Pod Stallions 40: The Micronauts

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For our 40th episode we are joined by actor/comedian Chris Tallman (@MrChristallman on twitter) for a celebration of the Interchangeable World of the Micronauts, the classic toy line from Mego that is about to get a major motion picture and new comic book series this year.

The discussion begins with the toy line's Japanese origins, it's halcyon Mego days, the influential Marvel comic book, our childhood impressions, later incarnations and then we pick out favourite toys from the line.

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Show notes:

• Micronauts Emperor from Italy as discussed on the show.
• The artwork of Ken Kelly.
• Innerspace online is one of the most comprehensive Micronauts websites.
• .Mego Meet is June 17 this year in Skokie Ill.
• A great Microman site that's in English.
• A brief look into the Micronauts Marvel Comic.

Plenty more content on the PodStallions Facebook page!



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[palitoy]

[Hedji]

Awesome! I'm still making my way through the Retro Awards! Can't wait to learn more about Micronauts, which were always my big brother's toys, but not mine. I think they were a little too delicate (at least the non-metal ones) for me, whereas he was older and could take good care of them. Thanks for doing this one - looking forward to it!

[Earth 2 Chris]

Fun episode, even though I missed out on the Micronauts bandwagon. I did have one of the Metal Men, so does that count?

My kids will be excited to know that we know a guy (Brian) who knows Mr. Thunderman.

Chris

[acrovader]

Micronauts and Microman are my favorite toy line

[jacoblb]

Interesting discussion. I don't have any Micronauts and never had any. I do have the Michael Golden comics, the ones that were reprinted with more than one issue. Minor note: I know the tail end was acknowledged to be cut short, but around the 45 minute mark I thought I missed something there. Brian was talking and then the audio was lost for a tiny bit and then Jason was talking. Was my download bad or did my digital file transfer poorly, am I imagining this, or did anyone else recall that happening? No biggie.

I was heavily into 80s Joes. I read all the comics and watched all the cartoons, have all the Sunbow goodness on DVD. I still have all my figures, but I downsized most of the vehicles. I nearly cried 15+ years ago when I tried to place an uzi into my child-hood straight arm mint Snake-eyes and the thumb broke off. To make matters worse I lost the thumb after I had decided I'd glue it back it back on.

Hmm. I thought Hawk was a Lieutenant (later a General) and was sold with a missile set...
http://www.yojoe.com/action/82/hawk.shtml

[palitoy]

Yeah we got cut off for about a minute in the middle, seems we missed a lot of stuff but i swear it was short.

[Werewolf]

I've just stated listening and I was glad to hear the myth of Kenner SW toys killing Mego get debunked. I like Mego and Kenner and tend to get a little frustrated when I see people hating on Kenner SW toys because of some misguided belief they caused the downfall of Mego.

[Werewolf]

I just wanted to clear some things up. The GI JOE cartoon is awesome. Duke is better than Hawk. Cobra Commander is right up there with Skeletor as one of the most iconic cartoon villains of all time.

[palitoy]

I just wanted to clear some things up. The GI JOE cartoon is awesome. Duke is better than Hawk.

Well, you're entitled to your opinion and it holds exactly as much weight as mine. My preferences are absolutely not factual statements. I only broached the comic vs cartoon because (and I mentioned this) Chris and are like 2 days apart in age and I wanted to see if his experience was similar to mine. Had he been a couple of years younger I wouldn't have bothered. The comic wrote at a higher level than the cartoon, so i got turned off when i saw it, different story i'm sure if i was nine.

Cobra Commander is right up there with Skeletor as one of the most iconic cartoon villains of all time.

I don't remember challenging this assumption, I couldn't believe the movie didn't use the design straight from the comic book as it's as super iconic.

[Hedji]

Great show! Made me feel bad about selling off my Hornetroid a decade ago. These days I'm down to about 3 micronaut figures and 1 Metal Man. But this was great fun.

[Falstaff13]

I enjoyed listening, even though I never had the Micronauts as toys. They came out just a little early for me, but when I was first getting into comic books, an older friend of mine gave me the Marvel comic, so I loved that series and was intrigued by the mythology they set up.

I remember reading an interview in Comics Scene with a writer for the GI Joe comic, and he expressed frustration that those making the comic were working on a story arc but then would be told to work in some new vehicle, and so they felt they couldn't escape being a toy ad and weren't really telling the stories they wanted. I actually remember reading a similar comment from JMS about his time working on Captain Power, where he was told he had to include a battle in every single episode.)

[Werewolf]

Well, you're entitled to your opinion and it holds exactly as much weight as mine.

I'm just having a little fun.

As a GI JOE cartoon fan you get used to that kinda stuff. If you lurk GI JOE forums enough you always come across a couple of guys who are comic book only and like to take pot shots at the cartoon. "The comic was all serious and grim dark and then the cartoon came along and ruined it! Grrr!!" Never minding that many comic book writers worked on the cartoon, like Steve Gerber and Buzz Dixon. Plus the comic didn't really escape all the sci fi fantasy elements both shared with the toys. The comic also suffered from the usual comic tropes of killing off popular characters and then trying to figure out how to bring them back. This was especially important when characters that died in the comic were getting new toys.

That reminds me, the current GI JOE comic just killed off Snake Eyes. They replaced him with a new Snake Eyes who just happened to get disfigured and mute at the same time the original died.

[sprytel]

I really enjoyed the podcast. I thought Chris was great, and enjoyed the dynamic of the show.

Although... dang it, Jason... I have been going around the house singing, "Chris Tallman, Chris Tall-man... He's a tall man. Chris Tallman is taller than you." You and your goofy, catchy ear worms!

[Hedji]

Jason was in rare form, even for Jason.