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Takara Microman Prototypes and Customs Page
Prototypes
(all B&W pics are From the Romando Microman Anaylsis Book) Prototype sketches of the M110 and M120 figures. Fortunately they lost the Getta-Robo like masks, otherwise it might be easy to mistake them for Acroyears.
Prototype Sketch of the original Takara Acroyear (US Acroyear II). Note the different shoulders and the extra chest detail.
A much later abandoned design for a Police Keeper figure. Reminds me a little of Desslar from Yamato (Desslock in StarBlazers).
An abandoned design for Robotman 2 and/or Machine Z. The base with centipede-like "legs" could either attach to the robot torso or connect to Escargot-like (Gyrotron-like) parts to make a ball-like vehicle. This is where the big disc-like wheels on Machine Z come from, as well as the basic base vehicle shape, minus the many "legs".
An early design for the Mobile Base/Battle Cruiser. Note the Surveyor 3-like (Star Defender-like) tower on it, linking its design to the M115 Conning Tower Base design (Mobile Exploration Lab). While the tower was scrapped, or reused later in conceiving the Surveyor 3, it was flush with the cockpit of the front vehicle, which still retains a flat top to its canopy from this design.
Speaking of Surveyor 3 (Star Defender), here is a very early design prototype for it, with a lage attenna dish on top and a large tank of some sort mounted on the back instead of the Solarion-like vehicle on the final design (Mego updated the Solarion design and Taurion design from the Takara ones on Surveyor 3, which were more rounded and stubby-looking). Also missing are the two cannons on the side of the tower.
So close! Here is an actual pic of the unreleased Hoodman Yamato-like space battleship, RCB-Noah! This vehicle could seat several Hoodman figures (I assume not the regular Microman ones, though), and was fully remote-controlled with a wireless control! If it was released, it would have sold for 6000 yen, the highest retail price ever commanded by a Microman toy. Unfortunately, the toy was never released. This toy is in my opinion the TRUE holy grail of Microman toys, should someone find the prototype pictured here!
Customs
These are repainted and kitbashed New Microman toys. Takara did this campaign to encourage older fans to buy the toys so they could soup them up like model kits, and was probably influenced by the sucess of Microman licensed model kits from Nitto and later led to the development of the concept of the Real Microman Biosuits (note the flesh-painted face on the Rescue figure). That MR7 sure looks like it got mixed with a Dougram kit...
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This bottom pic contains the kitbashed toy that Felix noticed was inspered by H.R. Giger's Alien. Note the New Acroyear with the long barrelled cannon in the dioramas, too. While the cannon is added (and cool!), the Starship Trooper alien-like or crab-like configuration the New Acroyears are in in these two dioramas are an actual feature of the real toy. I'd really like to grab one of these guys someday...