Author | Lightnews

Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 3d

Absolutely. It’s nuts how ambitious the designs were, for that scale. You know Microman is 4” tall, but if you’ve only seen pictures of these online, it’s hard to actually process.

It’s just really unfortunate that resulted in them being so fragile.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 4d

Yeah, the official name was going to be “Air Attack Predator”.

There was also a “Heavy Infantry Predator” that looks intense. Like frontline soldiers, instead of hunters. It’s a shame.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 4d

Tragically, they had some fantastic figures in the works when the line got canceled. Here’s the female Predator.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 4d

Shinohara explained he even insisted on the exact same katakana spelling used for Lava Planet Predator, when it was suggested they go with something phonetically easier.

With all this in mind, now those mission-specific themes feel like they marched straight out of the 1990’s Kenner toy catalog.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 4d

However, in addition to Desert, Forest, and Night, there was also “Lava Planet”, which seemed like an unusual addition…

Until designer Tamotsu Shinohara gushed about being a huge fan of Kenner’s 1990’s Predator toys (released in Japan by Nomura Toys).

Here’s Lava Planet Predator.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 4d

Part of the 2000’s Microman revival, “Military Force” was a series army builder droids, utilizing a standardized body, with tons of mix and match accessories.

Each figure had an environment or mission specific theme, and they were endlessly customizable.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 4d

Obnoxiously, I actually corrected all of his errors for the translation. Sorry sir, but I’m not writing “Action Man was created by Patorii in 1983”, you’d have to kill me first.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 5d

The internet has always existed in some form or another.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 5d

Meanwhile in anime, this is almost a proud tradition. They just need a couple of beach episodes.

Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 5d

If the thought was to make the series more appealing to Japanese customers, that would be something Takara would take initiative on, and add to the toy line, themselves.

You can see that with Japanese exclusive Transformers, or changing the face for the vintage 12 inch G.I. Joe.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 5d

Barely featuring the toys you’re trying to sell, in order to prioritize a bunch of stuff they can’t buy, is a weird way to promote a toy line.

More telling, little to no changes were made in the text Takara was including with the toys, or to the cartoon which was airing in Japan at the time.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 5d

1980’s memo to Hasbro from Larry Hama, pleading to let him say new figures are just older figures who dress differently now, to lighten his burden on adding new huge numbers of new characters to the comic every twelve issues.

Reproduced from Mark Bellomo's Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe - 2nd Edition

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 6d

I remember David Wise described episodes with that job as “a toy parade”. Everyone just walks onscreen and announces their name, one after another.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 6d

Two issues later, Poochie starts using a specially-made super machine gun bazooka.

The comic only lasted six issues, but somehow felt the need to use several original villains, too.

…Meanwhile in America, Larry Hama was being forced to introduce 20 to 30 new figures and vehicles, every year.

I said I don’t use guns… bazookas are okay though.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 6d

Musashi has big fan fiction main character energy. He can totally beat Snake Eyes in a fight, and he has a tragic backstory leading to him refusing to use a gun.

Instead, he attacks with a sword like such a madman, Cobra troopers would rather throw themselves from a moving train than fight him.

Snake Eyes shouts “Oh!” When Musashi throws a bucket on his head. Turns out that whole “can’t talk” thing is bullshit.

Yes, he is deflecting bullets with the sword, like a Jedi.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 6d

In a stunning example of the lack of oversight Takara used to exercise over fiction, in the 1986 G.I. Joe manga, artist Hisaji Ueda made the baffling decision to make the focus of the comic a completely new main character: “Tate Musashi”.

The rest of the G.I. Joe team basically becomes his backup.

“Tate” is pronounced “tah-tay”, not like the English name that rhymes with “tape”.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 8d

Artistic accuracy is important. That’s why I don’t display Onyx Prime in bipedal OR centaur mode.

Obviously, the correct option is to have the front legs just kind of hang out in front, so you aren’t quite sure what the hell is going on.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 8d

This effect takes place over months, or years, not hours. So you can absolutely still enjoy using blast effects for a fun afternoon, or to take some photos. Just be real careful about what you store them with, and don’t leave them displayed on your figures, long term.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 8d

Since they’re sculpted to look like flames and whatnot, it’s hard to notice melt marks on most of the hard plastic. However, transference onto the soft plastic is VERY clear.

There’s no cleaning this off, it’s part of the plastic now. It’s still translucent, and the pink goes all the way through.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 8d

Most blast effects are soft plastic, but there are a few made of hard plastic. For the sake of science, let’s store some of these together for a few months, and see what happens!

They’re expensive as hell on the secondary market, and we’re totally going to ruin some! Woo!

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 8d

12” figure collectors have experienced this for a very long time, since many vintage figures used soft plastic for heads and accessories.

The 00’s reissues of Henshin Cyborg are notorious for this, with heads fused to necks and melt marks left by accessories touching the figure, in the package.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 8d

“Rubbery” plastic has a chemical plasticizer which keeps it soft and pliable. This plasticizer has an adverse reaction with hard plastic, if left in long-term contact.

In simplest terms, it starts to make the hard plastic “soft” as well, resulting in melt marks at the point of prolonged contact.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 8d

Blast Effects can be a lot of fun, but unfortunately no matter how much I love them, they will never love me back.

Let’s talk about plasticizer migration.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 9d

tfw Target will pay you $15 to add a random Hot Wheels car to your order.

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Necronomitron @necronomitron.bsky.social · 11d

Translating pop culture jokes is exhausting.

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