Before the advent of Star Wars and the tidal wave of 3 inch action figures that followed it, figural toys were dominated by Action Man. Then, out of nowhere in 1976, Denys Fisher brought out a unique 10" figure, unlike anything that had come before. With a clear plastic body and visible interior mechanism, the figures limbs could be detached and exchanged with snap on weapons and equipment. As any good line needs a baddie, his nemesis appeared in the form of purple bodied Muton, with detachable arms and a series of three suits to dress the figure as monsters and creatures. Towards the end of the line a second adversary arrived in the lithe form of the deadly black Android. A robotic assassin, the figure had interchangeable limbs and two variant heads, besides a removeable chest rocket pack. Shortly after, Mego released the Micronauts line, with 3 inch versions of similar figures and Cyborg disappeared from the toy horizon.
A fantastic toy range Bill... and equally fantastic photos. I really like them. Robot Android is my favourite. A great posting to read.
ReplyDeleteLovely shots mate. I never knew of the cyborg or indeed micronauts in the seventies. A fascinating line of toys. I wonder where takara got their inspiration from?
ReplyDeleteOne of my all time favourite toys and responsible for me not letting go of toys as i left teenage! Cyborg is actually based on Henshin Cyborgs younger brother! In Japan, Takara had the actionman sized figure and cyborg was the sidekick
ReplyDeleteWhen Micronauts were new in the U.S. the television commercials showed nothing by way of size comparison, so I assumed the would be 8 inch figures like the Mego Superheroes.When I finally saw them in person I was surprised, but still thought they were very cool.The translucence was what really caught my eye.About ten years ago I bought a Henshin Cyborg at a collectibles shop and found it displays well with my childhood Micronauts( still around after 40 years!)I love that Muton Figure,the costumes are a good idea, kind of like Captain Action wouldn't you say?
ReplyDeleteI still have all 3 from my childhood. the android is missing the green rockets. is there anywhere that sells repros? Thanks for sharing these great pics, Paul.
ReplyDeletePossibly Paul, there’s a huge Micronaut and Cyborg fan base. Have a look at Homeworld and the work of Austin Richards, he does beautiful repro work and ther may be some links to Henshin toys there
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