The (Toy) Adventures of Metal Man

When I was a child in the 1970's, I became very enamored with sci-fi action figures. Today, in 2019, I still am.

Anyway, back in the disco decade I had my favorite franchise action figures, of course, but I also loved the ones that didn't come directly from a movie or TV show. Prime among these were The Micronauts, or in the parlance of the brand, "The World of the Micronauts."

But there was another action figure line of the same genre, I suppose you might say: "The World of Metal Man."  

There were various characters here -- Radon, Policeman, Soldier (Corporal Chrome?), Spaceman, Questar, Roton, and Rescueman, and the toy ads enticed children of the day to move Metal Man "into action."

The figures themselves were solid and quite heavy, and made of die-cast metal. They were in toy stores from 1979-1981, and I remember buying some at a Toys R. Us in Totowa (or was it Parsippany?). 

Some Metal Man vehicles were also released for the line, including a flying saucer with a transparent (which I still own), a rocket-sled-type spaceship, a police jeep, and a rescue chopper.

The figures were unique, and some quite beautiful in an an old-fashioned, Gen 1 robot kind-of -way. Questar was a chrome robot, for instance, who was packaged with a jet pack. And one robot, Roton, came with a recharge capsule.

I suppose I haven't thought much about the Metal Men in recent years, but every now and again, Joel and I play "Micronaut City" with my surviving Micronauts and accouterments. Well, I found a box of my old toys in my garage storage area, and lo and behold, I found a Metal Man recharge capsule and three Metal Man figures inside (along with a Micronaut Hydrocopter).  They are not in as good shape as the photos you see here.

Alas, the universe of Metal Man never grew as big or diverse as the universe of the Micronauts, but these toys were well-made, as I remember, and very distinctive.  

I probably would have always picked a new Micronaut toy first, if available/affordable, but every now and then, it was great to imagine the adventures of Metal Man.