What were these Micronaut looking knock-off's that were sitting on the shelves at the local TRU and Lionel Kiddie City? That's probably what kids were asking themselves around 1985 or so. These would be the same kids that by now had probably out grown these same toys, and remembered that they were once an old favorite. But now these things looked very strange…they had bright yellow and red colors. And then too, there were the other favorite Micronaut toys that were missing…these knock-off things were confusing.

These were The Inter-changeables, and they weren't quite the same Micronauts that this kid played with just a few years ago. Most likely they were passed up and not bought, and ended up warming the shelves. With sales most likely not good, they were eventually marked down and finally left the discount bins around 1987/8.The first series Inter-changeables line was drastically scaled down from the vast original Micronauts line, containing mostly figures and vehicles from the first series Micronaut releases. The production of these toys was obviously scaled down as well, containing none of the die-cast metal figures or accents that the original Micronauts had, and a severely cheaper grade of plastic. Toys that previously contained die-cast metal parts (such as the C.I.R.E.S./Giant Acroyear) were now cast all in plastic instead. This brittle plastic used didn't hold up to the usual rough child play ware, and probably helped contribute to the short life span of this "new" line.