"Micropolis,
the building set that never stops growing," read the Mego catalog. There
were 5 different Micropolis building sets released and the Galactic Command
Center or GCC, was one of them. Released in 1978 as a very large boxed
item, the city sets were designed to stimulate a childs creative ability,
and at the same time, make their fingertips very sore! Based on the snap
together building panels included with the Microman Build Base play set,
the Micropolis city sets could be assembled in any configuration you could
think up. The basic idea was to connect each panel with small gray connectors
and build structures that resembled the ones on the packaging. Each set
came with a large sized instruction sheet map that acted like blue prints
for each building section. You could lay each panel out on the map, and
then begin the arduous task of snapping each in onto each connector. Each
panel contained roughly 12 5mm holes, and had small recessed surfaces
to snap the square connectors into. The connectors had a small bend in
them, and contained 4 dimples. The bend allowed the connector to fold
over for corners or be rigid for walls, depending on which way you attached
it to the panel piece. This was the "exclusive snap-action two-way Microhinge"!The
GCC contained 2 basic structures, a mid-section and crane tower.
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This
particular set had 227 parts, and had these basic components: square panels,
triangle panels, octagon panels, domes, chairs, and girders. The distinguishing
feature of the GCC was the gray plastic winch, computer consoles and stair
sections. The winch came with a snap together crank that fit onto the
side, and pulled up the hook with the string on the inside. The Mego catalogs
show different red stair sections and yellow girders, but the Micropolis
city sets went through even more drastic changes upon final release.
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In the
Micronaut pamphlets released in 1977, the initial prototypes were shown,
and then quickly changed in the catalogs as they decided on a final design,
undoubtedly to maximize repackaging the same parts as different sets.
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This use of repackaging was used for the figures as well, only they were in different colors. This set also included a small plastic accessory tree, which contained 22 different connectors. The Micropolis building sets did however look very cool and space aged when built, and were hours of fun…because they usually took hours to assemble!
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