Cyrillic Typewriter (cgfx.us)

Super Microman

M221 Robin 1. September 1975 2. outskirts of Bangui, Central Africa 3. Robin possesses clairvoyance among other psychic abilities, allowing him to perceive things clearly up to 10 kilometers away. On Earth, he is considered even more useful than radar.

M222 Robert 1. September 1975 2. a cavern near Santiago, Chile 3. Robert possesses extraordinary athletic reflexes. He can dodge bullets fired from as close as five meters. His body is sensitive to his surroundings like a radar, and he has never been injured in battle.

M223 Rocky 1. September 1975 2. seabed off Cape Lewin, Australia 3. A scientist specializing in resource investigation and development, Rocky is hot-tempered and when encountering an Acroyear attack, he gets immediately fired up. He removes the rocket from his back, braces it against his chest, and relentlessly fires his Energy Cannon.

Caption: Rocky unleashing a barrage of energy attacks

The M22X trio are actually an upgraded rerelease of the original M20X Super Microman team. The original was made based on the original Microman Zone figure design, and as such lacked the 5mm socket in his back and had the shorter wrist cuffs and no special accessories. The M22X brought them up to the new standard format and added a spring loaded "Hand Bazooka" that doubles as a rocket pack.

Sharing the same head as the original Microman Zone figures and M10X, the initial M20X release seemed to imply they were the same Micromen resurrected in "Super Steel" bodies, but M22X gives them unique identities. This is probably the inspiration though for Jack's resurrection in the manga, though he wound up with the M212 body instead, differentiating him more that way.

There aren't as many strong leads on the name choices that I have found so far, though the "R" and "Ro-" naming seems possibly evocative of "rockets". The movie Rocky wasn't out when these figures released. Robin certainly has a bit of a Robin Hood (or Batman's sidekick) feel. And Robert is such a common name it could reference any number of heroic influences.

That said, and I do admit this is a bit of a stretch again, but if we consider when the Super Micromen came out in relation to M12X, we go from "Mi" to "K/C" to "Ro" : MI-C-RO. Hey, it may be grasping at straws, but it's plausible...

Titan

T401 Sirius (シリウス) 1. January 1976 2. 2. Outer Solar System, within the rings of Saturn. 3. A genius in biology and robot engineering, Sirius remodeled his comrades into cyborg bodies while within the rings of Saturn.

T402 Pegasus (ペガサス) 1. January 1976 2. Outer Solar System, within the rings of Saturn. 3: The magnetic joints connecting Pegasus's limbs, head, and torso allow for completely free disassembly and reassembly, so even an Acroyear's punch is powerless against him. Even more impressive are the magnetic beams Pegasus can fire from every part of his body. When enveloped by these beams, even a Giant Acroyear becomes paralyzed. Pegasus serves as the leader of the magnificent Titans.

T403 Heracles (ヘラクレス) 1. January 1976 2. Outer Solar System, within the rings of Saturn. 3. A geologist who spent his time climbing the mountains of Titan (a moon of Saturn) to conduct surveys. Since arriving on Earth, Heracles has put that knowledge to excellent use, playing a vital role in battles fought in mountainous terrain.

Magne-Condor & DoberMachine 1. January 1976 2. Both were remodeled within the rings of Saturn by the hands of Sirius and Hercules. 3. Both are cyborgs capable of surviving in any environment. Thanks to their magnetic joints, they can disassemble their bodies at will, allowing them to fly and run with the speed of an arrow.

The Titan series marks the start of the integration of the "Magnemo" system into Microman, following up on the success of the Steel Jeeg toys the prior year. The concept was originally developed with the cooperation of Studio Nue and recently early prototype sculpts of the "Magne Robo" were found in the possession of Studio Nue author Haruka Takachiho that had been designed and sculpted by Naoyuki Kato, including the head that would get used by the first Titan figures, which indicates their design actually predates the Jeeg character design by Ken Ishikawa and Go Nagai.

The naming and setting of the Titan line was particularly inspired. The Pioneer mission had just made its flyby of Saturn giving us our first close look at the ringed gas giant and its retinue of moons, especially the aptly named gargatuan moon Titan with its mysterious thick atmosphere. Add to this the renewed interest in Greco-Roman mythology in popular culture and that the Microman series launched with the "tiny titan" byline (originally "chisana kyojin", alternatively translatable as "small giant") it was a bit of timely serendipity that Takara wasted no time getting on board with. Of course Microman would have a presence in Saturn's rings and its moons, especially Titan.

(They also do have a slightly taller stature than the prior Micromen, for what it is worth.)

With this action figure format change, the Titans thus moved on from alliterative names to more random Greco-Roman ones, often also associated with astronomical names as well.

While there are two color variations of Magne-Condor and DoberMachine, and have their individual number designations, they don't seem to have individual names, and their numbers T411, T412, T421, and T422 were not listed in the book. They are among the first animals to manifest in the line (along with the Acroyear Naval Corps), probably inspired by both the Henshin Cyborg Jaguar (and unproduced Condor) as well as the popular transforming cyborg doberman Friender from the Tatsunoko anime Casshern. They also would likely later serve as the inspiration for the 1983 MicroChange Cassette Machines Condor and Jaguar, which went on to become far more famous as rebranded as the Transformers Laserbeak and Ravage.

Titan 2

T431 Deimos (ダイモス) 1. September* 1976 2. On the "Hills of Mars" on Saturn's moon Titan 3. Whenever it is time for battle, Daimos combines with his Racing Car and flies off.

T432 Regulus (レグルス) 1. September* 1976 2. Underground below the Titan Base on Saturn's moon Titan. 3. Known as the "lonely wolf" among the Titans, Regulus is currently researching potential new spaceflight technologies.

T441 Icarus (イカルス) 1. April 1976 2. The "Sea of Silence" on Saturn's moon Titan. 3. Skilled at searching for rare stones and lifeforms, Icarus revived the Titan Commands in the "Valley of Glass."

T442 Achilles (アキレス) 1. April 1976 2.The "Zardos Plain" on Saturn's moon Titan 3. An expert at developing and remodeling machines, Achilles built a UFO that he can combine with himself. He and Icarus are always competing to see whose UFO is faster.

With the second wave of Titans, we move to the moon Titan going forward, with some colorfully themed, dreamed up locations that feel right at home in a space opera. Plus a pop culture reference, no less.

These Titans parts-forming into vehicles are among the earliest expressions of the concepts that would eventually lead to the Diaclone Car Robots that would become the basis for Transformers. The desire to make figures that could take on vehicular forms runs strong throughout the series and stems of course from Henshin Cyborg. In addition, the UFO Titans are clearly a riff/cash-in on UFO Grendizer. Although it still kind of annoys me personally that they frequently use the term for flying objects that are clearly identified! But yes, the UFO craze popularized the term to refer to any saucer-esque spacecraft in the pop culture of the 1970s and beyond.

*Note that the dates don't seem to align between this and the following Titan Commands. This is probably a typographical error or editorial miss. For the most parts these dates correlate directly to the actual retail release dates. Those dates would correctly align things with the discoveries and revivals, and the September date makes no sense. I am preserving these errors though for the sake of accurate provenance.

Titan Command

T451 Jupiter (ジュピター) 1. February 1977 2. The "Valley of Glass" on Saturn's moon Titan. 3: Outside of combat, his primary role is information gathering. When combined with the 2,000-horsepower Gimca, Jupiter can travel at the speed of light!

T452 Poseidon (ポセイドン) 1. February 1977 2. The "Valley of Glass" on Saturn's moon Titan 3. Poseidon is a combat medic. For Command members who have often faced intense battles, Poseidon, who treats injuries, is a true godsend.

T461 Tyros (タイロス) 1. February 1977 2. The "Valley of Glass" on Saturn's moon Titan 3. Tyros protects the base from the Acroyear army by analyzing the information gathered by his comrades.

T462 Hercules (ハーキュリー)

Note: This is rendered as Hākyurī (ハーキュリー) to distinguish it from the earlier Herakuresu (ヘラクレス). 1. February 1977 2. The "Valley of Glass" on Saturn's moon Titan 3. A biologist. In his laboratory, Hercules keeps strange creatures from all over the universe, such as snakes and lizards that eat from their tails and excrete from their mouths.

So as you can see, the February revival of the first Titan Commands makes sense in the overall timeline, but the September revival of their discoverer makes zero sense.

The Titan Command series integrated the first Gimca modular diecast toy cars, a clever cross-over soft launch of a new toyline that would continue on its own to integrate battery motors add-ons and more under that label, even remote control versions. The Titan Magnemo-8 interchangeability with the cars was a logical extension of the Titan 2 race car parts-forming pseudo transformation, but in this case used to help invest kids in a different product line.

The setting for all of the many Titan Command revivals this year were all in crystalline-themed locations on Titan's cloud-covered surface, probably an extension of the "revived from crystals" concept of their predecessors. The Greco-Roman inspired names continue throughout the lineup, with a surprising use of the Roman Hercules, differentiated in spelling and pronunciation from the original Greek-named Heracles in the first trio.

Titan Command

T471 Phaias (ファイアス) 1. March 1977 2. The "Valley of Glass" on Saturn's moon Titan 3. Phaias pssesses an A-class license for piloting. He is always flying around combined with his Gimca. Even the combined Acroyear forces have yet to catch this particular Titan.

T472 Apollos (アポロス) 1. March 1977 2. The "Valley of Glass" on Saturn's moon Titan 3. A scholar of architectural engineering who built the Titan Base. Currently, he is working with John on toward the design of a "Utopia."

T481 Nephthes (ネフテス) 1. March 1977 2. The "Crystal Mountains" on Saturn's moon Titan. 3. Although his physical form resembles that of an aircraft, his intellect remains distinctly Titanian. He voluntarily modified his own body to ensure he could gather information with maximum speed and efficiency.

T482 Alphas (アルファス) 1. March 1977 2. The "Crystal Mountains" on Saturn's moon Titan 3. Like his comrade, Alpha's brain is undeniably Titanian. He is capable of more than just flight; by combining with his partnered Gimca, he can unleash superhuman powers and change into a combat-ready configuration.

The variations continue, including introducing the only non-humanoid Titan Commands, let alone the only Microman characters in the original series to transcend humanoid bodies and become sentient space ships. In some ways this also feels a bit of a presentiment towards the sentient vehicles of the Transformers universe. I personally get a bit of a feeling of Osamu Tezuka's Ambassador Magma (another transforming robot/spaceship precursor), or perhaps even Anne McCaffrey's novel, The Ship Who Sang.

Titan Command

★ The fifth Titan Command unit represents the culmination of Microman science—a Titan fully infused with every ounce of that knowledge to achieve a massive power-up. The Command Squad itself has become incredibly formidable!

T491 Mirax (ミラクス)

Date/Location: 1. September 1977 2. Underground at the "Diamond Hills" on Saturn's moon Titan. 3. Among the Titan Command units, Mirax harbors the most destructive energy of all. Perhaps due to this, he possesses a somewhat reckless streak; he is constantly itching for action, restlessly awaiting the moment for the Acroyers to make their appearance.

T492 Cassius (カシアス)

Date/Location: 1. September 1977 2. Underground at the "Diamond Hills" on Saturn's moon Titan 3. The vanguard captain of the Command unit. His brain is loaded with data on every conceivable form of warfare, and he is particularly adept at coordinating group attacks. He invariably places himself at the very front of the charge, never allowing a single comrade to venture alone into enemy territory. Consequently, the Acroyer forces have made it their primary objective to take down Cassius first.

T493 Eimis (エイミス) 1. September 1977 2. The "Valley of Glass" on Saturn's moon Titan. 3.

Highly proficient in weapon mechanics, Amis is dedicated to the modification and power-up of the various armaments utilized by the Command Squad. Due to the fierce battles waged against the Acroyer Navy, many weapons are frequently destroyed and the constant need for repairs and maintenance leaves Eimis with absolutely no time to rest; so little time, in fact, that he often is grumbling that he can't even spare a moment to maintain his own body!

Caption: Focusing their full body's power into firing the ray cannon!

The final set of Titan Commands are the most impressive of their sub-line, featuring 5mm hand sockets (a feature that would have been welcome on the the more abstract arms of the prior ones), along with an impressive accessory that works as a two handed cannon, a flight pack, or an engine for their Gimca combination modes. While these were the last Titans at the time of the book's publication, they would be followed in 1978 by the final Titan release, the Spaceknight Titan (and accompanying gold and black Space Dober and Condor). While the Titan line was then retired, in the next couple of years the void would be filled by the similarly statured Microman Punch, and MicroBorg in New Microman.