is simply Road Force Spartan Form riding on top of Road Spartan. While the Road Spartan Mode does involve a little more than just sticking the four bikes together, you should not expect to get something like Biomachine Bio-suit. That said, Road Spartan is definitely more fun than the static Bio-suits, now only if TAKARA would add pull back motors and spring-loaded firing missiles to these toys.