Arms Micron
- The Arms Microns are a Mini-Con subgroup from the Aligned continuity family.
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The Arms Microns (アームズマイクロン Āmuzu Maikuron) were once ordinary weapons. However, a bizarre interaction with Earth's energon mutated them, giving the weapons the spark of life and the ability to transform![1]
This new breed of Mini-Con assists the larger Transformers in the battlefield, combining their powers to form amazing new weapons.
Toys
Prime
The Arms Microns were only released in Japan. Due to the... interesting variety of Arms Microns, they will be tackled here as groups.
Promotional campaign Arms Microns
The first Arms Microns made available were released as giveaway exclusives, usually with the purchase of larger toys. All of these Microns are redecos of prior toys.
- Aimless, Blowpipe and Peaceman were the first batch released, redecoes of three Power Core Combiners Mini-Cons, available exclusively on 28 December 2011 at various Japanese stores with the purchase of 3000 yen's worth of Prime "First Edition" toys (see individual pages for store availability).
- Firebolt Clear Yellow Ver. was a World Hobby Fair exclusive, given away to kids on January 15 2012.
- Vector Oracle was available at ToysЯUs on February 25 2012 with the purchase of 3000 yen's worth of Darkside Moon toys.
- Autobot Firebolt, a redeco of the prior Firebolt, was made available as a preorder bonus for Prime AM-01 Optimus Prime through numerous online outlets, with an ordering window from March 1st through March 30th 2012.
- Pinpointer was another ToysЯUs exclusive, this time given away with the purchase of 4000 yen's worth of Prime toys on March 31 2012, the day the Prime toys hit the shelves.
- Transparent-black "Shadow" versions of four pack-in Microns (see below) were made available in April 28 2012 at different stores. Shadow C.L. was available at ToysЯUs with the purchase of 3000 yen's worth of Prime toys. Shadow R.A. was available at Aeon toy departments with the purchase of AM-01 Optimus Prime. Shadow Gora was at both Joshin and Bic Camera stores with a 3000 yen Prime purchase. And finally Shadow Balo was available at Yamada Electronics, Yodobashi Camera, and Ideon stores with a 3000 yen Prime purchase. Whew!
Pack-in Arms Microns
The Arms Microns are the primary gimmick of the Japanese Prime toyline. All Deluxe and Voyager-scale releases came with their own Arms Micron, replacing the accessories from the Hasbro versions, and now sport numerous 5mm peg-hols for them to attach to. Each Micron transforms into a weapon modeled after the character's in-show weapon (with a few exceptions for non-show and repeat characters), and all feature numerous 5mm posts and holes allowing for the creation of any number of "Combo Weapons" and "Super Combo Weapons", like the Star Saber formed by O.P., B.2 and R.A..
On the downside, each one comes out of the package as an unpainted, unassembled series of parts on plastic runners like a model kit.
The Autobot Microns all transform from weapons to humanoid robots. Their names are (mostly) initials based on two English letters of their partner's name. The Decepticon Microns, however, all transform from weapons to one-eyed animalistic robots, and are given names based on their animal-form.
Released toys
Upcoming releases
- AM-07 ??? (with Starscream)
- AM-08 Jida (with Terrorcon Cliffjumper)
- AM-09 Zori (with Soundwave)
- AM-10 B.H. (with Bulkhead)
- AM-11 Arc (with Arcee)
- AM-12 ??? (with Breakdown)
- AM-13 ??? (with Knock Out)
- AM-14 ??? (with Vehicon)
- AM-15 Gora II and Hades (with Megatron Darkness)
- AM-16 ??? (with Jet Vehicon)
- AM-17 ??? (with Swerve)
- AM-18 ??? (with Airachnid)
- AM-19 ??? (with Gaia Unicron)
- AM-20 ??? (with Ironhide)
Gashapon Arms Microns
A completely new set of molds were created for a set of Arms Microns distributed mainly through Gashapon "capsule toy" machines. A ten-piece "Arms Micron Box" containing all four molds was released in May.
AMW series
A secondary line of individually-packaged Arms Microns sold without any larger companion figure, seemingly a callback to the Micron Booster releases. These vary between redecos of existing molds and all new molds; the latter of which combine to form weapons as groups of three.
- AMW-01 ??? (manta ray)
- AMW-02 ??? (bird)
- AMW-03 ??? (alligator)
- AMW-04 ??? (redeco of C.L.)
- AMW-05 ??? (redeco of Balo)
- AMW-06 ??? (redeco of Jida)
- AMW-07 ??? (sword)
- AMW-08 ??? (axe)
- AMW-09 ??? (spear)
- AMW-10 ??? (redeco of Zori)
- AMW-11 ???
- AMW-12 ???
Arms Up Mission game
Every Arms Micron (well, every one that was specifically designed for the Prime toyline, at least) has a socket made for a clear-plastic "Energon Crystal", laid over a small foil sticker showing the Micron's allegiance. The shape and color of the Crystal plays into a point-based online battle game called "Arms Up Missions".
Aside from the usual eight tech spec stats, every large AM-series robot has an additional three stats: HP (Hit Points), SP (Speed Points), and AP (Attack Points), though these are rated using thousands rather than ones. By equipping Arms Micron weapons, the Microns' point values are added to their larger partner's.
There are three different Crystal shapes, each one signifying which of the three battle stats the Micron boosts the most.
- Trapezoid — HP Crystal
- Round — SP Crystal
- Hexagon — AP Crystal
Crystals can also come in one of six (so far) different colors:
- Blue — Pure
- Orange — Fast
- Clear — Natural
- Amber — Mad
- Purple — ???
- Green — ???
By combining Mini-Cons of the same crystal color, the combined mode is designated a "Super Combo Weapon" and has an even greater point bonus.
Notes
- While the "weapons turned into living robots" backstory was given in specific reference to the pack-in toys, it's pretty safe to assume that it holds true for all characters labeled "Arms Micron".
- How the hell this works with Optimus Prime Blaster and Bumblebee Sword is anybody's guess.
External Links
References
- ↑ Figure-Ō magazine, March 2012
