Arms Micron

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The Arms Microns are a Mini-Con subgroup from the Aligned continuity family.

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.

Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Prime cartoon

Arms Micron Theater



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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

Vector Oracle

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).
  • Autobot Firebolt Clear Yellow Ver. was a World Hobby Fair exclusive, given away to kids on January 15 2012. He was later also given away at TakaraTomy's booth at the Next Generation World Hobby Fair Summer '12, a bonus with the early purchase of the first three toys in the AMW series (see below).
  • 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.
  • Shadow C.L., Shadow R.A., Shadow Gora, and Shadow Balo are transparent-black, stickerless versions of the four pack-in Microns (see below), made available in April 28 2012 at different stores (see individual pages for store availability).
  • Shining B.2, a clear-yellow version of the pack-in B.2 (see below) was given away to kids at the Tokyo Toy Show on June 16 and 17 of 2012.
  • Shining O.P., a clear-blue version of O.P. (see below) was given away to contestants in the "Arms Up Challenge" at the Next Generation World Hobby Fair Summer '12, taking place on Saturday, June 30 of 2012.
  • Golden O.P. came with Golden Optimus Prime, first prize in the Arms Up Campaign contest, limited to 20 pieces.
  • Golden Hades was awarded in the same contest, only he was third prize and limited to 100 pieces.


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-holes 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". By combining at least three Microns with the same Energon Crystal color, you create a "Super Combo Weapons" (see "Arms Up Mission game" below for more information on Energon Crystals and how they affect Combo Weapons and those who wield them).

However, each one comes out of the package as an unpainted, unassembled series of parts on plastic runners like a model kit, requiring stickers for detailing. Whether you consider this a good or a bad thing depends on how much work you like putting into your toys.

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
Or you could pick... WHAT'S IN THE BOX.
Or you could pick... WHAT'S IN THE BOX.

This item is currently scheduled for release, but is not yet available at mass retail.


Gacha Arms Microns

A completely new set of molds were created for a set of Arms Microns distributed mainly through Gacha-branded "capsule toy" machines. Oddly, they contain a mix of Micron versions of larger show characters (for lack of information or a better explanation, this wiki is treating them as new characters) and entirely-new bestial Decepticon Microns.

Wave 1

Wave 1 began appearing in early June of 2012. The toys were also later made available in individual boxes through the Arms Micron Gum series (released on August 20 of 2012), though at a slight markup.

Wave 2
Or you could pick... WHAT'S IN THE BOX.
Or you could pick... WHAT'S IN THE BOX.

This item is currently scheduled for release, but is not yet available at mass retail.


AMW Series

The "Arms Micron Single Series" (アームズマイクロン単品シリーズ āmuzumaikuron tampin shiriizu ), commonly called "AMW series" because of the ID numbers used, is a secondary line of individually-packaged Arms Microns sold without any larger companion figure. These vary between entirely new molds and redecoes of partner Microns. And yes, they're still unassembled, unpainted kits requiring stickers for deco.

Or you could pick... WHAT'S IN THE BOX.
Or you could pick... WHAT'S IN THE BOX.

This item is currently scheduled for release, but is not yet available at mass retail.

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", "Arms Up" being the term for when a Transformer deploys their weapons.

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 (+500 as opposed to just +100).

  • Trapezoid — HP Crystal
  • Round — SP Crystal
  • Hexagon — AP Crystal

Crystals can also come in one of several different colors:

Color Type Arms Microns
Blue Pure B.2, Jayz, O.P., Pral, R.A., Sais
Orange Fast Arc, B.H., C.L.
Clear Natural Gora, Hades, Igu, Zamu
Amber Mad Balo, Baru, Dai, Gabu, Gra
Purple Dark Gora II, Gul, Zori
Green Power Jida, Noji
Red Fake Dark Shadow Balo, Shadow C.L., Shadow Gora, Shadow R.A.
Bright Orange ??? Bumblebee Sword, Optimus Prime Blaster
Yellow ??? Gob, Zad
This chart does not list every variant of each character, only those that have a change in Crystal color. In other words, all versions of, say, O.P. have the "Pure" Energon Crystal unless otherwise noted.


Combining Microns of course leads to higher point bonuses. A combination of three Microns is dubbed a "Combo Weapon". However, by combining three Microns with the same crystal color, the combined mode is designated a "Super Combo Weapon" and has an even greater point bonus. It is unknown at this time if the Crystal colors have any other significance.

Named two-Micron combinations


Named Combo Weapons


Named Super Combo Weapons

Notes

  • In an interview in Dengeki Hobby magazine, TakaraTomy designers Takashi Nakase and Hironori Kobayashi explained the reasons Microns played so heavily into the Japanese Prime line when it wasn't designed that way from the start:
Takashi Nakase: The biggest reason is that we wanted to raise the target age group. In past series, the target ages were small children and their fathers, but the age group which is actually able to enjoy transforming toys is 7 ~ 9 years old. We went back to the beginning and considered appropriate products for that age group, and came up with the concept of "customising". That is why Arms Microns need to be assembled from parts, and stickers are included to be put on the main figure - to give the feeling of "completing" the toy as one's own.
Hironori Kobayashi: We conducted a play session with children where they played freely with Movie series Transformers, mixed with various items such as Minicons, and found that they mostly enjoyed combining Minicons to make larger weapons or to customise the Transformers. We thought it might have some potential.
  • Model-making is huge in Japan for the 7-and-up crowd. Mega-huge.
  • 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".

References

  1. ↑ Figure-Ō magazine, March 2012
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