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23 comments posted
So, I'm a little bit

So, I'm a little bit confused on this since I've only heard about the Rock Lords and that's it. But are these guys recolors of previous Rock Lords, or their own separate mold?

Dkun's picture
Posted by Dkun on 24 March, 2009 - 15:46
The Jewel Lords are all

The Jewel Lords are all unique molds. I don't think there were any Rock Lord recolors, though there were some shown in prototype form.

The Enthusiast's picture
Posted by The Enthusiast on 24 March, 2009 - 16:11
Theres many variants

Actually, about 50% of the Machine Robo/Rocklord counterparts from Japan are drastically different. Notable differences include: Tombstone's (Japan name: Geigerrock) Machine Robo counterpart has bright red neck and arms, Solitaire's Machine Robo counterpart is almost 100% clear with very little translucent blue parts when compared to the US Jewel lord release, Magmar's Machine Robo counterpart has a lighter green face and purple highlights instead of orange, Sticks N Stones Machine Robo version is solid Black with no "swirl effect" (although one almost exact to the swirled Rocklord version was also released in Japan at some point), Marbles Machine Robo version has dark green limbs and a white "raccoon mask" around his eyes.......theres more as well I just cant think of them all.

Laserion83's picture
Posted by Laserion83 on 12 January, 2014 - 18:11
That's a pretty phat whip

That's a pretty phat whip they're driving in that group picture!

Here's my problem with this guy. If you put this guy in his stone mode,and handed it to me,and said "What is this?" I would NEVER,NEVER guess. It just doesn't look like anything really,I'd probably guess it was part of some other toy. As a robot I guess he's pretty OK. When Go Bots first came out I was all about them for awhile,but they just got kind of lame. Psy-kill (?) was pretty cool,and Scooter,and the limozine dude.

Who's the yellow guy in the bottom picture? He kind of reminds me of a cross between a Ghostbuster,Zartan,and piss.

kidnicky's picture
Posted by kidnicky on 24 March, 2009 - 18:28
Membros

That's Membros, an alien from the Micronauts. That's a Palisades version I believe.

"This must be settled the way nature intended....with a vicious, bloody fight!"
Onyx Blackman
Principal, Flatpoint High

NekroDave's picture
Posted by NekroDave on 24 March, 2009 - 19:05
The Whip

That whip is the Rock Lords Stone Wing, which deserves its own review. It has a fair chunk of gokin; you could bludgeon someone to death with this thing. Nekrodave is right on the money. The micronauts are awesome; check out innerspaceonline.com for more goodness.

The Enthusiast's picture
Posted by The Enthusiast on 24 March, 2009 - 20:59
I'm a little bit younger

I'm a little bit younger than most of you guys,I'm sorry to say I only have a vague idea of who the Micronauts are.

kidnicky's picture
Posted by kidnicky on 24 March, 2009 - 20:05
"I'm a little bit younger

"I'm a little bit younger than most of you guys,I'm sorry to say I only have a vague idea of who the Micronauts are."

Oy vey! We are old! ;)

Great review, keep these coming, man!

--
Sanjeev

Sanjeev's picture
Posted by Sanjeev on 25 March, 2009 - 09:32
I like it though,since on

I like it though,since on every other anime/game related board I feel like the oldest (I'm 29).

kidnicky's picture
Posted by kidnicky on 25 March, 2009 - 10:05
Hahahaha....dude, I'm

Hahahaha....dude, I'm 30!

--
Sanjeev

Sanjeev's picture
Posted by Sanjeev on 25 March, 2009 - 11:55
lol. Well still,I don't

lol. Well still,I don't remember Micronauts.

kidnicky's picture
Posted by kidnicky on 25 March, 2009 - 12:02
Hey, I wouldn't hold it

Hey, I wouldn't hold it against ya. There were SO many amazing toy lines in the 80's, whether inspired by pre-existing Japanese lines or not. Not remembering one particular line, iconic or not, is perfectly understandible.

Hey, I was barely aware of the Outer Space Men, possibly one of the greatest and certainly most influential toy lines in history, before Matt Doughty enlightened me further.

And besides, you sure know your poop when it comes to kaiju flicks!

--
Sanjeev

Sanjeev's picture
Posted by Sanjeev on 25 March, 2009 - 12:15
Oh my god

I had no idea these things existed. I had the colorforms. The designs are in one of those vague corners in my mind of toys I loved. It was the same with my beloved Power Lords, whom I barely remembered and later snatched up to fill the hole in my brain. Thanks for that link!

The Enthusiast's picture
Posted by The Enthusiast on 25 March, 2009 - 14:03
Yeah, first I heard of them

Yeah, first I heard of them was from Keith at one of the Summit's a few years back. He couldn't remember the name but talked about the figures of aliens from different planets. Such a great line and there were also Bullmarks made. The figures should be coming back at some point in some form in the future.

Micronauts were also one of the best toy lines ever. For pure play value, I don't think they can be beat. Anyone who never got to play with Micronauts as a kid really missed out. I wish I could collect those too. :(

"This must be settled the way nature intended....with a vicious, bloody fight!"
Onyx Blackman
Principal, Flatpoint High

NekroDave's picture
Posted by NekroDave on 25 March, 2009 - 14:17
Yeah, I had to throw in the

Yeah, I had to throw in the towel on Microman/Micronauts a few years ago. I had to choose between them and gokin. I still wish somebody could succeed with a 'naut revival, but I don't think the market's there.

The Enthusiast's picture
Posted by The Enthusiast on 25 March, 2009 - 14:24
Micronauts were undoubtedly

Micronauts were undoubtedly hot! Though I never had any, my favorite feature about them was the art on the packaging. Far and away my favorite toy art EVAR.

As for the Outer Space Men, I'm really hoping they re-engineer the figures (without changing the sculpt/style) with modern bendy toy tech and release them in similar packaging to the originals. That would absolutely kill! You guys should check out the official OSM page.

I bought a copy of their graphic novel at the NYCC, where Nekrodave and I met Gary Schaeffer. We got to check out his amazing vintage OSM toys--the Colorforms bendy figures, Bullmark vinyls, prototypes for Matchbox vehicles...EVERYTHING! Gary mentioned the possibility of reissues and I was psyched to hear it! And after reading the comic, I know how serious these guys are...it's quality!

And peep this thread Nekrodave started on the Universal Army Board for more info directly from Gary about reissues of the toys!

--
Sanjeev

Sanjeev's picture
Posted by Sanjeev on 25 March, 2009 - 15:06
Don't even get me started on

Don't even get me started on box art. All the packaging for almost every line was just fantastic back then,Transformers,He-Man,G.I. Joe,MASK,on and on. Both from a graphic design layout standpoint and just because the paintings were so damn awesome.

And it turns out I do have a Micronaut figure,he comes with a Godzilla 1954 rubber suit he can wear. I just forgot what line he was from,since my interest in him is purely as a kaiju fan.

kidnicky's picture
Posted by kidnicky on 25 March, 2009 - 20:39
I posted quick blog earlier,

I posted quick blog earlier, but I'll also mention it here that Ken Kelly, who did the famous artwork for the Micronauts alien figures (as well as some KISS albums and lots of other stuff) was inducted into the Monster Kid Hall of Fame. The work he did for those packages was simply amazing and a huge part of most people's fond memories of the toys. I also got into my first fight in kindergarten over one when a classmate of mine tried to take my card and it tore in two. The figure was already off and I brought just the card to class b/c it was so awesome. I think it was either Membros or Repto, I can't remember.

"This must be settled the way nature intended....with a vicious, bloody fight!"
Onyx Blackman
Principal, Flatpoint High

NekroDave's picture
Posted by NekroDave on 25 March, 2009 - 21:04
Great

These toys are great there so unique and strange. "Lets play with rocks..." Your collection looks great. I went looking for these on e-bay found Flamestone made an offer the dude wanted to much for his pet rock. Nice review.

Larkin

Lizardspock's picture
Posted by Lizardspock on 25 March, 2009 - 20:35
Flamestone

A flamestone review's coming up! I posted a link a few weeks back on tbdx where some joker was selling a plain old rock lord (magmar, the red guy in the group pic) for 150 dollar buy it now. If you're patient, you can find these guys pretty cheap.

The Enthusiast's picture
Posted by The Enthusiast on 25 March, 2009 - 21:14
Rock 'em

Ya, Flamestone is on E-bay $100 I tried to barter a lower price the guy wouldn't budge, at that point just keep the toy I say. Picked up some Go-Bots I used to have as a kid, that got me started. But I'd love to find these Jewel Lords. Going to the Flea Market this weekend. Those places have toys all over and most people don't know anything about them having worth to collectors. Look forward to that review.

Larkin

Lizardspock's picture
Posted by Lizardspock on 26 March, 2009 - 08:17
Yellow Membros

Hi, great reviews, I always thought these were pretty cool and have thought of picking them up.

Yellow Membros is in fact one of the 2002 Palisades remakes. Unfortunately, the first release was marred by a fiasco with a crooked factory, and the toys in this run were made with zero quality control by an unauthorized third party, while the contracted factory took the money and ran. The second and collector's exclusive series turned out easily better overall. Yellow Membros is one of the worst for QC in the line and I'm honestly impressed you have one with both arms intact. I worked on the line (series fan consultant, new accessory and color design, some supplemental CG art) and I have a whole bunch that were broken in-package and only 2 or 3 with both intact arms, and others with even mis-matched parts the factory tried to hide with yellow paint. Truly awful stuff that was painful to everybody concerned.

Handle that one with kid gloves and don't repose its elbows if you can help it...

That said, I had a lot of fun messing around with the parts from broken ones I have (these ones were from loose ones that Palisades either pulled or had returned): http://rockettubes.livejournal.com/89892.html

Sadly, folks in the Micronauts community just found out today the original designer of the Micronaut alien toys and vehicles, Stephen Lee (who also worked on Exo Squad, Matchbox's Parasites, some stuff for early TMNT, and many other toylines), passed away a couple of months ago. Hopefully we can get a tribute site together later (one of our members was a friend who owns a number of interesting concept art and prototype photos from Mr. Lee). The original concept for Membros was way cooler than the final product, and I like to think some of the figures we did (that were not messed up by said factory) helped explore at least part of its potential a little further along the lines that Mr. Lee originally envisioned.

microbry's picture
Posted by microbry on 28 March, 2009 - 01:37
Thanks for your input,

Thanks for your input, Microbry. I am a longtime fan of your blog and work with the Palisades Micronauts. I think you do an admirable job of contextualizing these toys and, gasp, playing with them. I spent a few years as a member of the Micropolis Embassy.

My Palisades Micronauts are either disassembled owing to the o-ring debacle, or are in storage. I understand why things went bad, but it's unfortunate that these toys, which were designed to be played with, have to be left alone.

It was my love of microman/nauts that led me to the Jewel Lords. I think you'll really like them.

The Enthusiast's picture
Posted by The Enthusiast on 28 March, 2009 - 11:58