1978 Police Keeper

If 1977 was the height of the Microman series. Then 1978 surely marked the decline for the series. This year saw heavy competition from other series especially in the sci-fi space theme with the popularity of the Star Wars movie and many that followed. Only one Microman type was released this year, the M23X type Microman Police Keeper. However, Takara introduced two new series of figures for the line, the first was the diminutive size Microman called Micro Hoodman and the second was the Ardens - a newly arrived enemy from planet Arden.

There were actually two themes running this year. The first was the arrival of Microman space colonist - Micro Hoodman and the second theme was Police Keeper, Microman who emerged from Micro-Comet. The Hoodman began as a spin-off series from Microman but was soon incorporated as part of Microman's line. Takara actually introduced Hoodman toys toward the end of the Command series in late 1977. The Hoodman were a long-lost Microman race that set out on space exploration long ago from Micro Earth and became space-faring Microman. The Hoodman figures were slightly smaller than standard Microman figures, and they stood only 8cm tall. Each Hoodman came with a protective Hood "Armored" helmet that resembled an astronaut's suit. The Hoodman also had a painted face instead of the usual chrome. During the second half of 1978, Takara introduced the Police Keeper Microman. The Police Keeper were standard style Microman with the usual chrome head and standard 10cm size. Each figure came with weapon and backpack accessories.

This year's focus was not on the vehicle or robot but rather on the big playset called Build Base. The Build Base was a large Microman base that utilized the construction toy concept. Though Takara never released any more sets besides the three Play Build accessories, the design was used extensively by Mego for their Micronauts City series. Besides the Play Build series, Takara also released ten small rubber band power vehicles - the Hoodman Kit Machines. There were also two battery power vehicles; Air Roader and Climb Leader, both utilized the magnet activation system. Takara also released an unusual "display" piece - a Space Shuttle vehicle called Micro NASA for the Hoodman. Takara released only two big robots for the Police Keeper line, the first was Arden Robo and the second was a retooled Robotman toy called Robotman 2.

By the end of 1978, Microman's popularity was on the decline and many of the Police Keeper and Hoodman series of toys were canceled such as the rest of the Play Build toys, a small bike that would be a companion piece to Speed Jumper, and the large remote control vehicle - Hoodman's RCB Noah. Takara also released the last of the Titans series in 1978 called Titan Space Knight. The Space Knights consisted only of two new figures and a repaint of the old Titan Condor and Titan Dober. In the early part of 1979, Takara released the remnants of the Police Keeper toys such as the second Microman Police Keeper type and the last Micro Hoodman type (the chrome heads). The second Police Keeper Microman were metallic plated medieval knight armor suit figures called Micro Knights. Micro Knights were, however not Microman in the truest sense, they were actually androids built by Microman Police Keeper to fight the Ardens. These Micro Knights figures were some of the most decorative and elaborately detailed figures in the Microman series.