Microman 2005 Microsister

MicroSister series is the final year end series for Microman 2005 Microman line and release by TAKARA in November of 2005. MicroSister is the "all female" series and debut the new 36 points Full Action Sister Body. The series include four new characters - MS-01 El, MS-02 Shion, MS-03 Ran and MS-04 Orga. The figures come package in the standard Microman half-size reseal-able blister card.

FULL ACTION SISTER BODY

MicroSister series introduce all new core body for Microman line - the Full Action Sister Body. The new body represents a teenage Micro girl. The body has been totally redesign and use only a single screw on the main body which screw into the 3mm back port. The joints connectors are now base on "pin" design and the entire body can be taken apart with ease. The figure is quite small and stand only 8cm tall in height. Overall the body is very well design and open up many option for custom. There are several changes from the old body including ball joint for head, removable feet and ankle (which should help preventing the breakage and probably a necessity on such small body) and new hand attachments. There are only four type of hands (which I think is fine, the old body seven pairs of hands set is a bit overkill). The hands are now connected at the forearm instead of wrist (probably again due to the small size). The body is super-articulated (36 points) and pretty amazing for such small scale figure. The figure is pretty durable and there is no breakage but the some of the joints are a bit loose and could use some more tweaking for future releases. However overall this is an amazing core body with myriad of possibilities especially for those doing custom action-figures.

ACCESSORIZED!

The theme for MicroSister is, of course, girl-powers and girl super-hero team. There are four members and each fit into the stereotypical girl team. El, a leader who is a bit vain and into fad and fashion but is friendly and optimistic. Shion, smart but naive girl and everybody big sister. Ran, a fighter with super reflex who is always on the move. And finally the outcast, Orga, the bad girl gone good and also the big gun of the team. The concept behind the new Sister Body and MicroSister seem to be slip on accessories. The figures heavily use the slip-on vinyl and plastic armor pieces (remind me of those Polly Pocket my daughter play with) instead of molded on armor like Road Force or snap on armor like the past Master and X series. The new body design make putting on these armor parts a much easier task and for the most part they do work very well. Each figure also comes with oversize chrome weapons and parts. The accessories for these girls are design for maximum re-configuration, the 3mm port is the de facto interchangeable port for the modern Microman. The accessories for all four figures can be reconfigured into various mode and give these girls tons of option for play and display. These weapons are really big (common design for most Japanese super-hero) and some are a bit too heavy for these small figure but thank to TAKARA foresight, these figures come with new display stand that clip on to the figure body and allow them to be easily display. While they can stand without the aid, they are clearly designed with the use of the stand in mind. The main gripes on this MicroSister seem to be the lack of stiffness on some of the joints and the hand joints. I was hoping TAKARA would move away from using PVC for hands with the new body since the shrinkage cause some to fit poorly.

MS-01 MICROSISTER EL

El is the fashionable one of the four MicroSister team and she is also the leader. (as denoted by her head gear for barking orders). She is model after typical popular pre-teen (Japanese) and teen with short skirt, leg warmer, CD players and mini-cell phone. Her body is mostly pale-clear pink with gold trim. Her armor is white and black with some chrome bracelets for leg and arms. The slip on armor parts fit really well on her with the only loose one being the leg chrome bracelet (that so far I have yet found the use for). The cell phone is very heavy and my sample of El has somewhat loose abdomen joint which cause her to lean a bit when she pose without using the display stand. Her hands fit well for the most part but can be a bit troublesome. The jet backpack is also pretty tight fit to the back port and quite heavy so the stand is a must for various display poses. The only part that tend to fall out a lot (and make you frustrate) is her snap on head gear piece so you probably better off just super-glue it to her head since she look better with it anyway. Overall, MicroSister figures are pretty amazing and truly a "micro-scale" action-figures even for Microman line.

MICROSISTER SHION

Shion is the "good girl" of the group and her attire or armor represent her characters. Shion is clad in green "cleric" armors with angelic wings and nurse headpiece. She comes cleric weapon of choice, a hammer call "Bell Hammer". Shion has the most accessories and parts of all the four MicroSisters (actually I am still unsure what some of them are for). She was initially my least favorite of the four Sisters due to her typical fantasy game-like anime design and also because she has so many busy-looking parts. However, I change my mind after I finally open the package. The main core body is marble white with slip on PVC apron piece. Her chest armors are metallic green and they are hold together by the shoulder snap on pieces. Her armors can take some times to put together but surprisingly all the parts do fit really well. She has wings-pack and a bell-shape staff that can be convert into a hammer (classic weapon for cleric), and like other MicroSisters, her accessories are laden with various 3mm ports and pegs and allow for very cool customizations.

MS-03 MICROSISTER RAN

Ran is the martial art expert and the "blade" master of the team. She sports blue metallic chromed body armor with halberd weapon, and optional "helm". The only problem with Ran is her chest armor which tend to fall apart easily since the two sections are hold together by the collar piece. The design is clever way of eliminating the peg but it just did not work very well for such small intricate piece. Ran has the best joints of all the four MicroSisters in my lot so the loose joints problem is not the design but the manufacturing and quality control. The new body really require high degree of precision due to the use of peg connectors and really small scale body, so Takara really got to be even more mindful of the quality control and plastic being used. Like the other three MicroSisters, Ran comes with several accessories (and they are very sharp and small so keep them away from little one). Her weapons and backpack can be reconfigures using 3mm connections.

MS-04 MICROSISTER ORGA

Orga is the big gun and the "bad girl" of the MicroSister team. Orga has cybernetic parts and has remolded chest section that is done in chrome (with mechanical design and clear plastic armor). She is mostly clear with black trim. (The prototype was clear pink) Orga accessories can be used as arm replacement weapons much like Henshin Cyborg. She came with chrome purple leg armors which surprisingly stay on pretty well. The wrists however can be a bit troublesome, but the main problem with Orga is her loose knee joints, which can be quite annoying when trying to pose her. Orga accessories can also form a hover bike for her to ride on. Orga has the most interesting design (and most Henshin and Microman-like), the figure would be perfect if not for her loose knee joints. (the joints can easily be fix by using some acrylic wax to tighten up the joints).