Microman Achilles was part of the 2005 Magne Force series released by Takara. This is a throwback to the original Magnemo toys from the ’70s. I covered some of this information already in my Microman Robotman Ace review . Instead of being big robots these are smaller 4-inch figures, in-scale with Microman Commander (review). The Magne line is a line of figures that have articulated joints but the shoulders and hips are ball jointed metal balls that attach to the waist and chest via magnets. In addition, the ab joint is also a metal ball that attaches to the waist and the chest via magnets.
The figure that is reviewed here is actually a special edition or limited edition that was released along with Theseus. Achilles was originally red and Theseus was green. Red became blue and green became red in the special editions. There were a total of 8 figures (including the 2 special editions) released in this wave, 3 heroes and 3 villains. All of them have extra hands, a base with a metal plate that attaches to magnets on the feet, weapons and snap on armor. The snap on armor is the fun part, for the most part it snaps on and stays on; I experienced some snap off on this shins and the hands are really loose making it easy for the forearm armor to fall off. I haven’t tried putting on some of the other hands to see if this is just a specific issue to the out of box hands.
open hands
slap hands
gun hands
fists
articulated hands up and down
artiuclated hands left and right
swords/wings
magnetic base
extra ball attachments
I went with the blue version as I am building a team of Microns and my team will be wearing blue suits. The clear blue really stands out for me and I like how it photographs. The only issue I have with the colors on this figure is the white hands and white feet. They are so white that they are almost invisible, the feet are well sculpted with good details, but it’s washed out in natural light, not to mention the lighting in my photo session. I’m not certain what color I’d recommend and I know that this is a tip to the old Space Traveler colors, but it doesn’t work. I do love the rest of colors, the clear blue and the armor blue really pop.
The articulation is standard and there isn’t much more to say that hasn’t been said before. Except for the connecting double ball of the shoulders, the hip and abs the joints are standard for Microman. The ball shoulder and the hips are both metal balls that attach to the waist and chest. My fear about the strength of theses joints was quickly squashed when I realized that they are quite strong, and with the double joint in the shoulder (not chest) you can gets some good poses and arrange the metal joint so the figure can hold heavier items without falling over. The hips are solid and you can hold good poses with them. Finally, the ab joint is a big giant metal ball sitting in the middle of the figure. This is a really cool feature and the range of motion is excellent, I have not experienced any issues posing the figure.
ball feet
hinged ankles
double knees
thigh swivel
ball hips
ball waist
ball chest
double-ball shoulders
bicep swivel
double elbows
wrist swivels
hinged hands
ball head
I love the sculpt on this figure. This is a unique body and not the standard body that is used for Microman Commander. It reminds me of a bionicle and the add on armor is fun to pop on and off. But I prefer the armor on. I keep thinking that there were plans for these figures, or that there would be more parts or sets that could be bought where you could add the figures to things. Already advertised on these figures is that you can take the weapons and extra ball attachments and the chest/waist of the figures to make vehicles or thingies. This makes me wonder if there weren’t more plans.
All in all this is a fun figure and definitely one worth picking up, if for no other reason the nostalgia of it is great. But as I mentioned, I got plans for these Microns!
You can still pick the red Achilles on Amazon.com, but you’ll have to hit ebay or the trade forums for blue Achilles.
You can discuss this further on the fwoosh forums.
