MICROMAN 2005 ROAD FORCE SERIES

TAKARA released Microman Road Force Series in summer of 2005. Road Force Road Spartan line is the second Microman and vehicle set to be released by TAKARA for the Force Series. Each Road Spartan toy comes with Roadmobile Road Spartan vehicle and Microman Road Force figure. There are total of four sets in Road Spartan line - RS-01 Mach Slugger with Microman Kaito, RS-02 Ride Python with Microman Ryu, RS-03 Delta Phantom with Microman Thunder and RS-04 Side Caliber with Microlady Ray. RS-04 is the only female member of the Road Force team.

ROAD-MOBILE VEHICLES

Road Spartan Road Force is a series of futuristic motorcycles pack together with Microman riders. Each bike was design of course to match its Microman Road Force rider. Since the days of Microman Zone, Microman line have always been known for its vehicle playset that interact with the action figures, so the idea of Microman and vehicle set is always a welcome one for Microman collectors especially in these recent periods where vehicle toys for action-figures are very far and few in between.  Road Spartan series, unlike the recent Biomachine series, uses different approach for the design. Instead of the all chromed, hyper details and small and often fragile decorative pieces of Biomachine line, Road Spartan vehicles use solid and steady construction with colors and painted plastics, accent with large piece of chrome sections. The results are very nice, and playable toys instead of just being pretty display pieces. The series definitely has more of the toys feel than most of the recent Microman Force line-up.

SPARTAN FORM AND ROAD SPARTAN FORMATION!

As with most recent Microman toys, the vehicles have ability to combine with Microman figures and with one another to form large vehicle. For the figures, the bike chrome parts are used to combine with Road Force Microman to give them their Spartan Form with the only exception being Ray and her Side Caliber. For Ray, her Spartan Form is basically sticks her body into the side-car part and used it as body armor for the figure. The design probably look alright on drawing board but in real practice it just doesn't work well and she ends up looking like she is wearing a giant shell. As for Kaito, his Spartan Form is pretty much his vehicle in alternate mode with the two "blades" holding in his hands which can look a bit strange. The vehicles can also be combine and form the Road Spartan. The combination is pretty simple but surprisingly effective and form a nice "playable" larger vehicle. The formation is very solid and the entire thing can be rolls around on the floor without fear of its falling apart. Road Spartan Offensive Formation mode is simply Road Force Spartan Form riding on top of Road Spartan. While the Road Spartan Mode does involve a little more than just sticking the four bikes together, you should not expect to get something like Biomachine Bio-suit. That said, Road Spartan is definitely more fun than the static Bio-suits, now only if TAKARA would add pull-back motors and spring-loaded firing missiles to these toys.

Road Force Microman body has several new parts. The legs and feet are all new along with the main torso. Road Force also has very bright paint scheme and look more like other, if somewhat typical, modern anime designs than your usual Microman figures. The design is very simple and solid which make the Road Force the most toy-like and one can not help but think that may be TAKARA is trying to move the line closer to be more kids friendly toys rather than collectible figures. Road Force has one new notable feature, the addition of feet articulations.

RS-01 MACH SLUGGER w/ ROAD FORCE KAITO

Mach Slugger is red and white jet trike with silver accent. Unit 01 has the lest bike like appearance of all the Road Spartan Road-Mobile vehicles. The vehicle can easily accommodates Microman figure which fit snugly inside the cockpit. Mach Slugger has two modes and can transform into jet mode (which is also the mode for Road Spartan Formation). The wheels have smooth rolling action and the vehicle glides easily across any hard surface. The unit is pretty solid though the big red wing can sometime come off a little too easy but mostly they stay pretty well on the main body.

Kaito has movable clear green visor which adds a nice color to the head design. (This seem to be TAKARA recent trend with Microman Force line). The design is simple and clean which goes well with the bike theme. One nice thing about Road Force is the clear chest part which add a nice cool factor to the otherwise mundane anime look.

RS-02 RIDE-PYTHON w/ ROAD FORCE RYU

Ride Python is blue, black and chrome futuristic bike with various chrome weapons.  The bike has nice winged design that reminds one of the old 70's Japanese sci-fi shows. Microman figure fit easily on top of the bike and stay pretty secure even without any peg or strap. You will require some adjustment to the arms and legs for nice pose and might be get annoy with those pesky Microman 200X hands that tend to come out of the socket but overall the figure fit well to the bike. (The grip hands with up and down articulation work best for Ryu).

Ryu has movable clear purple visor which adds a nice color to the head design. The design is simple and clean which goes well with the bike theme. One nice thing about Road Force is the clear chest part which add a nice cool factor to the otherwise mundane anime look. Ryu is the leader of Road Force team.

RS-03 DELTA PHANTOM w/ ROAD FORCE THUNDER

Delta Phantom is mostly black with green and silver trims, futuristic quad bike. Delta Phantom is the most aggressive looking of the four Road-mobiles with machine gun mount on the front of the handle bars. The bike is solidly built with several detachable chromed parts. Microman rider fits easily on to the bike with some minimal adjustment. All four wheels spin effortlessly with solid feel that one would not expect that it actually could split in half to form the base for the combine mode.

Thunder has movable clear thin red visor which adds a nice color to the head design. (This seem to be TAKARA recent trend with Microman Force line). The design is simple and clean which goes well with the bike theme. One nice thing about Road Force is the clear chest part which add a nice cool factor to the otherwise mundane anime look.

RS-04 SIDE CALIBER w/ ROAD FORCE RAY

Side Caliber is orange and chrome futuristic bike with side-car. What nice about this bike is the fact that the side-car is fully functional and you can easily put in another Road Force figure as passenger. Most toy bike with side-car are usually non-functioning and only for show only so it is nice to see Side Caliber one really work. The bike itself is separate into two pieces, the main bike and the side-car part. They are connected by simple peg and groove but held together pretty good. The wheels do not have real rubber tires but are nicely done using separate pieces and give nice illusion of real tires. The figure fit on the bike easily but might need some fiddling to get the right pose. The wheels on these Road Spartan also spin freely and smooth and a joy to roll around on hard surface. A very solid construction overall and definitely a big change from the Biomachine vehicles.

Road Force Ray is the only sole female in the group. The female Road Force body, surprisingly, is mostly new sculpt just for this series. Her suit design, while similar to the other three Road Force figures, is the most unique of the team. Ray is mostly orange with white highlight and mostly pink chest. On Ray, only small "M" is left in clear across her chest. She has pony-tail hairdo and the face has movable green visor that cover most of her face when in down position. The use of green tint clear part really gives the Road Force figure a very nice splash of color to the usually indistinctive chrome head look. The figure is well made and very sturdy. The only complain is the shoulder armors which tend to pop out of the socket but overall the figure held together well. Like the other Road Force, the figure has an added feet articulations.