Microman Cosmo Rotor Series
Extremely uncommon, rarely seen on the collector market, and not widely known about or discussed, the Cosmo Rotor and Power-Up Series were a foray into releasing cheap blister card versions of common Rescue Command figures. Takara may have seen the writing on the wall about the declining popularity of the line, and wanted a cheap, easier to distribute method of getting its figures into more hands, and the blister pack version could be stocked on pegs wherever shelf fillers were needed.
The Cosmo Rotor series came in a total of four varieties, two being the type 1 rotor device, red or white, with the M274 Carlton figure and the type 2 rotor device, also in red or white, with the M284 Foster figure. Having never seen one in action, it seems like these had a similar gimmick to the Gyro toys, and in fact, the post that held the figure vertically on the rotor unit was from the same mold as Gyro. From the images, it follows that these were of the windup and release variety of toys. The Rotor series had a place for both of the figures legs to fit into, essentially allowing the figure to "walk" with the rotor action.
Microman Rescue Gears
Equally as rare, if not more so, than the Cosmo Rotor series, the Rescue Gears series appears to have had six varieties (at least according to the only images I've ever seen of them). In the pictures, we can see the six included Rescue Command figures as M251 Robin, M261 Chris, M262 Adam, M253 Richard, M263 James, M252 William.
Included on each card is a plastic wing pack (blue or red), a blue or yellow stand, the standard pulsar gun and backpack, and four weapons, red or blue that can be found in the larger Power-Up Set.
Microman Rescue Power-Up Set
Seen more frequently, but usually incomplete, the Rescue Power-Up series featured two unique M10X figures and a set of various accessories, including a unique plastic dash wing, a back mounted rotor device, as well as some guns, vests and two stands. Four of the weapon pieces were recolors from the Rescue gears sets.
The two M10X figures are probably the most intriguing thing about the set. Colored in translucent smoke grey and lime green respectively, neither figure had an official designation. However, the lime M10X would make a later appearance in the New Microman line, and be designated as M-001 Arom. The distinguishing difference between the two version is that M-001 Arom has a different chest piece, and an "M" sticker on his left chest.
