Vintage Mego: Baron Karza and the Magnetic Micronauts

[@chrishight6598]

THAT is why they were out of scale with the regular Micronauts. I have learned so much. Thank you, BH, Roy and Dr. Tongue. What a wild and long life these figures have lead. I had no idea. Great video.

[@ChrisConnolly-Mr.C-Dives-In]

I just have to express true appreciation to Brian for his episode choices, even for how his mind works. This was great to revisit these characters and to learn all this backstory.

[@johnmiic]

I'll tell you, the American design for Baron Karza is better than most people think. I decided to bring Karza to work and display him on my desk for a while & a co-worker really was disturbed by it. Day after day they kept remarking that it was the scariest thing they ever saw and his visage was so frightening only the devil himself could be scarier. After all this unwanted attention I brought Karza home. I was afraid they would complain and the higher-ups would tell me not to put toys on my desk.

[@BrickMantooth]

Wow that person is a little sensitive but it is a nice toy.

[@baronkarza2939]

hehehehe my presence was too much for inferior beings that inhabit the macroverse

[@knuthamsun6106]

😄

[@CB-ke7eq]

Dang yo. You must work with the Baron's sister, Karen Karza?

[@johnmiic]

@@CB-ke7eq

[@loganjorgensen]

That was my first thought seeing them, these are cool, but they don't look much like the Micronauts heh. Some bad blood there, they sure liked to stick the knife in and twist with each other lol. That's really weird about the cool reception over here for super hero versions since they looked sweet, at least Italy got to enjoy them. To be fair even learning this point just a month ago it still surprises me Italy is like a second Japan with toy culture. Another great historical archive video there Mantooth, really great stuff. :D

[@lipranditoys]

The fun part is that here in Italy the Kotetsu Jeeg anime was VERY popular, but we didn't have the Takara magnetic toy. As soon as Gig distributed here Mego's Force Commander, all Italian kids were painting it in Jeeg's colors.

[@francescodarcadia6197]

When they came out from Gig they were an instant hit on kids in italy. The Microman micronauts disappeared soon, after dropped by Gig in favor of this figures. Italy was having a big craze on japanese super robots indeed and they came out at the right time. The first anime ever broadcasted was Grendizer in its french adaption and it was on air on dinner time. I remember seeing the last wave of micronauts, like Ampzilla and the monster figures, as the last of Micronauts. I remember recognizing the steel Jeeg body in these figures and thinking it was a funny thing, but Ialso saw many super robots knock off in shops so I was not that surprised anyway. Steel Jeeg was being broadcasted on small tv channels at that time and is one of the best remembered super robot anime, alongside great mazinger and grendizer. Fond memories... Great video and top information value!

[@BrickMantooth]

really enjoyed you sharing your experiences!

[@TheNightBadger]

I had a magnetic Hulk bought at a market back in the day (the ultimate choice: Spiderman or the Hulk? How cruel life can be!) It's one of the few things I didn't keep hold of, and it turned out to be one of the hardest to replace! I'm still not entirely sure I like the magnetic gimmick...

[@JohnLloydDavis]

I had a Micronauts ship set when I was a youngster and then later on got the Force Commander and Baron Karza too. There's only a few stray pieces of these guys in amongst the old curly lego nowadays.

[@MakerFabio]

I can confirm it was a huge success In Italy. I just purchased karza (60 euro without 1 backpack rocket) and force commander (50 euro without belly missil) i m 3d printing the missing parts. Your video deserves much more views, incredible many persons do not remember their best toys

[@DarkAlex1978]

A very good video. As italian I lived that times, was actually my childhood and Jeeg was HUGE here (well, most of japanese super robots were but Jeeg was among the most beloved 😂). About the horse, yeah it may looks weird as accessory but its appearance in the show makes sense. Basically Jeeg was unable to fly on his own and two set of dedicated modules were already made to compensate. The first set were the pair of drill missiles also present in the toy and the micronauts (but they were bigger in the show): very useful and deadly but Jeeg was forced to detach both forearms to combine and use them. Then they made a very specialized set of limbs able to transform Jeeg into an actual aircraft, far better for flying but in such form he was just an aircraft with all the related limititations and a much more limited arsenal. The horse was the third option, less good for flying but more versatile and without the limitations of the previous tow sets.

[@BrickMantooth]

thanks for the information, I didn't know Jeeg was so adored.

[@waydef71]

I love it and I’m happy to still be the owner of many micronauts to this day.

[@BrickMantooth]

Me as well.

[@tubespore]

This is a lot of fun; had Micronauts & comics; the Emperor reminds of Farscape's Skorpius. love the translucent figures especially.

[@ivane5110]

What an awesome video. So many things here about a part of my childhood that I learned from this. I remember the Micronauts (toys and comics) incredibly well. But I had a love/hate relationship with this property. As a major comic fan back then the Micronauts comic was my first exposure to the Micronauts (in fact that very Captain Universe issue you showed was my first Micronauts comic I owned; giving me the incorrect idea that the good Captain was the hero of the series and the next big superhero that was going to be up there with Spider-Man, Capt. America and the like). And to this day Baron Karza is still, in my opion, one of the best villains Marvel has ever produced. So, when the toyline came on my radar right about the same time, I kept waiting for the heroes and Karza to show up. Once I realized that only some where going to ever be made, I from then on everytime I'd see them on shelves or pegs glare daggers at them. And having Karza and the Force Commander but at an incompatable size (in terms of comic accuracy), it was like a slap in the face. Lol, small as I was, it was the first time I began thinking about the behind the scenes decision-making of toys and companies (another love-hate mindset to this day). But, wow, to find out that the Force Commander and Baron actually predate the comic depitions? And that the magnetic line was a full line based on a Japanese cartoon? Mind. Blown. I love that channels like this, Retroblasting, Analog Toys, Toy Galaxy (I forget their new name) and the like are still able to teach me so much about my childhood favorites even half century or more after the fact.

[@theshakeups]

Thanks for doing a piece on these wonderful toys. I've been adding some to my collection recently, a few vintage and some of the Palisades. Red Falcon is definitely the coolest IMO. Wish some of the translucent versions from Palisades were more heavy duty because they look fantastic. Also have a translucent magnetic Jeeg, which is similarly excellent for display.

[@toytripperv8488]

Wow those GIGI original micronauts are very cool! Very toy-etic

[@BrickMantooth]

yeah you can see how kids would love them.

[@BigBass-xf5yi]

Great Video Brian. You just took me out of my depression for a bit and brought me back to that enchanting time in the late 70s… Micronauts and showgun warriors were my favorite toys ever produced. Along with my tycho nightglo double loop race track. lol.👍🏻

[@brotherkellymatthewbarnes8882]

Membros was the best and most durable Micronaut actionfigure, that I owned, and Acroyer was the most fragile. I also owned Time Travelers four or five of those, a Pharoid , 1 Acroyer II, a green Galactic Warrior, and a Blue Space Glider.

[@kprimm1967]

wish to goodness that they would bring these back, Thank goodness I have a lot of vintage stuff and buy all I can, when I can. Please bring these back.

[@richardwatts4660]

Brilliantly informative video, loved hearing the backstory behind the magno-powered Micronauts figures. Having still got both Baron Karza and Force Commander, I certainly would have liked to have had the other figures on show here, particularly the Emperor and Red Falcon. Interestingly, just as a note, if you look at the Transformers G1 toy Wheeljack the head bears a more than a passing resemblance to Jeeg. Coincidence? Thanks once again, fabulous video.

[@BrickMantooth]

I'll have to check out Wheeljack but they're definitely related.

[@miikdaniels1439]

I absolutely love the imagination and creativity the toys like Micronauts and shogun warriors, just everything from the 70's were so cool! I was 5 in '77, so I was a little young to really enjoy these like I would have if I was older and able to afford to buy some on my own.

[@katenunyabizness9221]

Funny, I just came across my Karza 5 days ago. He's almost complete, just missing his torso missle. Loved the Zee Toys Metal Men line. Major Mercury had that "rocket pack" that was a Space 1999 Eagle's landing gear pod.

[@RedSiegfried]

Wow, as an OG anime fan I knew all about Steel Jeeg but I never connected him to Micronauts before. Fascinating! Thanks!

[@dazatronsdioramallama6370]

I did my first live stream last night - an unboxing of the Takara Steel Jeeg and Panzeroid set from the 90’s. I wake up to see this video in my recommendations 😁 what a fantastic video, one of the best I’ve seen documenting the interesting stories behind these characters. Steel Jeeg is one of my fave designs, I only wish I knew about him when I was a child. Thanks for sharing this 👏

[@HandyDandy4u]

Christmas of 1977 was pretty amazing...Star Wars summer just ended, Close Encounters came out and Micronauts were under the tree. Baron Karza too. At the time, we had no idea the Micro Man story in Japan, and thought Baron Karza and the whole Micronauts line was just some weird, Japanese rendition or interpretation of the Star Wars craze...maybe different so as to avoid copyright laws. But nobody cared...the sci-fi craze was so significant, and the toys were so cool, it all worked. Thanks for the memories

[@FreeLunchFreddy]

Dude were we playmates in neighborhood christmas 1977..that year I got baron karma force commander the two horses not sure if youre family with hornetroid i got bistro giant acroyear and battle cruiser..all that one christmas along with super Joe commander with 1 2 punch and gore and finally I got the shogun warriors..biggest christmas ever..ill never forget that year I thought of posting the christmas video when I got all of that..every kid in the neighborhood came over for a huge battle from morning to dinner I didn't want to eat lol...sorry getting carried away with my 1977 memory..bless u friend

[@johnfronczek2658]

Interesting video, Brian. I knew that cowboys and the Wild West were big in Europe, but now I know about the European success of Micronauts.

[@munchgo]

Well done on this Micronauts vlog! Makes me appreciate my Collection even more!

[@BrickMantooth]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@LogicBlaster]

Excellent video! I still have my original Baron Karza and Andromeda from my childhood collection. I also have two of the Palisades versions, red and clear. I also have the green variant version of Red Falcon from that line. Love the magno figures!👍

[@BrickMantooth]

Very cool!

[@JonathanFarr]

My parents got me The Emperor and Megas for Christmas in the early-80s. The place of purchase? Child World in NJ. The packaging was clearly labeled as Micronauts. I loved those toys. Thank you for making this video!

[@cypherian2]

Sorry I'm a little late to this party! I had the Force Commander and a few other figures from this line when I was six or seven. It was a fantastic line and I still remember fondly!

[@RocketBlastPodcast]

These look great, excited to get to see even more detailed info on these Micronauts. They were just a bit before my time, so I’d never gotten to fully embrace all these wild facets that went into the property!

[@handsome_head_injury6011]

I had the Inter-changeables Lord Meto and got so much play out of it. The spring-loaded parts started to become finicky, the knee and elbow joints became loose, and the metallic finish started to lose its luster. Such a great toy.

[@evanlindsey1100]

While I was unlucky in general in regards to Palisades' Micronauts revival, I did luck into an olive drab alt coloration Red Falcon from an online toy store's clearance sale. I must admit that the engineering on the toy is amazing.

[@lazer-ape]

everything about these guys really was brilliant from their very inception. the very thought of a magnetic figure is something I never get tired of. if ever you have the money to burn I'd suggest you look into mega bloks' Mag Warriors and Magnetic Marvel Heroes figures from the mid 2000's. They're built in much the same way and even the designs of their vehicles evokes some Micronauts imagery. thanks for the great video.

[@roosternm6830]

I had the black figure. I got it in an almost fantasy situation. It was summer of 1978. My dad, grandparents and my aunt and uncle drove out to New Mexico so I could see my mom and my half brother for the first time in over 4 years. The black magnetic figure is one of the birthday gifts my mom gave me that day. I loved it. No telling what happened to him. I moved to New Mexico 7 years later and my toys got pi ked through by one of my little cousins.

[@jaycon3460]

Love the info, can I suggest going into more detail during your reviews of the new Mego figures… more about the cloth, cape material, articulation etc…

[@BrickMantooth]

Yeah I'll try and go a l'il more indepth.

[@MadisonCarter]

These were "my" Micronauts as a child. Got them around the time I was three, maybe four.

[@miked4377]

i had baron karza back in 79.....bought him at the mall....love those days...

[@Pantechnicon]

I had Karza when I was 8. He was probably my favorite Micronaut. Years later when my kids saw Toy Story 2, their little minds were blown when I showed them how the design of Emperor Zurg owed far less to Darth Vader (as they initially assumed) than it did to this obscure Baron Karza toy that no one but their dad had ever seemed to know anything about.

[@Polygonlin]

Dude, i LOVE Doctor Tongue! he sold me some of the Mattel Mad Scientist Monster Molds a number of years ago on Etsy. i had been looking for them for a Decent non insane price, and he sold them to me for like $10 Each BRAND NEW! being that the Mad Scientist line is a DEAR Memory to me from being a kid, it meant a lot to me that he sold them to me for so cheap.

[@BrickMantooth]

Yeah, Mark rules, he was more than fair with my purchases.

[@ThrashinYorkie]

Thank you for this mini-history about these toys. I had a large collection of these and preferred them over the SW

[@Chapwiththewings5roundsrapid]

You and I are clearly of a similar age but I have no recollection of micronauts at all in the UK, perhaps they were not that widely available over here.

[@andrewtaylor940]

I clearly remember that we got Baron Karza either with or slightly after the first wave. Force Commander was the following release wave along with some of the new characters like Pharoid.

[@rickytoddbotelho9555]

I always knew baron Karza was the inspiration for Darth Vader. George must have had delusions of this character. Because it was a huge hit👍

[@3dartistguy]

Jack Kirby claimed that dr doom was an inspiration for darth vader.

[@ChrisConnolly-Mr.C-Dives-In]

@@3dartistguy I find it interesting that Lucas has not commented in interviews about any possible Marvel influence. But even if they are only similarities, Vader was built with a lot of similarities to Doom.

[@3dartistguy]

@@ChrisConnolly-Mr.C-Dives-In Lucas would never admit it

[@ChrisConnolly-Mr.C-Dives-In]

@@3dartistguy exactly.

[@RetroRobotRadio]

Mego had seen Vader and Storm Trooper mockup dolls before Star Wars came out when they turned down the toy license. This was shortly before they made Karza and Force Commander. So they may have had some influence on Mego design.

[@toyfreaks]

OMG I had Baran Karza and the horse, but I lost the horse head, so he was permanently a centaur.

[@garyshaller8294]

Fantastic stuff! Thanks again!!

[@mickeythompson9537]

Great video, thank you! The Baron looks quite handsome under that mask ;-)

[@MasterJediDude]

Great video, as always!

[@BrickMantooth]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@alexshadowfax1119]

Just found your channel, a lot of videos to watch lol my childhood was the 90's but im super interested in the 60's-80's as well. Can you tell me what your channel name is referencing? Its such an unusual name that it has to mean something. Thanks for the toy videos!

[@jerseyhurricane9085]

Wow ! Great video Brian ! Thanks !

[@albertomorales9493]

Awesome video! Thank you

[@vegassims7]

Totally had the Baron and the horse.. it was so cool, heavy, metal and interchangeable.

[@brotherkellymatthewbarnes8882]

King Atlas reminds me of The Rocketeer 🎉

[@warriorontheedgeoftime4224]

I still have both my original Airfix Baron Karza and Force Commander figures from childhood. I keep them on display along with my original Dinky and Corgi vehicles...

[@eltenda]

I had a few of those back in italy ...true beauties

[@JomasterTheSecond]

Red Falcon is utterly stellar, truly one of my holy grails.

[@hcanderson3787]

Great vid, thanks!

[@DCMarvelMultiverse]

I am too young to have had these. But I wish I did.

[@bigjimschannelMiguelAngel]

Me encanta esta línea. Tengo el Barón Karza. Genial el video 👍👍👍👍

[@kingbolo4579]

Now that's really interesting. It didn't occur to me that the Force Commander and the Baron were out of scale with the other figures - one of the things I loved about the Micronauts toys was how *strange* they were, and the appearance of these different kind of figures was part of that. Anyway, the Biotron was even bigger.

[@kingbolo4579]

While I exercise my nostalgia - I had the Force Commander and his horse, the Hydrocopter, Microton and the Hydra. But I really wanted a Biotron and a pharoid as I found them just so weird and mysterious. It was never to be, though.

[@kingbolo4579]

I also had the Cyborg and Muton toys and never spotted that they were kind of the same thing. I loved my Muton!

[@gmee123]

I would love it if they re-released this whole micronaughts line.

[@parkpunk2]

I would set up my Star Wars figures on the slate floor of our foyer entry. I would then lay down on the other side of the room with both magnetic Micronauts and shoot at the Star Wars figures like a shooting gallery. Spent hours doing this!

[@salvessen6100]

Fantastic video, thank you.

[@donaldwiller9238]

Great information 👍

[@BrickMantooth]

Glad you liked it

[@tntsk868]

Awesome designs.

[@robertsimpson9403]

I never saw these, but did have over 150 different micronauts, between me and 2 other friends we had everything that we were able to get. I wonder today what happened to the massive collection

[@jt976evl]

Great episode! You did Isaac dirty, though!

[@BrickMantooth]

He's fine.

[@VgnRaj]

Force Commander versus Isaac Washington? That was cold. No Bud Light for you!

[@LesterSpence]

i was wondering if anyone else caught it. Isaac?!?!?!? I didn't even know Love Boat action figures existed!!!

[@tmthor]

Are you sure the later magnos were not available in the states. I had a friend that had the emperor figure as well as baron karza and force commander he purchased it at a child world this was the summer after empire came out so would have been way before the interchangeables came out by

[@richconroy5559]

One of the few of my toys I had growing up that I regret selling.

[@ActionFigureAtorium]

Is there a patent on these magnetic jointed toys? I have some Mag Warriors that Megabloks did and they have a huge fun factor. Same technology. Later they did Halo magnetic figures. Also recommended.

[@BrickMantooth]

I remember seeing those!

[@djsquibby]

Watching your cool video and the memories come flooding back... I had the small Micronaut toys, alas I never had the magnetic range, loved them, my friends had them... Recently I purchased two characters from the Star Wars Black Series, Dark Trooper and Imperial Rocket Trooper... In my childes mind these two look very familiar regarding Baron Karza and Force Commander, have a look and you'll see what I mean ;)_~

[@Laguna2013]

I have a complete Emperor in box for sale on eBay now and a Baran Karza. I loved these but it is time to let some things go/ These were absolutely the best so solid and well made and the design of Karza his head and face pure evil

[@kingerikthegreatest.ofall.7860]

I had Megas

[@Richie883]

Very nice.

[@BrickMantooth]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@3dartistguy]

I had baron karza and his horse and force commander and his horse.

[@brotherkellymatthewbarnes8882]

Congratulations on 9 Issues 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@rolandoflores2886]

I never had any figures of this line. I had some of the 3.75 Micronaughts

[@bobbyhulll8737]

I loved Micronauts toys and I could never appreciate Star Wars figures after playing with these .. so we used the Starwars and Adventure people vehicles and it was perfect until small GI Joe came out to added to the fun

[@alexnejako777]

i only saw Baron Karza once and the magnets worked . nobody had Force Commander. but theure both in the Micronauts comic. including theor centaur forms. thankfully the comic story is not just the white armored guy bs Baron Karza the whole series. Karza is the big bad and often defeated all of the good guys. and had the Aliens (the Micronauts aliens( helping him.

[@pertuk]

I only ever had Oberon!

[@kawada1]

You done Isaac dirty.

[@BrickMantooth]

Isaac is awesome.

[@KONEY.INDUSTRIAL]

I've got them all therefore my life makes sense :)

[@wolfgangrecordings]

jeeg!

[@baronkarza2939]

ey thats me

[@sarcastanaut]

Micronauts rule.

[@BrickMantooth]

agreed.

[@yorgdridgeblern3550]

I had Baron Karza. I thought he was a ripoff of Darth Vader. I didn't care. I thought it was so cool. Do I still have it? Heck no. I done blowed that thing up when I turned 12!

[@majinga_z1474]

Baron karza is a bootleg of jeeg

[@BrickMantooth]

So I'm told.

[@GamertagTOWELLIE]

@@BrickMantooth I have two Baron Karzas. One says takara on the molding and one says mego

[@johnalucard7860]

Would so love to start collecting these.had a few as a kid.