1978 Police Keeper Series

Microman Police Keeper Micro Knight - MC13 Green Micro Knight (c.1979)

Micro Knight

Microman Series

1974

Microman Zone
First year of included the Founder Microman, Micro Kit Machines and Conning Tower.

1975

Project Victory
Second year saw more Microman and several new sub series such as the Acroyears, Titans and Victory series.

1976

Spy Magician

The line finally came into its own during the third year with new figures and the classic Microman Transfer Fortress.

1977

Command
A watershed year for Microman series, this year saw some of the best toys for the line. 

1978

Police Keeper

Takara tried new design and direction for the series with the released of Hoodman and Arden. 

1979

Rescue Team
Takara "rescue" attempt for the line with the Rescue Team Microman.  This year also saw updated of the old favorite like the New Tower Base.

1980

Punch & Blizzard Man
The last year of the original series saw the shift in the line to more robot like look and larger figures.

New Microman Series

1981

New Microman
Takara reset the line and relaunch the series under the New Microman banner.

1982

Micro Robot
Micro Robot series became the main focus of the new line.  Takara also tried to cash in on the "pla-mo" popularity with Real Type and Micro Borg.

1983

Micro Change
The "transformation" for Microman series began with the Micro Change series.

1984

Transformers

Takara continued with the successful Micro Change series but the changing of the guard was inevitable.

In early part of 1979, Takara released the second Microman Police Keeper series - the Micro Knights. Micro Knights were very difference from other Microman figures.  For a starter they were not really Microman but rather androids built by Microman Police Keeper.  Micro Knight also did not have Microman cyborg-like design, instead the body was based on medieval knight suit of armors.  The figure also was completely done with vacuum metalizer processed which made them quite difference from the standard Microman figures. Micro Knight did share several of Microman traits such as the white glove hands/cuffs, and the 5 mm ports.  Micro Knight also shared Microman Police Keeper M23X type feet and weapon accessory (Pulsar Gun and Energy Backpack).  There were six members in the original series MC8, MC9, MC10, MC11, MC12 and MC13. The first three Micro Knights (MC08-MC10) were released in February of 1979 and the latter three (MC11-MC13) were sold in July of that same year.  The second series Micro Knights were less common than the first three.

Micro Knight Story 

Microman Police Keeper build MicroKnight to fight against the new enemy - Satan Ardens, using the Mini-Robotman as a prototype design. MicroKnight are not Microman but rather an android.  The body of MicroKnight was coated with special Micro-Nitrate compounds which were a naturally occurring substance on Micro-Earth.  The special coating allowed the Micro Knights to withstand Arden's Chest Bomber attack without suffer serious damage. The Micro Knights were the same size as Microman and shared the same ports system (5mm port), so they can used Microman weapons such as the Police Keeper's Pulsar Short-wave Energy Gun and the Police Keeper Shield.   When the Pulsar Gun is used by MicroKnight, the energy came from inside the android's internal reactor furnace core and then channel through the backpack which made the beam three times more powerful than the normal Police Keeper Pulsar Gun.

Microman Police Keeper Micro Knight MC13

Micro Knights were some of the most highly details Microman figures from the original series. The entire figure was covered with small details and the glittering chrome really set them apart from the other series of Microman figures. Micro Knights were long sough after by collectors due to their novelty. The vintage versions were pretty hard to come by especially the second series Micro Knight (MC11-MC13). The molds for Micro Knight however did survive the time and Romando refurbished and reissued Micro Knights in 1996 during the short run of Microman Two-One much to the delight of fans and collectors who now can obtained these figures inexpensively. Takara later reissued the toys again in 2000 for the Replica Microman series. This time Takara also added a new member MC07 Flame and special Micro Knights "Glitter Mode" versions. Clear versions of Micro Knights were planned but never released.

(See also Takara Microman Replica Series - Micro Knight and Romando Microman21 Micro Knight)

"Micro Knight Catarog"

Micro Knight came with standard 1978 Microman Police Keeper catalog (far right), which were included with most of the Microman figures by 1979, however the catalog also came with single sheet insert Micro Knight catalog that featured beautiful Micro Knight photo. The back of the sheet showed the Police Keeper M23X figures and the first Micro Knight series MC8, MC9 and MC10. Noted the suggested retail prices for Micro Knight was 550 Yen, a whopping 70 Yen higher than standard Microman figure.

Micro Knight Checklist