the last of the cool micro's

[good shot jansen]

now that h'bros horrible foray into the re-release of action fleet is all but complete, i got to thinking, what was the last really satisfying toy that was released under the micro machines toy line?

as for micro machines themselves, i would have to say that episode mm pack XI, the one which contained the republic cruiser was the last (and quite frankly one of the best of all the mm packs ever released), satisfying star wars mm to find. the republic cruiser was presented in mm scale flawlessly. really well produced from color selection to overall detailing.

mm playsets would have to go to the royal starship repair set. a fabulous cross section toy of the rss, complete with a ton of figures including three new droid units (red blue, and gold), not to mention the inclusion of a darth maul on his sith speeder to boot. possibly the last truely value packed item to be released under the mm line.

action fleet, i'd have to say it's a toss up between the alpha naboo fighter, and the non alpha sith infiltrator. both ships come with a ton of "action features (something other than a display stand ), with ovderall detailing and color application handled really nicely. if i was to give a nod to either one, it would have to be the alpha naboo, mainly because the diecast size non-alpha fighter, is the best representation of the bravo one in any of the galoob lines.

die-cast, once again i would have to say it's the infiltrator. a complete reproduction of all the action fleet version into a smaller, very saitisfying to hold and play with, die-cast version.

as the last of these, the alpha naboo, cmae out in 2000, all's i can say, it's amazing that we still show up here on a semi regular basis, as quite frankly there's not been a hell of lot for us to talk about.

sigh, i do miss galoob, and the excitement that used to be a major part of my life when it came to tracking down micro needs.

[britcit3]

Yeah - I agree - the last time that I got a buzz by finding and then opening a set of micro's was when I found the Ep1 MM set 11 with the Rep Cruiser - it is my fave Wars micro.

As for AF's - I love the TIE Defender - it took me ages to bag and it looks cool.

Although Furuta and Romando have released Trek micro style toys, they're not as good as Galoobs offerings - I just didn't get the same sense of exitement opening them as I did when I bagged the MM Collectors set III.

I just wish Art Asylum would actually read posts on their buzz board to see the demand for micro's instead of making those nice but poorly selling figures (to say that the Trek line of figures are peg warmers in the UK appears to be an understatement).

A quick question - we all know that some of the cancelled wave of AF's made it onto Ebay as protos - but did they actually make it to a manufacturing run?
i.e. is there a warehouse in Hong Kong with boxes of these in?

Ta-ta for now.

BC3

[JediTricks]

I rarely think of MMs and sub-line MMs in terms of release dates anymore, they're all great and all a community of toys to me. I really like the Alpha Naboo Fighter and Royal Starship Repair sets, they're stand-out pieces. I'll have to give this more thought.

[SWAFMAN]

I don't have enough experience with them to offer an opinion on regular MMs.

As far as AF vehicles, it sounds like some of the best features in the EP1 & 2 series are ones I don't have as openers. That gives me something to keep trying for. My EP1 & 2 openers are mostly lame, as far as action/play features.

Of the earlier AF issues, I think the play features of the Starship Troopers retrieval ship are some of the best for kids. My boys always used to go straight for that one & always incorporated it into their Star Wars action. I like the features on all 3 Aliens AF, too. Anyone who has appreciated these ships must be sick over the fact that there were such fantastic play sets designed, but never released for the Aliens line.

SWAF-wise, I hate to say it but I can't really think of many truly stand-out action features in the vehicles themselves (of the ones I have open), except for the EP1 droid fighter. Most of the really impressive play action features I've enjoyed in the Star Wars line have been in the play sets. Not counted as an action feature, but still one of my favorite features on any Star Wars AF vehicle, is the paint effects on the Dagobah x-wing.

I know it's a completely unfair comparison, but I just find it hard to get excited about any AF features after seeing the pics of the Code 3 vehicles.

[good shot jansen]

the code 3 x-wing and falcon are indeed amazing in their detail, and overall appearance.

having ponied up, and bought both of em (mainly due to a nasty withdrawl from my mm fix), i absolutely love having both of them as part of my collection.

the problem with the code 3 models, is that they are strictly for displaying only. they are not well suited for play time at all. (hell, at approximately 10 pounds of metal each, it ain't like they're gonna be much fun zoomin' about the house).

i miss micro machines, cause they have always been the main source of childhood plaything fun (at least for boys) in the jansen houeshold.