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In late 2004, Ken Abrams
(Micronauts license holder) began talks with an über-fan of the
Micronauts, a guy named Jerry Macaluso. Jerry had a dream, or a vision
if you will...to make his own version of the Micronauts. To evolve his
beloved childhood toys in a way that had never been attempted before.
Coming off the success of his company SOTA (State Of The Art) Toys recent
Street Fighter series, and with no one else at the time doing anything
with the Micro-property, now was the time to take the plunge. By January
of 2005, and literally right before Toy Fair in NYC, the prototypes
of what would be his version of the Micronauts had arrived, a mere 20
years later. A few weeks before this momentous announcement, ISO had
the opportunity to interview Jerry Macaluso about the why's and how's
of this new take on the Micronauts...his Micronauts. The Evolution has
begun... |
 Micronauts Evolution prototypes on display at Toy Fair in NYC 2/21/05 |
ISO:
Let me get a couple of basic questions out of the way first. How old are
you and what year did you start SOTA toys?
Jerry Macaluso: I’m 36 and SOTA toys started probably in 1997, 98? But it started as a prototype company, we weren’t a toy manufacturer just a prototype company. ISO: When did you guys actually start doing your own manufacturing? JM: I believe that was 2001 was the first time we tried it. We did Planet Of The Apes mini-busts, and we pretty much botched it…so I thought I’d leave that alone, that wasn’t quite my thing…but I just couldn’t resist trying it again so we gave it another shot with the Jenna Jameson action figure. ISO: Very wise choice with that one… JM: You know, it was dumb luck. I just happened to be friends with Jenna, more so friends with her friend, and it seemed like it was easy, there was a market…yeah, we just got lucky. ISO: Your company already has a few licenses, mostly to do with established properties with bigger tie-in’s, things like “Street Fighter”, the “Now Playing” line of horror stuff, “Chronicles of Riddick” how did you end up getting the Micronauts property and why did you decide to go with it? JM: I consider myself one of the “bigger” Micronaut fans, I have every figure in box and loose…I’m the only person I know who has 2 Ampzillas, I’m sure there’s some people out there who may have 3…I have an Acroyear tattoo…Micronauts were my Star Wars when I was a kid. I liked Star Wars but Micronauts were the thing. And when Palisades got the license, I begged Ken (Lilly, VP of production at Palisades Toys) not to re-issue the old toys, and I said let’s just re-design the Micronauts. Let’s just take what’s there and update it and release all new figures. He said “yeah, yeah, yeah…were gonna do it, but first were gonna re-release all the toys.” I just thought that was a bad idea. I guess I just wanted to do it my way. So I called Ken Abrams up… |
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ISO: And what time was this…this was after the whole Palisades thing… JM: …2004, I called Ken Abrams up and said, ”Look…nobodies doing anything with it, I’m sure nobodies beating the door down looking to buy it because after the Palisades thing you know, retail is terrified of it." I mean, I doubt I’ll be able to get it into retail store very much; they considered it a huge disaster. They also considered Street Fighter a disaster. When we bought Street Fighter every single retail store said no way. Street Fighter is dead, there hasn’t been anything new in four years, you’re crazy. Yet, it was one of the best selling lines of last year. So I’m trusting my gut on Micronauts the same way I did on Street Fighter. ISO: Well, Street Fighter also has a little bit more of a history and back story, not saying that Micronauts doesn’t, but Street Fighter has things like a video game…what do you think about the Micronauts line that’s gonna bring it up to that level? JM: Well, this was one of the first things that I explained to Ken (Abrams) when I first told him I wanted to do it. I am a Micronauts fan, I have other friends that are huge Micronauts fans, and I respect Micronauts fans, but were not really making this line for the Micronauts fan. I mean, I hope that they like it, but were making this line to re-energize the whole Micronauts brand. |
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 Karza's wing detail courtesy of and © SOTA Toys |
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ISO: Let me get into more specifics on the figures then, for instance: what will be the size/scale of the figures, how many points of articulation are you trying to get on each figure… JM: 6” scale, which means that Space Glider is 6”. I consider him a 6’ tall guy. ISO: Well now let me ask you this…do you think you’ll have any problems with older fans maybe not liking the fact that you’re going above the classic 3 3/4” size? |
 Baron Karza concept sketch courtesy of and © SOTA Toys |
JM: …well, you know…I know it’s going to happen, I know some people are gonna not like that. But the truth is, if that’s what they want, then Takara’s bringing Microman into the US right now. So that fills that void. I’m not going to be able to do that any better than Takara is. ISO: Yeah, I was going to ask you if you were aware of the insane amount of Micro-stuff Takara is doing now… JM: I’m aware…every time I go to Hong Kong, I get every single thing that comes out before it gets here. |
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ISO: Month after month after month they (Takara) are non-stop pumping out Microman…do you find this to be your biggest source of competition for the fans Micro-buck? JM: I don’t think there’s any competition for this line in the sense that its not really like anything esle out there. That doesn’t necessarily me this line’s going to sell out, the reason is; a small company has never done anything like this before. Big companies take chances with totally new original lines. In many ways, the Micronauts name is a license, it’s a brand, it has a following, but it’s also an “original” item in the sense that most of the new people we hope to bring on really wont be familiar with them. ISO: It’s kind of the way a small band puts out a record on an independent label. They reach a few thousand people, but then those few fans think they sell out once they reach a bigger market with a major label release… JM: Exactly! That’s a good analogy, because I’m as big a fan as can be, and I’m hoping that if I like them, others will. I think were tapping into something…when people look at Karza’s head, they know it’s Karza. There’s a reason why it’s my favorite toy line of all time…it would be really obnoxious, arrogant and stupid of me to veer too far. |
 Karza's flip up chest panels |
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ISO: I see that the interchangeability factor is a big plus that you’re carrying over, what about the 5mm peg/hole system that is known with the vintage line? Will you be carrying that over as well with the new figures? JM: I don’t know if were doing 5mm, but I know were are going to have compatible size. It is designed in that sense. Every figure is designed with holes that are a standard size, but it’s far better integrated. It’s not just like, here’s an arm with a giant hole in it. It’s all worked into the armor for the characters. ISO: Will any of these accessories be possible compatible with the MEGO and Palisades stuff? JM: Only if we go to 5mm…which our figures are bigger, so I’m not sure 5mm is going to work. ISO: Well, the Karza and Magno figures are 6” scale, with the 5mm holes in the backs… JM: Those, yeah, I guess the Magno figures yes… ISO: There are a lot of vintage Magno fans that just go crazy for those types of figures, and if they can get brand new accessories that are compatible for them, for customs and what not, you’ll have guys going nuts for that stuff… JM: The theory is to try to stick with the 5mm, but we kind of have to see how it goes at manufacturing at this point. If we can stick with it, we will, and we’ll play it by ear. But at the very least, all the sizes will be compatible with the new line. |
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ISO: Now with the 6” figure scale, obviously a lot of detail, how may points of articulation are you shooting for? JM: You know what? I don’t count them, but it’s more than Street Fighter. Depending on how you count certain joints, anywhere from 28 to 30. Our figures will have more articulation than the new Microman figures. ISO: The old line was a mix of die-cast metal and plastic, what will these be? JM: No die-cast metal…I would love to try something like that, but to do that our sales will have to be really high to afford it because it’s expensive. Unless it takes off and becomes the next He-Man, I just don’t think it’s gonna happen. I mean I think it’s cool, I love the weight and my old Shogun Warriors and all that, but yeah…it’s doubtful. ISO: You used to work with Ken Lilly at Resaurus…did you ever talk to him about his whole Micronauts experience, the in’s and out’s of the whole Micronauts property? JM: A little bit yeah, I was the first person Ken called when they got it. Talked with him about it, before he found you…lucky for him, you were just a wealth of knowledge and you even donated toys, right? |
 Space Glider hand painted prototype (click to enlarge) courtesy of and © SOTA Toys |
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ISO: (laughs) Yeah, I was the guy who just happened to be right down the street in Maryland who had a gigantic vintage collection that uh, disappeared in a month to the flame of the production factory… JM: He wanted mine! I just couldn’t do it… ISO: Well, the only thing that got me through it was that I knew that I was contributing to making new ones, and that’s what eBay is for, right? And I knew he didn’t need anything of severe value… JM: No Ampzilla’s right… ISO: Yeah…and you got 2! Are yours American packaging or Italian? JM: American actually… ISO: Nice…I’ll have to get a picture of that! There’s all sorts of folklore about how much was actually released in the US…I have a MEGO packaged Lobstros that I got from New Zealand of all places… JM: Wow, I only got the Italian of that one… ISO: I don’t even know how that got all the way over there… JM: It’s crazy, isn’t it? It’s like someone took a shotgun and spread them all over the world. (laughs) ISO: Italy picked up the license after MEGO went under, and there’s this whole “Interchangeables” connection with the Italian stuff that’s kind of weird. JM: Yeah, I had never known the real back-story until I watched the DVD’s from the Mego Con. (Ray Miller’s presentation) I didn’t know a lot of that, I knew about the Interchangeables and all, but didn’t know the whole thing. |
ISO: Where do you think this cost is lying in…the sculpting details, the accessories? JM: Separate pieces, opening panels, accessories, removable pieces, and hundreds of paint applications. Probably over 150 paint operations on each figure…
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 early Space Glider concept art courtesy of and © SOTA Toys |
ISO: Ken (Lilly) had that predicament too…whether to go with molded plastic or paint apps…but I think when you are dealing with the vintage stuff it’s smarter to go as true to the original as possible. JM: I agree. ISO: And with the Palisades series 3, Ken had grand schemes too…but it never happened to make new original stuff. So in a way, this is following in the same footsteps… JM: Oh, it definitely is. I was really excited about what they (Palisades) were going to do, this kind of happens a lot with us as a company. It happened with Street Fighter when Palisades was going to do it and I was really excited, and then it didn’t happen. And when it didn’t happen, I thought well, screw that! You got me all excited, so I’ll just go buy the license and do it! (laughs) I tend to do that… ISO: And it worked out! So fingers crossed for Micronauts… JM: So far, yeah. Unlike a lot of lines we do where we’ll have the second line already developed by the time the first line comes out, with the Micronauts we’re gonna hold off. We’re gonna do the first line and see what happens. |
