1977 Microman Surveyor Series

Microman Command Surveyor 3 (c.1977) 

Package

Surveyor 3 came in large blue box.

"Surveyor 3! Separate"

Surveyor 3 can be separated into three sections - two scout vehicles, research vehicle and tower vehicle.  The research vehicle had wind-up motor unit.

The tower section feature elevator seat that can move up and down via small crank.  The wings can launch yellow dart missiles similar to Transfer Fortress.

Instruction Sheet

Surveyor 3 came with full-color fold out sheet that provided story and vehicle specs.  (The actual instruction was printed on the box lid)

Microman Command Surveyor 3

Takara released Microman Surveyor 3 in 1977 as the third vehicle in the Surveyor series.   The Surveyors were design as Microman ground mobile bases.  Takara released a total of three Surveyor vehicles - Surveyor 1, Surveyor 2 and Surveyor 3.   Surveyor 1 was the smallest of the three, while Surveyor 2 was the mid-size and Surveyor 3 was the largest.

Surveyor vehicles utilized 5mm core blocks as the basis for the vehicles.  Each parts of Surveyor vehicles were design to be interchangeable via the 5mm system.  The core block itself was also fully motorized and require batteries to operate.

Surveyor 3 was amphibian ground and sea base vehicle.  The front section consisted of cockpit area while the middle section contain the tower and the rear carry two capsule shape vehicles mount on swivel arms.  The vehicle featured beautiful green canopies, and clear green tower section.

Surveyor 3 was the largest of the three Surveyors.  The toy had many features, such as extendible claw arms, elevator seat, missiles launchers, two scout vehicles mounted on rotating platform with swivel arms and the toy was also fully motorized. 

Two of the Surveyors basic design became Micronauts toys - Star Searcher was based on Surveyor 1 and Star Defender was based on Surveyor 3.

Here is the rear section of Surveyor 3.   The back had the on/off switch for the motor.  The back house two arms with two small capsule vehicle mount on them.   The design of Surveyor 3 was based on the look of a battleship.