so what do you think of the licensed Micromen?

[Ben-Ohki]

A little while ago, Microman appeared on shelves in the guise of Ken (or Mark, depending where you live) of Gatchaman. I picked one up just for the sake of having a Ken figure - you just don't see Gatchaman goodies very often, really.
At best, he was a neat little curiosity. Co-workers would wander into my office commenting, "damn, he's a lot more buff than I remember him." I'd fiddle with his pose every now and then minding his penchant for popping apart his ankles or upper arms. But he was never really my favourite toy.

Today, I finally got my hands on the Batman/Batgirl 2-pack. Definitely gonna tear into the packaging to play with them. But I don't know about the fact that it's a cute little Batman. Something doesn't jive. And now I see prototype photos of the Alien? And rumours of an upcoming Predator? I just can't decide if this is getting ridiculous or if this is coolness a long time coming.

Any opinions out there? Should Micromen stick with the old chrome-heads, etc...?

[ayakoholic]

My first MM was actually the Casshern movie action figure, and I *love* it. I ordered the Batman/Batgirl 2-pack through my local comic shop for all of $12, and I'll probably pick up the Catwoman once it's back in stock at Diamond... I like 'em!

[johnnyhaggis]

Gotta say that I think most of the licenced micromans suck. Like yu said they look goofy/cartoony. 90% of why I like microman is the classsical roman emperor style chrome heads. The batmans are awful to me, and the devilman/silene pack is better but the painted fangs are ridiculous. Catwoman is awful. I do like the tv devilman and the green version for some reason.

Even in the master-force I disliked the cartoonier heads (Ryan, Hayate, although I still like those figures)

THeir bodies are great, but there's no thrill in it when it looks like a cartoon.

My custom project is to do material force with african style mask heads.

[hypnotator]

Good thread question, Benohki!
My main gripe about costumes for Micromen and HC is the display aspect. I buy toys primarily to display them, and I like transparent figures, so dressing them up is a bit pointless, unless you buy two so you can display them dressed and undressed, which I certainly can’t be bothered with. The Tatsunoko, Batman and Devilman ones look okay, if you want super-poseable versions of these licensed characters. I personally don’t much and prefer to stick with the transparent ones. I thought the Thunderbirds ones looked the dumbest, and least like Microman. The Godzilla ones look like they’d be great to play with: I’m sure the rubber body over the super articulated armature feels great in the hands. But to display, they are a bit pointless. I’m not really itching even to see pictures of the Alien/Predator ones. I agree with Johnny about the cartoony look of some, and the hairstyles, indeed the whole hair thing is an issue for me. Are they supposed to be robots with fake hair? Or people with silver heads? I like Cyborg PPFM, Microforce Spy and the Prototype Head M11X and M12X because they are hairless. I’m looking forward to Military force, at least the two transparent ones, and Acro Phantom, all because they look robotic.