The Transformers: Micromaster

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Micromaster Collection was a small line of Transformers released by Takara which ran from 2002 to 2003. It consisted entirely of reissues and redecos of molds originally created for Victory, Return of Convoy, and Operation Combination.

Story

The Micromaster Collection story was told through six short prose excerpts, included in the pack-in fliers. Initially believed to be set in a parallel universe, Takara's 2007 Generation 1 timeline established that the storyline explicitly took place in the Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity. Specifically, the story occurs in the early 1980s, prior to the awakening of the Autobots and Decepticons aboard the Ark.

Part 1: A New Transformer Legend Begins!!

Actually just a photo of present-day Tokyo
A group of Autobot Cyberdroids (Cybertronians without the ability to transform) depart Cybertron to search for Optimus Prime and the Matrix of Leadership. Following traces of the Matrix's energy, the Cyberdroids' craft is struck by a mysterious dimensional shockwave that transports their ship across the galaxy, where it crash-lands on 20th century Earth. The shockwave also mutates the Cyberdroids, evolving them into Micromasters with the ability to transform into Earthly vehicles. Alas, this is not the only effect the shockwave has: the minds of some of the Autobots are warped, and they become Decepticons. With their ship damaged beyond repair, the Autobots and Decepticons are left unable to return to, or even contact, Cybertron, and so fighting breaks out between the two groups. While the Decepticons seek to conquer the planet, the Autobots desire only to live peacefully among Earth's humans, and the Liner Team pave the way for harmonious coexistence by blending into human society.


Part 2: Enter the Urban Disaster Relief Specialists!!

"No, you've got it wrong. Red means stop, and green means GMMMPPHH!"
Using a brainwashing device, the Decepticon Micromasters "reverse-evolve" Road Police of the Turbo Team into one of their own. When his team-mates attempt to stop the reverse-evolved Road Police's rampage, they too become infected with the virus, leaving only Sireen untainted. At D-Go's instruction, Sireen and Joe develop a vaccine program to cure the infection, which is then installed within Sireen so that he can spread it to his comrades by combining within them. Convincing his rampaging team-mates to merge with him, Sireen successfully transmits the vaccine to them and restores the Turbo Team to their true Autobot state. As the Autobots celebrate their victory, however, they fail to notice the six shadowy forms watching them in the sunset...


Part 3: Enter the Decepticon Sixwing!!

MY LOVE FOR YOU IS LIKE A TRUCK! BER-ZER-KER!!!!
Stealthily evading the Autobots' security systems, Missile Run of the Decepticons' Wing Team penetrates the Autobot base in order to steal the stasis capsules containing the dormant, hibernating bodies of the other Cyberdroids who have not yet adopted a vehicle form so that they may become Decepticons as well. Caught in the act by the Turbo Team, Missile Run summons the rest of the Wing Team, and with the mission a bust, they combined into Sixwing and begin destroying the Autobot base. As Sixturbo battles valiantly against Sixwing, Sixliner arrives on the scene with a new weapon in hand: a weaponized version of the vaccine program that had previously been used to cure Sixturbo. Sixwing is hit by a blast from his Vaccine Program Gun, and while it briefly appears that he has been transformed back to his true Autobot self, it quickly emerges that this is not the case: Sixwing's power has, in fact, merely been increased even further, and he has become "Berserker Sixwing"!


Part 4: Sixbuilder – Warrior of Misfortune!?

"No! YOU'RE the redeco!"
With the added power of Berserker Sixwing, the Decepticons' attacks on the Autobots become even more fierce, and they succeed in stealing numerous Cyberdroid capsules. During one particular raid, the Autobots are able to force the Decepticon off, but a sextet of capsules receive shocks during the course of the battle, and awaken to become the super-strong, super-skilled Build Team.
Some time after the addition of the Build Team to the Autobot ranks, news reaches the Autobot base of a Decepticon attack on a nearby city. Images of the attackers recorded by humans prove shocking: the villains responsible appear to be the Build Team themselves! Closer examination reveals that the coloration of these Transformers is different to the real Build Team, and the Autobots deduce they are dealing with impostors, although quite what purpose this tactic serves, the Autobots cannot figure out. The Build Team eventually locate their mysterious duplicates with a stakeout strategy, and the two teams merge into their Sixbuilder forms. As the two opponents stare each other down, the Decepticon Sixbuilder reveals that he and his Autobot counterpart are two halves of one being, which was somehow split in two. The Decepticon Sixbuilder vows to destroy all the other Autobots, so that the two Sixbuilders can re-combine into their original form. With this goal in mind, the Decepticon eschews fighting his doppelgänger, leaving the stunned Sixbuilder to merely watch him as he departs.


Part 5: Sixtrain! Activate Red Mode!!

"Quick, Gran Arm, what does it say!?" "There's a number, and then...for a good time, call...Quickstrike...?"
When the Decepticons begin investigating a volcano, the newest addition to the Autobots, Sixtrain, uses his terrifying, Matrix-powered "Red Mode" to send Sixwing packing. Discovering that the Decepticons were attempting to excavate something from beneath the volcano, the Autobots begin digging themselves, and soon discover a hunk of what appears to be a Cybertronian spacecraft's hull and a piece of metal bearing a mysterious symbol. Just as the Autobots realize that this means there must have been Transformers on Earth before, the Decepticons return to claim the treasures they have unearthed. The Train Team merge back into Sixtrain and the battle continues. News of the battle soon reaches the other Autobots back at their base, and they speed to the aid of their comrades, hoping this mysterious "Mount St. Hilary" holds secrets that will help them reach their goals...


Part 6: The Menace of Landcross's Combining Formation!

"Sweet! In this universe, everyone's SMALLER than me!"
The Autobots establish a new headquarters, Metrobase, at the foot of Mount St. Hillary to protect the ruins there, and successfully fend off numerous Decepticon attacks upon the mountain. During one such attack, Joe, Crush-Bull and Convertor unearth a strange pod from the ruins, which emits a mysterious radiation that tears open a rift in space and time. The radiation knocks the Micromasters offline, and they do not see the six shapes which emerge through the tear...
When the Micromasters awaken, all has returned to normal. The Decepticons depart, and the Autobot Micromasters are perturbed by the experience, reminded of the dimensional shockwave that once washed over them Before any further discussion on the topic can be had, alarm systems begin blaring, alerting the heroes to an interloper. The Autobots confront the invader, who deactivates the stealth mode that has allowed him to get so close to their base and introduces himself as an Autobot named Wing. Five more Autobots, the rest of Wing's teammates in the "Multiforce", promptly materialize beside him, but they don't even get the chance to introduce themselves before another Decepticon attack interrupts them. The Micromasters are amazed when the Multiforce split into pairs and combine into three larger robots to defeat the Decepticon Build Team. Then, when Sixwing enters the fray, they take things to the next level and all merge into Landcross to beat the villain back. Landcross realizes that they have been transported through space and time to this place, and wonders if it was destiny that they arrived in time to intervene.


The storyline of Micromaster Collection ends here, with no further information given on the ultimate fates of the characters. With the confirmation that the story occurs in Generation 1 cartoon continuity, it seems only logical to conclude that these versions of the Micromaster six-teams are the same characters who went on to appear in the Return of Convoy and Operation Combination storylines, suggesting that they remained on Earth until the time of those series, that Sixwing was ultimately converted back into an Autobot, and that the two Sixbuilders were re-combined back into one. The fate of the Multiforce, however – who have clearly traveled back in time from the Victory future of 2025 to the 1980s – is harder to determine. Even more curiously, the Autobot Micromasters' headquarters, "Metrobase", is (in its one illustrated appearance) drawn to resemble Metroplex, and colored in red, white and blue, very much like (but not identical to) Metrotitan. Any connection the Metrobase has to either of these two city-bots is never mentioned.

Toys

Released in six separate waves, each wave comprising an entire team, the Micromaster Collection toys came in small, "blindpacked" boxes sold in cases of 12 (each case included two copies of each figure). Unlike normal blindpacked toys, buyers were actually able to identify which figures they were purchasing through a small cutaway circle in the box-front, which revealed a small portion of the instruction sheet within, marked with a number between 1-6 (the boxes themselves noted which number corresponded to which figure). The first five waves were reissues of the combining Micromaster teams from the Return of Convoy and Operation Combination toylines, while the sixth was a reissue of Victory's Multiforce. Each team was redeco'd from the original figures to different extents (some received entirely new color schemes, while others remained the same), but all of them featured new tampographs and paint applications instead of stickers.

From the second wave onward, in every case of 12 figures, two figures were available in a rare "chase" coloration, usually representing the team's transformed or powered-up state, as featured in the storyline.

Liner Team (2002)

  • Sixliner
    • Team leader D-Go the diesel engine
    • Alan the TGV Express train
    • Joe the Super Hitachi train
    • Leaf the Tohoku bullet train
    • Night the EF66 "Blue" train
    • Spark Tokaido 100 line bullet train

The combiner kibble forms three mini-rigs when Sixliner is separated: the Giga-Techvolt weapon, the Gripper probe, and the Wingard vehicle.


Turbo Team (2002)

The combiner kibble forms the Falcon Wing jet when Sixturbo is separated.

The chase edition of the Turbo Team cast the characters in solid black plastic, representing their "Reverse Evolution" forms from the second part of the prose storyline. Together, all six members formed "Reverse Evolution Sixturbo".


Wing Team (2003)

The combiner kibble forms the Sky Sweeper jet when Sixwing is separated.

The chase edition of the Wing Team render the team in solid white plastic with purple Autobot symbols, representing the "Berserker" form as seen in the third part of the prose storyline. Together, all six members formed "Berserker Sixwing".


Build Team (2003)

The combiner kibble forms the Beat Jet when Sixbuilder is separated.

The Build Team's chase variant is the exception to the rule, representing not an altered version of the team, but different characters: the team's Decepticon counterparts, who are colored in the familiar purple-and-green hues of the Constructicons. Only "Mixmaster" is named in the fourth part of the storyline; the other names listed here are conjectural (yet pretty obvious).


Train Team (2003)

  • Sixtrain
    • Team leader Desire the Tokaido "Nozomi" bullet train
    • Atlan the TGV-A Express train
    • Convertor the freight engine
    • Raise the "Asagiri" Special Express train
    • San D-Go the diesel engine
    • Windy the Yamagata "Tsubasa" bullet train

The combiner kibble forms three mini-rigs when Sixliner is separated, but unlike Sixliner's mini-rigs, these three have gone unnamed.

The chase edition of the Train Team depicts the six Autobots in solid red, representing their unimaginatively-named "Red Mode" from the fifth part of the storyline. As you might imagine, together, they form "Sixtrain Red Mode".


Multiforce (2003)

The Multiforce are the anomalous members of the Micromaster Collection, as the characters are not actually Micromasters, and are instead branded as "DX Micromasters" on-package. Their variant edition casts them in solid black plastic, in the "stealth mode" featured in the final chapter of the prose storyline. Together, they form "Landcross Stealth Mode".

Notes

  • This is actually the first time that the Micromasters were actually called "Micromasters" in Japan; during the original series, they were referred to as "Micro Transformers" ("Micro TF" for short). Whether this is a reflection on their different origin in this series (having evolved from non-transforming Cyberdroids rather than coming from the colony world Micro) or just the folks at Takara forgetting the old name is unknown.


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