Tag Archives: Time Traveler

#4074: Emperor & Time Travelers

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

EMPEROR & TIME TRAVELERS

MICRONAUTS REACTION+ FIGURES (SUPER 7)

Well, it was a six month break between reviews last time, but this time around, you only have to wait two weeks for more Micronauts.  Did you want more Micronauts?  I hope so, because I have more Micronauts.  So, there’s gonna be more.  That’s just how it is.  Anyway, let’s just jump right into these guys, and see how they turned out!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Emperor, Time Traveler (Blue), and Time Traveler (Yellow) make up the third series of Super 7’s Micronauts ReAction+ Figures line.  While prior assortments only had two figures, this one is three, as we’ve doubled up on the Time Traveler.  The next assortment is back to two, so I can’t say I quite understand the change, but I shan’t complain.

EMPEROR

“Despite his imposing appearance, Emperor rules over the heroic Micronauts in their battle against Baron Karza and his Acroyear.  His true nature and goals for the Microverse after defeating Karza are known only to himself.  Many speculate whether his aims are for good or evil.”

While the figures in the line up to this point have all been the early bulk of the original line, real flagship figures, this one marks a change up, based instead on the 1980/1981 Magno Emperor, a rather rare piece from the original run, post-Mego, with a much wider release in Italy than in the US.  Palisades also included him in their ill-fated line, but that one may well be rarer than the original.  His bio up there suggests he’s not a villain, something not really pulled from any source I’m aware of, and also seemingly at odds with the back of the package, which gives him the same red background as Karza, rather than the blue used by all the others.  Also, I guess “Emperor” is his name, rather than a title, given the lack of a “the” in front of it?  Guy named Emperor becoming a ruler feels a bit on the nose, but maybe it’s a common name in the Microverse, like Jeff.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  Much like his original release, this figure is the same as Karza and Force Commander from the neck down.  It remains a good sculpt, and I can’t really raise any complaints.  He does get a new head sculpt, which seems like a pretty good rendition of his original look, scaled well to the existing body mold.  He also gets a vinyl cape, which isn’t quite as impressive as the sculpted piece from his original, but still does the job pretty well, especially for the scale.  His color work features vac metallization on the torso and pelvis, which adds a pretty cool bit of pop, and separates him a bit more from Karza’s design.  He’s packed with the same backpack as Karza and Force Commander, as well as a sword.  The sword is neat, but I do miss the distinctive hand guard from the vintage figure.

TIME TRAVELERS

“The Time Travelers can move forward and backward in time.  They see possible futures, and when they detect a threat to the Microverse, they take steps counter that threat.  In their Temple of Time, they sift through clues and formulate strategies.”

The Time Traveler is kind of the signature figure of the original run, so it’s admittedly a little bit surprising that it’s taken until wave 3 to get him, but at the same time, given *everyone* has him, usually in multiples, I suppose it’s okay to hold out a bit.  Super 7 did at least come out swinging, though, with two color variants at once.  He’s also the first of the proper 3 3/4 inch figures from the original run to be transferred over here.  His construction is more like the o-ring Joes that followed the vintage line, than the original.  He lacks the interchangeable hands and feet and associated articulation, but does gain the bicep swivels that have become standard for the style.  He’s also a little bulkier than the original, making him feel generally sturdier, and his head sculpt sports a sharper selection of details.  Like the original release, the Time Traveler has a removable torso plate, with two options available, updates of the “windows” and “log cabin” looks.  They’re not compatible with the originals, but work on the same basic design philosophy.  In terms of coloring, he’s operating on the original translucent and chrome set-up, with both blue and yellow offered here.  I’m partial to the blue, but I dig them both in their own way.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After kind of sleeping on the first two rounds of these, this was the assortment that really got me motivated to jump in right away.  I’ve always wanted an Emperor in some form and I’m a sucker for the Time Traveler.  So, I snagged them from Entertainment Earth as soon as they dropped.  I really like them.  Honestly, I’ve been liking the line ore and more as its moved along, and each further release makes me like the prior ones even more.  While I’ll admit the next wave doesn’t quite excite me as much, I’m still very much excited by the prospect of more.  With a figure like Emperor, I have hope we might see King Atlas or the Green Baron to keep the mold going, and the Time Traveler makes me want to see how a Space Glider might turn out.  All in all, I do really love this set.

#0729: Time Traveler

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

TIME TRAVELER

MICRONAUTS (PALISADES)

TimeTraveler1

Mego’s Micronauts line of the ‘70s was never a super huge hit, and it was definitely overshadowed by the many toys first toylines of the ‘80s, but it does still have something of a cult following. This cult following helped get the line a relaunch in the early 2000s, courtesy of fan-favorite toy company Palisades. Palisades put a lot of effort into bringing Micronauts back. Sadly, the line was cursed with several pretty awful factory issues, causing the final figures to suffer, hurting the sales of what was already a pretty niche line. This came back to bite Palisades pretty hard, leading to the end of their Micronauts line after just two full series, and their eventual bankruptcy. Kind of a bummer. So hey, how ‘bout those figures, though? Let’s have a look at what is perhaps the most iconic of all Micronauts figures, the Time Traveler!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

TimeTraveler2The Time Traveler was part of the first series of Palisades’ Micronauts line. The figure was available in four possible color schemes, two transparent and two opaque. This one is the clear translucent one, which is a pretty direct recreation of one of the original Time Travelers, with just a few minor differences. He’s 3 ¾ inches tall and he has 18 points of articulation, same as his 70s predecessor. Sculpturally, this figure is more or less identical to the original version, but there are a few differences to note. The real differences are on the head, which is a little thinner than the original and features a higher level of detail work. It’s certainly a higher quality sculpt than the original, though I’m not sure I prefer it to the original. It’s in that weird area of being a more modernized sculpt that still possesses many of the style tics of the vintage toy, but without the nostalgic charm. The Time Traveler possesses no actual paint, but his head and all of his chest plates are done in a nice vac-metalized gold. The golden head is actually another change from the vintage figures,
where all of the Time Travelers were silver. While the original Time Traveler figures each only included a single chest plate, chosen at random from the four possible designs, Palisades’ Time Traveler included all TimeTraveler3four of the original plates, as well as two new designs (though, I could only find four of the chest plates when I went to take the pictures!). My personal favorite is the “windows” piece, but they’re all pretty cool. The Time Traveler also included the L-port piece from the original figure, as well as a black display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Palisades’ Micronauts line, amongst other things, was not super easy to find, especially before the introduction of all the online toy buying options we now have. I did end up finding a Time Traveler at an out of the way toy store around the time of release, but it wasn’t this one. Unfortunately, the first series figures were incredibly fragile and he ended up breaking, which was a definite bummer. I ended up getting this guy many years later, courtesy of the Toy Robot Museum, near Allentown, PA. Even with all of the factory issues and the slight changes from the originals, this guy’s a lot of fun, and I’m definitely glad I managed to find one.

#0432: Time Traveler

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

TIME TRAVELER

MICRONAUTS (MEGO)

It might seem odd that I, someone born 15 years after the line’s release, would be such a big fan of Micronauts. Like with so many things, I blame my dad. I used to stay at my grandparents’ house a lot when I was younger, and he pulled out some of his old toys for me to play with while I was there. My interest in superheroes, Star Wars, and Star Trek can pretty much be directly tied to that. However, there was one figure in particular that intrigued me. Only his top remained, but he was translucent yellow and he had this really cool chrome head. He was a Time Traveler, generally considered the signature figure of the Micronauts line. And thus, a monster was born.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Time Traveler actually saw two separate releases in Mego’s Micronauts line. This is one of the ones released in the first series of figures. It’s easy to distinguish: the original releases were all translucent, while the later ones were opaque. The Time Traveler was initially released in four colors: Clear, Yellow, Orange, and Blue. This one is the blue one. The Time Traveler is roughly 3 ¾ inches in height and he features 18 points of articulation. Unlike his space-faring friend, the Time Traveler is all plastic. The Time Traveler was based on Microman’s Microman M10X, although he has shoes in place of the M10X’s bare feet. That’s just how we roll in America, I guess. Like the Space Glider, the sculpt shows its age, but it definitely has a certain charm about it. The Time Traveler is definitely the more simplistic of the two, but his sculpt is still pretty fun. His chrome chest plate is a removable piece, and there were four possible variations of it. This figure has what is commonly called the “radio dial” plate, due to its resemblance of an old-time radio. It’s not my favorite of the possible options, but it’s still pretty good. Plus, chrome, so…you know. The Time Traveler actually features no paint work. His head and chest plate are vac-metalized, and the rest of his parts are molded in the appropriate colors. The figure originally included an L-port which could hook into his back to allow him to be attached to vehicles, but mine doesn’t have this piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the Space Glider, the Time Traveler was purchased from the Antique Depot during Ellicott City’s annual Midnight Madness event. The Space Glider’s my favorite, but the Time Traveler is old faithful when it comes to Micronauts. The figure has a definite style about him and he’s instantly distinctive.