The Micro Machine sets

[Frontier]

I have all but 3 of them myself - the rare(r) Kazon ship, Caretaker array, and Bajoran Solar ship. Have a couple doubles too. Runabouts, DS9, Cardassian Galor. Still have them all. Recently bought a couple loose for my nephew, cause he wanted some ships to play with and it was really tough to find one that where both affordable and durable enough to stand up to kid play.

I'm a ship junkie though. I've got the Furuta ships too, and all the Hallmark ornaments, and the Playmates ones, and the Art Asylum/DST ones...

Very few ships exist in physical form I don't have. Cause I just have to have them. Even spent the $75 or so for a Luna-Class (USS Titan) resin model.

I wish they'd make micro-machines again.

Wish list:
Prometheus, Steamrunner, Akira, Saber, Norway, Nova, Yeager, Delta Flyer, Borg Sphere, Borg Queen Diamond, Borg Tactical Cube, Borg Probe, Jem'Hadar Warship (bigger Jem ship, not the attack one we have), Cardassian Heidki, Breen Warship, Romulan Valdore, E-E (cause the one they did in the day isn't accurate, tbh), E-E shuttle from Nemesis, nuTrek 1701, nuTrek Kelvin, NX-01, Andorian Kumari, both (or all 3?) Vulcan ENT ships, ENT Shuttle pod, ENT Romulan BoP, ENT Klingon Raptor...

Just to name a few...

 

[t_smitts]

I have all but 3 of them myself - the rare(r) Kazon ship, Caretaker array, and Bajoran Solar ship. Have a couple doubles too. Runabouts, DS9, Cardassian Galor. Still have them all. Recently bought a couple loose for my nephew, cause he wanted some ships to play with and it was really tough to find one that where both affordable and durable enough to stand up to kid play.

I'm a ship junkie though. I've got the Furuta ships too, and all the Hallmark ornaments, and the Playmates ones, and the Art Asylum/DST ones...

Very few ships exist in physical form I don't have. Cause I just have to have them. Even spent the $75 or so for a Luna-Class (USS Titan) resin model.

I wish they'd make micro-machines again.

Wish list:
Prometheus, Steamrunner, Akira, Saber, Norway, Nova, Yeager, Delta Flyer, Borg Sphere, Borg Queen Diamond, Borg Tactical Cube, Borg Probe, Jem'Hadar Warship (bigger Jem ship, not the attack one we have), Cardassian Heidki, Breen Warship, Romulan Valdore, E-E (cause the one they did in the day isn't accurate, tbh), E-E shuttle from Nemesis, nuTrek 1701, nuTrek Kelvin, NX-01, Andorian Kumari, both (or all 3?) Vulcan ENT ships, ENT Shuttle pod, ENT Romulan BoP, ENT Klingon Raptor...

Just to name a few...

If they'd kept up at the rate they were going, we might've had a fourth, fifth, or even sixth collector's set by the time "Enterprise".

That being said, every set had at least a few "hero" craft (1701, 1701-A, 1701-D, DS9, and arguably the runabout in the first set; Defiant, and 2 versions of the "D" in second set, Voyager and the "E" in the third). Most of the rest were ships from well-known aliens (Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, Kazon, etc.) or ships that were prominent in a movie (Reliant, Excelsior, Enterprise-B, etc.) or a few of the more notable one-shot Starfleet ships (Enterprise-C, Stargazer, Pasteur, Saratoga).

By the time of the third set, they were getting into some more obscure alien-of-the-week ships (Karemma, Klaestron, Numiri) that might not have sold so well. There were a couple more Dominion ships they could've done and maybe some from "First Contact" and "Insurrection" but I'm not sure what other "hero" ships they could've done, other than the Delta Flyer and arguably the Phoenix, between 1996 and 2001, when "Enterprise" started.

I wouldn't have minded the starships from "First Contact", but their time on screen was pretty brief. "Voyager" was pretty much all "ship of the week" stuff for most of its latter half, with not too many standouts, except, ironically, for Starfleet stuff like the Prometheus, the Equinox and the pseudo-Starfleet Dauntless.

Now they had a few good ones again once "Enterprise" started: NX-01, obviously, plus Vulcan, Andorian, and Klingon ships. (I supposed they'd do a shuttlepod, but the truth is I could take or leave most shuttles). Still, several years long wait for a toy company, especially since most of those ships' first appearances were pretty far apart.

I really liked Abrams' Trek, but I honestly don't have any interest in ships from that series, just like I'm not interested in miniatures from the Star Wars prequels.

There were some I would've liked, but maybe in retrospect, we didn't miss as much as we think.

 

[Saul]

Glad to know I wasn't the only one who wasn't able to get their hands on that third set.

 

[Gagh]

I had everything they made in the first couple of years, then sold the lot on eBay for a tidy sum about 5 years ago.

 

[T'Bonz]

I have the 3 sets, plus a loose Array, Kazon ship and I think I have the special Klingon ship.

I really like the little ships.

 

[t_smitts]

I have the 3 sets, plus a loose Array, Kazon ship and I think I have the special Klingon ship.

I really like the little ships.

I wonder if Galoob ended up making more ships, shuttles, and stations than any other company.

 

[t_smitts]

Just bumped the thread to say that to this day, I'd love to track down anyone from Galoob (which I believe was absorbed by Hasbro) and get their insight on the making these great little ships, who picked the ones that would get made, if they studied the actual photographic models, and if there were any on the drawing board that, for whatever reason, never got made...

 

[t_smitts]

This thread's been inactive for well over a year, but I'm reviving it, because I was just so darned excited that I had to tell some (or at least someone who would understand ).

After more than fifteen years of longing, my quest is finally over. I FINALLY BOUGHT THE THIRD SET!!!

They usually go for $300 on eBay, which is a bit out of my price range, but I managed to find one on there for less half of that, and surprisingly, there wasn't really a bidding war for it. There was only a couple of bids on it. I knew there wasn't much point it bidding right then and there, so I had to wait an endless 18 hours until the last couple of minutes to bid. Surprisingly, no one else outbid me in that time, and I won! (Nothing left to do, but wait 6-10 business days).

I wish I could go back and give it to teenage me.

 

[Dac]

t_smitts, You've just completed the same journey I did about 5 years ago. I too snagged a Collectors Set III on eBay for "only" £90. When it came, it was like I was 6 years old all over again.

I wish I'd found this thread earlier, I'm all ABOUT Micro Machines

 

[Sean_McCormick]

[...]
Saladin destroyer and Federation Dreadnought from TOS ( I know the cannon is questionable but why not give the nod to Joseph.)
[...]

You could try to get Amarillo Design Bureau's Federation Commander Squadron Box #91. It contains one of Constitution, Saladin, Hermes, Federation and Ptolemy class as well as two containers.

They are not painted and needed to be assembled, but they are the same size as the Micromachines.

The ships have visible weapon emplacements as indicated in FJ's drawings, so Hermes ans Saladin actually are different.

 

[SPCTRE]

I distinctly remember how as a kid, the different scales of some of the ships and stations in relation to each other bothered me, especially the Borg Cube and DS9 compared to everything else

 

[t_smitts]

I distinctly remember how as a kid, the different scales of some of the ships and stations in relation to each other bothered me, especially the Borg Cube and DS9 compared to everything else

Unfortunately, having them actually to scale isn't practical. DS9 and the Borg cube would be the size of those Playmates ships (and they're called micro machines), while the various shuttles and runabouts would be the size of a strawberry seed.

 

[SPCTRE]

I distinctly remember how as a kid, the different scales of some of the ships and stations in relation to each other bothered me, especially the Borg Cube and DS9 compared to everything else

Unfortunately, having them actually to scale isn't practical. DS9 and the Borg cube would be the size of those Playmates ships (and they're called micro machines), while the various shuttles and runabouts would be the size of a strawberry seed.

Obviously, but try telling that to an 8-year-old

 

[t_smitts]

I think when set III finally arrives, I'll put 'em on display. I've been keeping them loose in a box for a while (except for the ones in the second set II that I bought last year). I'll probably have to get a little creative with them, given my lack of space. I currently have all the Furuta and Johnny Lightning ships on top of a dresser, and I don't think all those MM's would fit without risk of constantly being knocked over.

I was also considering getting another "set I", since the ones from mine are in such bad shape. Pretty much every Enterprise and the Excelsior have had their saucer sections broken off, and various attempts to glue them back together have only made it worse in most cases (the Ent-A is probably in worst shape. I can even see some DEEP cracks in the nacelles. I bought a second one loose a while back, but the new one wasn't assembled very well). The Reliant's had BOTH nacelles broken off, though they at least reattach easily, and the BoP has had one of its guns broken off. Many of them are also kind of dirty, from years of being handled with my grubby, greasy little fingers, and I have no idea how to clean them, without taking off the paint. (On a sidenote, the Star Wars set I got around the same time is in about the same condition, so I may want to get a new one of those eventually too).

For those of you who had them growing up, what kind of battle scars did YOUR childhood leave on your ships?

I have a pretty poor camera (maybe something else I should look at replacing in the next few months), but I'll try to post some pics when it arrives.

 

[Destructor]

I turned mine into this:

https://vine.co/v/bXInD2TPXYx

 

[Misfit Toy]

This thread's been inactive for well over a year, but I'm reviving it, because I was just so darned excited that I had to tell some (or at least someone who would understand ).

After more than fifteen years of longing, my quest is finally over. I FINALLY BOUGHT THE THIRD SET!!!

They usually go for $300 on eBay, which is a bit out of my price range, but I managed to find one on there for less half of that, and surprisingly, there wasn't really a bidding war for it. There was only a couple of bids on it. I knew there wasn't much point it bidding right then and there, so I had to wait an endless 18 hours until the last couple of minutes to bid. Surprisingly, no one else outbid me in that time, and I won! (Nothing left to do, but wait 6-10 business days).

I wish I could go back and give it to teenage me.

Normally, bumping a thread like this is frowned upon, but, having said that, I also have to say CONGRATULATIONS!

I know the feeling when finally finding a long sought collectible!

 

[t_smitts]

I turned mine into this:

https://vine.co/v/bXInD2TPXYx

Aw, how cute. I'll try to overlook the fact that the box clearly says "not for children under 3".

 

[Ro_Laren]

Still proudly display my micromachine fleet!

I forgot about these! Good memories!

 

[t_smitts]

Still proudly display my micromachine fleet!

I forgot about these! Good memories!

Yeah.

I was actually inspired to take them (and the Star Wars ones, for that matter) out of storage and put them on display, like the Johnny Lighting and Furuta ones I have (something like this, but a bit more ordered ), though I ran into a couple of problems with the stands. For one thing a couple of them seem to have turned noticeably yellow over the years (I suspect it's the same process that had the same effect on my old Super NES). The stand were probably quite dusty and dirty, so I gave them a little bath before letting them dry and that putting up the ships.

The bigger problem, though, is I don't have nearly enough. A few Star Wars ships were left to stand on their own, but I also can't find any of the ones that presumably came with my second "set II" (not sure if I ever opened the bag for those). I've moved once since buying those, so my dread is that they were thrown out or perhaps in some box of junk that my folks took back with them halfway accross the country, or worse, thrown out!!!

Out of curiosity, I checked to see if anyone sold loose stands on ebay, but I didn't see anything. Bummer.

 

[Dukhat]

I always hated the fact that the Trek Micromachine line ended so soon. There were so many more cool ships they could have done (while at the same time, some of their choices were kind of bizarre...why make something so random as the "Numiri ship" when they could have made things like Regula One, the FC ships, or the Talarian vessels).