Ten year old me had all but the book ones, never even knew about those, I love them. Fun fact when I got married my wife had gotten all the Star Trek and Babylon 5 ones, so we have a large collection of them.
Ah man, that video bought back so many great memories. I had the Boba Fett and Darth Vader heads along with lots of ships and characters. My favourite toy line of all time and my friends loved it. 3 packets of micro machines stormtroopers figures made you feel like you had the entire empire at your disposal.
I’m surprised that you didn’t mention the huge Death Star play set! It was massive, and the mechanism to open it was really cool, and it was the only way to get a Shuttle Tyderium with foldable wings...
Actually, the Emperor Royal Guard head set has this Shuttle and it has a mechanism to make it look like it's launching and the wings unfold with the press of a button. So awesome!
They did sell the book ones in retail. I got all 3 from Big Lots in the South. Before that they were sold at Kay-Bee toys. I waited for Big Lots to get them because they were cheaper since it’s a discount store.
@@spectorcreative1872 Ross stores as well, yes? I remember seeing the GI Joe 25th Anniversary Assault/Defense of Cobra Island multipacks in a Ross, and those were supposed to be online exclusives somewhere.
I remember being totally uninterested in Star wars Micro Machines as a kid (im 43). But now in hindsight I with I had given them a chance. As an adult, I think they look awesome. Great video.
Next to the vintage Kenner Star Wars line, The Micro Machines Star Wars line are my favorite Star Wars toys/collectibles. I remember finding the figures and vehicle packs, at Toys R Us in the clearance bin, in the late 90s, for just $1.00! I bought as many as I possibly could. They look awesome on display, especially with my vintage Star Wars figures, vehicles and playsets. Another awesome video, Sir.
As a kid I absolutely loved Action Fleet. I still have my original Slave I proudly displayed on my toy shelf- complete with Boba Fett and the Han in Carbonite.
This is definitely my favorite Star Wars toy line. Any time I was able to, I'd use my allowance money to buy more of them and try to get a fleet. One of my absolute must-haves that I eventually got was the Emperor's Royal Guard playset, because this one had a Shuttle Tyderium with *folding wings*. The only other ship that had movable features was Slave I, and the biggest feature of the Shuttle is its signature wings, so naturally I needed this one! It was only after I got it that I realized the pins on the wings were rather delicate, and they eventually fell off and got lost. But this was a really great set... it had an exploding reactor core, a hangar with a little lifting rod for the shuttle to "take off", and the Emperor's throne which would come out and do a 180 spin as it was pulled out. Fantastic playset amongst a plethora of great sets!
I LOVED the Sci-Fi Micro-Machines! I got most of the "Star Trek," "Aliens," "Predator," "Terminator," and "Men in Black" ones, all of "Babylon 5" ones, and nearly all the original-run "Star Wars" ones. I think there were a couple of outside-the-USA-only book sets I missed out on, but I managed to get nearly all the uniquie micro-vehicles. Speaking of the Action Fleet Micro-Machines, back in early December 1998, a couple of my pals and I went to the Cuyahoga Falls Toys 'R' Us and found the entire original Expanded Universe wave of POTF2 figures on clearance for $3 a pop. When we'd filled our carts with those and paid for them, we went across the street to the Target to scope out what they had, and saw stacks and rows of case-fresh Action Fleet E-Wings and TIE Defenders, easily 20 of each, possibly more. But because we didn't collect Action Fleet, we just said "Huh. Neat," and left them there. I like stories. 🤣
Micro machines were an integral part of my childhood. as ive grown up now im really looking to start up a collection again. thanks for covering this, and best wishes
I loved these things as a child, I also used to make my own micro machine "scale" space ships out of warhammer parts and parts of other toys, paint them up with warhammer paints and add them to my collection, good times.
A few things to add. There was a MicroMachine Action Fleet figure of George Lucas. He appeared as a helmeted TIE Interceptor pilot but you could tell before opening if you looked carefully through the box window. Then there was the Star Wars MicroMachines Special Edition Trilogy Promo. A three pack with the Falcon, Slave 1 and the 2nd Death Star that was given away at cinemas for RoTJ Special Edition (but not in the UK - a secondary market purchase) and finally there were the Action Fleet sets with bespoke Ralph McQuarrie box art.
Thanks for such an awesome in depth look at the not too frequently discussed Star Wars MM line. This is the best one I've seen! While these were great to collect I hated losing parts. Tough in terms of tiny size the micro playsets from the vintage era hold the top space in my heart. Man I loved those Hoth & Cloud City ones & still miss my childhood ones.
Joined you in that wistful sigh for the memory of toy stores.... :) My friends' niche interests don't entirely intersect; I click 'share' on as many of these as am able. This is one of them.
Thank you so much Scott for making this video! Back in the 90's I had a buddy who was collecting Hasbro figures and ships. He made fun of me for collecting the Action Fleets/Micro Macines and all the other Gallob stuff. With this video, I feel vindicated for my collection! I still have that stuff and still love all of it!
The Heir to the Empire, Jedi Search, and Truce at Bakura sets definitely shipped to retail. My brothers and I purchased multiples of each and I still have the Lady Luck, Flurry, and Z-95 models. The Courtship of Princess Leia set never showed up though.
My 8 year old is big into Predator. What was good for us as kids I figure is good for him now he seems interested and mature enough. What ever happened to the rated R family movies like T2 and Rambo?
There is a big difference between the Titanium Line and the Hot Wheels Star Wars vehicles. The first feature moving parts, like landing gear, cannons, S-foils and opening cockpits (with clear parts in some cases); meanwhile the Hot Wheels vehicles have no play features and a few of them had a chunky look in order to make them sturdier. I can attest to this first hand, by comparing the new trilogy's X-Wing in both lines.
We have all the micro machines vehicles in our studio. Fantastic line and the only products that were available in stores before the POTF2 line returned in 1995. The vehicle sculpts still hold up today.
I just literally found some for sale in a store near me. I bought an action fleete jedi Luke with his lightsaber. He's awesome, he's about an inch tall but still has articulation, he looks great and stands well. I'll be going back to buy some more figures, they're just so well done!
Recently started rebuilding my childhood collection. Thankful that NIB sealed product is still extremely reasonable. I’ve started with the character head playsets and the action fleet battle packs! Thanks for all the great info in this vid, you prompted me to purchase the galoob fan club minis! Got both for about $20, low serial numbers, excellent box condition.
I was in my teens when these were at retail & I only ever bought the Endor diorama. In my early 40s now & I can't stop buying them, Galoob did a wonderful job on these.
The Star Wars Micro Machines were the reason why I first noticed things like the Executor being different from other Star Destroyers (and a recurring ship), or B-Wings, or those weird orange Bespin speeders.
Star tours (and the shop after) literally blew my little 10 year old mind, it was crazy to think I was in Disneyland to begin with, but to imagine such a paradise existed there... Separate note, I had a bunch of those head sets, the biker scout was my favorite! I remember getting another really awesome set that had preproduction vehicles instead of the final movie versions, a snow speeder and atat iirc. Can't remember if they were micro machine though lol
The book sets did end up at some retail stores. I worked at a Suncoast Motion Picture Company store, which was owned by the Musicland group from 1995 - 2001. I remember those sets being available in my store, as well as the On Cue and Sam Goody stores that were in neighboring areas (those chains were also owned by the Musicland group). I can't recall seeing them at other retailers in my area, but I distinctly remember having those book Micro Machine sets in the Musicland group stores.
I love the Star Wars Micro Machines and Action Fleet spin-off lines. Action Fleet was and still is, incredible and collectible. The playsets were awesome and remain some of the best Star Wars and Micro Machines playsets ever made. Galoob launched the line in 1994 with 3 packs and 3 playsets from each film: The Death Star, Ice Planet Hoth and Endor. The line quickly expanded in 1995 with more of the transforming action sets (the ones that were character heads that opened up). The 3 packs were re-released in 1996-1998, and the playsets went under the new branding also until the line was discontinued with the Rebel Transport, Imperial Star Destroyer/Space Fortress and Cloud City in 1998, before Episode I came in. Toward the end of the Original Trilogy sets, Galoob made vehicle playsets too.
Love these Galoobs vehicles. My old car that I was driving in college has all the suction cup dangling mini vehicles on the wind screen! Good thing my girlfriend at the time also loved them
Cool video. I just acquired a few vehicles and figures on Monday. Came in a few assorted grab bags with some MOTU stuff. I wasn't familiar with the small toys. I thought at first the figs were game pieces cause they had bases. I bought my kids some of the I believe Hot Wheels brand ships with the stand you can put your finger in and fly around. Every time the property does something right, I drop your channel name and try to send viewers over. I let them know you are one of us and a step in the right direction.
I loved the starwars micromachine range, I had the action fleet vehicles and both death Star play sets, including the "battle damage" Darth Vader tie fighter. It was deffinetly an awesome line.
I have sooo many of these, a lot still in the packages! I wish they had more value today because I sadly need to sell them off to make space. When it came to the mini ships, I loved the Rebel fighters and Tie fighters but didn't like the larger and smaller ships because the scale was so off. I was also a big fan of the little figures. I had so much fun with all the playsets, especially the big Death Star, the Hoth Base and the Millenium Falcon. My friend's little brother had the super cool Aztec Rebel Base and I wanted that one so much. My favorite was the Action Fleet. They made such great little display and play pieces. I was a big fan of their size and it was the first time I was able to get my hands on a decent sized, affordable Tie Bomber, which is my favorite ship. I always wanted the old metal Kenner one but it was too rare and pricy. To this day, I'm still so disappointed that I could never find the Tie Defender. I wanted that more than anything. We went to Walmart and Kmart so many times searching for it but never could find it.
@@spectorcreative1872 I had so much fun with it back in the day! I'd set up all my little bad guy and alien figures all over then have my hero figures like Luke and Han adventure through all the various locations fighting the bad guys, making their way to the very top to fight Vader. :)
This is great, I love micro machines 👍👍 I have a few hundred cars and vehicles and have a few unopened star trek packs. Now I'm going to have to track down some of these, they're just awesome. I forgot they made these until one of your recent videos had some pics of your collection 👍
The early 90s was my favorite time to collect SW to be honest, it was an “entirely different beast/game” The MicroMachines were my favorite line and I spent many mornings tracking down every single sub-set. I still have them in the back of a storage unit.
@@spectorcreative1872 totally..the ones I don’t have though are apparently very rare...basically if I’ve found them I’ve bought them...regardless of price, I admit, with just a tad bit of shame, lol
I really liked the Action Fleet series, I believe they ended it after Episode 2, so there are plenty they could make if they started their and moved forward with some classics thrown in there.
The action fleet TIEs (including the Defender) were on my shelf for many years. The Micro TIE would look great next the them but I never did get it, just the x-wing that I loved crashing on every surface in the house.
I agree 100%. The Z-95 Head Hunters should have been in the Prequels. I've always thought the Jedi should have piloted them and the Clone pilots should have flown the sleek looking, panel covered Y-Wing bombers and fighters. This way the ship designs would have flowed more seamlessly into the OT. Given that the Y-Wings were the oldest fighters in the Rebel Alliance, it would have made sense to see them instead of the ARC-170s.
The Micro machines were great! Sometimes I wish I collected these, not only would I have a Tonnika sister in my collection, I'd probably have more room!
The book sets were available at retail in Canada, from Zellers, a now defunct department store chain. I had the Jedi Search set, and I remember seeing Heir to the Empire and The Truce at Bakura sets for sale.
An the memories! I used to collect the action fleet and some of the playsets that was until I got into my eBay phase and sold Luke's xwing and the millennium falcon for 50 bucks. To this day the only one I own now is slave one with boba fett and frozen Han.
As you said toward the end, the Star Wars Micro Machines and Action Fleet line included vehicles (Rebel Transport, Imperial Star Destroyer, Cloud City, Echo Base) which still haven’t appeared (as far as vehicle playsets are concerned), anywhere else. Action Fleet had the E-Wing, TIE Defender and at the end the Republic Assault Ship, which barely resurfaced as vehicles again. The Micro Machines line folded in 2000, Action Fleet in 2000 and again in 2003 and Hasbro did cover Episode III with Micro Vehicles, a very short lived line with 3 playsets. The Separatist Battle Cruiser, Clone Turbo Tank and Blockade Runner (Tantive IV).
@@spectorcreative1872 that is true that it was never completed as Micro Machines omitted Episode II and Action Fleet never made it to Episode III. It was a shame when Hasbro cancelled the Action Fleet line. They seriously mismanaged it for many reasons. Having taken out the figures by Episode II and producing the last Episode I vehicles in lower quantities, making them much harder to find. Out of all the lines I’ve collected (The Transformers, Kenner Star Wars, The Power Of The Force II, MASK, Star Wars Micro Machines, Masters Of The Universe, Visionaries, Action Fleet and now, Dino-Riders) Action Fleet has been the hardest to get (until you start looking for Visionaries and Dino-Riders that is). Hasbro also changed the packaging design, taking out any advertising for the other vehicles in the line (using only images of the ships from the film, not the Action Fleet vehicles) and didn’t even show the action features. I have the AT-TE from the Episode II line and they seriously undersold it through the box design. Nowhere on the box does it say all the legs move, the cannon rotates and the cockpit opens. This was done to make them more display models than action vehicles. But it wasn’t a good move on Hasbro’s part at all. The idea of removing any mention of the action features probably made it tank on shelves as people weren’t interested in Action Fleet vehicles that apparently had no “action” to them.
I loved them back in the 90s. I was happy when they brought them back for TFA...even if they were a bit "different". I was extremely happy with the the Ep 2 and 3 vehicles. But that TIE Phantom...exquisite. Sadly, the Rogue One sets never made it to Canada. I even bought most of the Titanium and Mattel's versions.
I have those big packs of multiple Star Wars and another of Star Trek micro machines. I haven't opened then since I was a kid (though the boxes are a bit banged up) because I wasn't sure I waned them. I'm a fan, but not a big geek for these franchises. Though, as I am getting older, I am looking back at things and wondering if I was and didn't know it.
I have a 3.75" 'Ishi Tib' Tibrin figure. He's one of my favourites. The 'Book Sets', I bought from Forbidden Planet, here in England - I got a couple of each, one to open, and one to keep.
The 3 3/4" Ishi Tib is not the one from Jabba's Palace. Same species, but different character. The Hasbro/Kenner one is from the Home One briefing scene.
I specifically remember the book MM versions being in a store of some sort, maybe KB Toys, but I remember picking them up looking at them and thinking what a cool idea it was.
The Action Fleet stuff brings back memories cause we used to play Star Wars Miniatures Battles from West End Games and although the action Fleet was more 20mm than 25mm we would base the figures on pennies to make em taller and use the vehicles as scenery or objectives.
I did forget to mention the Starship Troopers Action Fleet line! Also you mentioned “it was never completed”. Definitely agree. Micro Machines ended in 2000, completely skipping Episode II but returned for Episode III as “Micro Vehicles” and also Micro Machines, in 2005. There were only 9 packs and 3 playsets released though. The figures were more Action Fleet sized and the playsets were vehicles that opened up which didn’t show up often in the Micro Machines line. The Action Fleet line ended in 2000 but due to increasing fan demand was revived in 2002. Hasbro cancelled it in 2003 releasing 5 vehicles for Episode II and took out the figures entirely and only continued the battle packs range, releasing only 3 before it all folded.
I was already into micro machines, so these did interest me. There were just too many for me to afford. I did get the x-ray larger scale variants though. Micro machines had a regular car x-ray line, which was very cool, so I was ecstatic when they did x-ray Star Wars vehicle sets.
I would argue that Star Wars the roleplaying game by Westend Games kept Star Wars alive for me and many kids, they also were key in creating a lot of the EU, naming species, vehicles and characters.
I really liked the Action Fleet scaled vehicles. They were big enough that they had more play value (at least to me) and the playsets were sweet. I had all 3 (Hoth, the Death Star and Yavin Base) when I was in middle school right before I stopped really playing with toys and they were awesome.
I have similar feelings regarding the small Star Trek ships MM put out... good stuff. And yeah, the SW Action Fleet was special; I almost got into making dioramas with them. I should find where I have those and turn them into work desk decoration...
One of my good friends has *tons* of the microfigures; I think I have a few droids floating around here I could contribute to her collection. I kind of suspect a bit of the collector spark may be re-fueled!
For a guy who atm isn't really into the whole figure thing (except for the history of it) this is awesome. I would have loved these as a kid. I don't think they ever sold over here though :/
I always wanted to gather the strength to start collecting them :) Another nice line of models in similar scale are the ones from Star Wars Armada and the X-Wing miniature wargames.
Yeah. I loved it when these came out. I think I have practically all of them. Folks have pointed this out already I think, but the first wave of the “ book sets “ were released heavily at retail. I don’t think they sold well so the ones you had to contact the company to get were probably the , from what I’ve seen, extremely rare second wave. They did a similar thing with the little mini head sets but all or most of that second assortment became kids meal toys at Pizza Hut.
Scott, you have given us another great video. I wonder if there is anything you can say or want to say about games which involve small toys. For example, Star Wars Miniatures, Hero Clix and so forth.
i and i cant stress this enough forgot about the deathstar play set from 97 and holy cow i remember owning and it i got 100s of hours of play out of that thing easily.
These came out as I was transitioning from play to collecting. So still in packs. The only ones I opened were the Titanium series since the package didn't do them justice.
I actually bought one of those novelization sets at a Blockbuster Video in 1997 so a few did make retail, it was I think the only set I owned and I bought it because the set was the first time Mara Jade and Wedge Antilles were released
Galoob’s best offering was the Action Fleet Rancor than could eat the mini figs, which could then be retrieved via a hatch on the figure’s backside. My friends and I refer to this as “the pooping Rancor.”
I still have the Death Star dangly and the Jedi Search book pack. I can’t remember where exactly I got the dangly, but it was in Texas, and not Disney Land. The book pack I got from the Ft. Hood PX.
Oh my. I was twelve when these started coming out. I was leaving G.I. Joe and getting these. I have A TON of Star Destroyers (including Vader's SD from that Toys R Us exclusive pack you mentioned).
They are! I forgot how many I had. They're all boxed away along with the die-cast Executor you showed you that came later from Hasbro. The one thing that today reminds me of these SOOO much is the X-Wing tabletop game. They even have stands similar to the micromachines. I wonder at times if they're the same darn mold.
I asked over on Twitter... you said a while ago that the Cartoon/Toy Age did come to an end at the end of the 80's, right? The thing Reagan unleashed, but it sounds like it changed eventually? Yet I do still see cartoons and toys happening. What changed? Keep up the great work!
oh, these were such fun as a kid! i had a jacket with a popped seam in the pocket and i would hide micro machines in the lining of my jacket so i could play with them on the go did they have wheels? i remember wheeling them on some micro machine play sets, but i could be remembering wrong, it was a long time ago
Ten year old me had all but the book ones, never even knew about those, I love them. Fun fact when I got married my wife had gotten all the Star Trek and Babylon 5 ones, so we have a large collection of them.
It makes a great set!
Micro Machines was actually how I was introduced to Star Wars as a kid, as those were the first Star Wars merchandise I ever saw.
Me too!
A great intro!
Ah man, that video bought back so many great memories. I had the Boba Fett and Darth Vader heads along with lots of ships and characters. My favourite toy line of all time and my friends loved it. 3 packets of micro machines stormtroopers figures made you feel like you had the entire empire at your disposal.
This is the way
@@spectorcreative1872 I have spoken.
I had every. Single. One. Of em. Loved the expanded universe sets the most
It was such a complete set
I’m surprised that you didn’t mention the huge Death Star play set! It was massive, and the mechanism to open it was really cool, and it was the only way to get a Shuttle Tyderium with foldable wings...
I think I was just focusing on the ships. The playsets would be a video to themselves!
Yeah, there was a Tatooine-themed that had a Sentinel Landing Craft with folding wings, too.
Actually, the Emperor Royal Guard head set has this Shuttle and it has a mechanism to make it look like it's launching and the wings unfold with the press of a button. So awesome!
Which set was that? The only death star set ive seen with a shuttle was the royal guard head
The giant death star had the millennium falcon and a Ronto
I loved and still have a few of the Action Fleet ships.
I have the three "Shadows of the Empire" 3-Packs . . . Sealed.
Toys worth having!
They did sell the book ones in retail. I got all 3 from Big Lots in the South. Before that they were sold at Kay-Bee toys. I waited for Big Lots to get them because they were cheaper since it’s a discount store.
Yeah, I was gonna say I remember seeing them at Kay-Bee also.
Well Big lots is where toys are discounted out.
I got mine at KB toys as well.
@@spectorcreative1872 Ross stores as well, yes? I remember seeing the GI Joe 25th Anniversary Assault/Defense of Cobra Island multipacks in a Ross, and those were supposed to be online exclusives somewhere.
Yup, got mine at K B Toys. They had stacks of them.
I remember being totally uninterested in Star wars Micro Machines as a kid (im 43). But now in hindsight I with I had given them a chance. As an adult, I think they look awesome. Great video.
A true great line that doesn't always go appreciated. Glad you liked the video! Thanks for commenting.
Oh, these were awesome. We would lay down hexagon maps and use the Star Wars Micro Machines to play fleet wars
Nice!
Next to the vintage Kenner Star Wars line, The Micro Machines Star Wars line are my favorite Star Wars toys/collectibles. I remember finding the figures and vehicle packs, at Toys R Us in the clearance bin, in the late 90s, for just $1.00! I bought as many as I possibly could. They look awesome on display, especially with my vintage Star Wars figures, vehicles and playsets. Another awesome video, Sir.
Me too
I loved SW Micro Machines back in the 90s! Great video! Thanks, Scott.
Such great memories
The Action fleet is my ALL TIME favorite Star Wars line. I wish they'd bring that back.
Same, it was the perfect scale and every ship had some sort of action feature(s). Still the gold standard for collectible vehicles, I think.
Those were good times with great toys
The stands are good money nowadays. All the Hasbro Micro Machines didn’t come with stands. The Galoob line was the pinnacle of collecting miniatures.
Yeah I as so annoyed at the lack of stands int he Hasbro version
It's really cool that the ships / vehicles from the novels were shown in "Rebels".
Yeah, even the Outrider from Shadows.
As a kid I absolutely loved Action Fleet. I still have my original Slave I proudly displayed on my toy shelf- complete with Boba Fett and the Han in Carbonite.
I love how the Carbonite would open like a cabinet to hold Han!
This is definitely my favorite Star Wars toy line. Any time I was able to, I'd use my allowance money to buy more of them and try to get a fleet. One of my absolute must-haves that I eventually got was the Emperor's Royal Guard playset, because this one had a Shuttle Tyderium with *folding wings*. The only other ship that had movable features was Slave I, and the biggest feature of the Shuttle is its signature wings, so naturally I needed this one! It was only after I got it that I realized the pins on the wings were rather delicate, and they eventually fell off and got lost. But this was a really great set... it had an exploding reactor core, a hangar with a little lifting rod for the shuttle to "take off", and the Emperor's throne which would come out and do a 180 spin as it was pulled out. Fantastic playset amongst a plethora of great sets!
I LOVED the Sci-Fi Micro-Machines! I got most of the "Star Trek," "Aliens," "Predator," "Terminator," and "Men in Black" ones, all of "Babylon 5" ones, and nearly all the original-run "Star Wars" ones. I think there were a couple of outside-the-USA-only book sets I missed out on, but I managed to get nearly all the uniquie micro-vehicles.
Speaking of the Action Fleet Micro-Machines, back in early December 1998, a couple of my pals and I went to the Cuyahoga Falls Toys 'R' Us and found the entire original Expanded Universe wave of POTF2 figures on clearance for $3 a pop. When we'd filled our carts with those and paid for them, we went across the street to the Target to scope out what they had, and saw stacks and rows of case-fresh Action Fleet E-Wings and TIE Defenders, easily 20 of each, possibly more. But because we didn't collect Action Fleet, we just said "Huh. Neat," and left them there. I like stories. 🤣
Yeah I do love how many Sci Fi lines got Micro Machines!
Micro machines were an integral part of my childhood. as ive grown up now im really looking to start up a collection again. thanks for covering this, and best wishes
I loved the micro machine line. So excited to see Star Wars toys after such a drought
I felt exactly the same!
I loved these things as a child, I also used to make my own micro machine "scale" space ships out of warhammer parts and parts of other toys, paint them up with warhammer paints and add them to my collection, good times.
When toys were toys
I used Sharpie markers to color the white helmets of the X-Wing Pilots.
Star Trek and Babylon 5 micromachines were my jam as a kid
I love that so many sci fi franchises got Micro machines!
A few things to add. There was a MicroMachine Action Fleet figure of George Lucas. He appeared as a helmeted TIE Interceptor pilot but you could tell before opening if you looked carefully through the box window. Then there was the Star Wars MicroMachines Special Edition Trilogy Promo. A three pack with the Falcon, Slave 1 and the 2nd Death Star that was given away at cinemas for RoTJ Special Edition (but not in the UK - a secondary market purchase) and finally there were the Action Fleet sets with bespoke Ralph McQuarrie box art.
Yup! I remember that was even covered in Entertainment Weekly. Crazy toy easter egg.
I had, and still have, so many of these Micromachine star wars ships!
Well you can have Mer Man smash them with his sword now.
I LOVED these. I forgot all about them.
One of the gems of my personal collection still!
Incredible video my friend! I love anything vintage Starwars micro line. Beyond 😎 cool!
One of my favorite lines forever.
Thanks for such an awesome in depth look at the not too frequently discussed Star Wars MM line. This is the best one I've seen! While these were great to collect I hated losing parts. Tough in terms of tiny size the micro playsets from the vintage era hold the top space in my heart. Man I loved those Hoth & Cloud City ones & still miss my childhood ones.
Yeah crazy how little this line is discussed for how great it is!
Joined you in that wistful sigh for the memory of toy stores.... :)
My friends' niche interests don't entirely intersect; I click 'share' on as many of these as am able. This is one of them.
I am just glad the collection is complete
Thank you so much Scott for making this video! Back in the 90's I had a buddy who was collecting Hasbro figures and ships. He made fun of me for collecting the Action Fleets/Micro Macines and all the other Gallob stuff. With this video, I feel vindicated for my collection! I still have that stuff and still love all of it!
Oh these toys were way better! Glad the video was enjoyed. Feel free to repost it on social media. It helps the channel a ton
The Heir to the Empire, Jedi Search, and Truce at Bakura sets definitely shipped to retail. My brothers and I purchased multiples of each and I still have the Lady Luck, Flurry, and Z-95 models. The Courtship of Princess Leia set never showed up though.
Yeah I think after the did not sell through with the phone line they went to discount retailers and even KB> But not their intended original home.
@@spectorcreative1872 I think I got mine ay Kay*Bee.
I smiled the entire video I had a large majority of these toys when I was a kid and I'm sure now they're buried all over my parents backyard.
I've got the Predator Micro Machines packs, I'm utterly baffled how that film got approved for a childs line of toys. They're awesome though.
My 8 year old is big into Predator. What was good for us as kids I figure is good for him now he seems interested and mature enough. What ever happened to the rated R family movies like T2 and Rambo?
Starship Troopers too!
@@spectorcreative1872 And those had the awesome magnetic feature as well! The 'Bugs' make for good aliens/ bad guys w/ other toy lines.
I only have a handful of Star Wars Micro Machines. Now the Star Trek ones I have almost all of them.
I only have the Borg Cube.
There is a big difference between the Titanium Line and the Hot Wheels Star Wars vehicles. The first feature moving parts, like landing gear, cannons, S-foils and opening cockpits (with clear parts in some cases); meanwhile the Hot Wheels vehicles have no play features and a few of them had a chunky look in order to make them sturdier. I can attest to this first hand, by comparing the new trilogy's X-Wing in both lines.
Oh yes in no way are they exactly the same, but damn close.
@@spectorcreative1872 You probably meant that both lines aiming at same type of collectors for "Micromachines" sized ships. Sorry my bad.
We have all the micro machines vehicles in our studio. Fantastic line and the only products that were available in stores before the POTF2 line returned in 1995. The vehicle sculpts still hold up today.
Seriously right! For 20+ year old SW ships these are some of the best made!
I just literally found some for sale in a store near me. I bought an action fleete jedi Luke with his lightsaber. He's awesome, he's about an inch tall but still has articulation, he looks great and stands well. I'll be going back to buy some more figures, they're just so well done!
Recently started rebuilding my childhood collection. Thankful that NIB sealed product is still extremely reasonable. I’ve started with the character head playsets and the action fleet battle packs! Thanks for all the great info in this vid, you prompted me to purchase the galoob fan club minis! Got both for about $20, low serial numbers, excellent box condition.
Nice. A collection worth recreating
I was in my teens when these were at retail & I only ever bought the Endor diorama. In my early 40s now & I can't stop buying them, Galoob did a wonderful job on these.
I enjoyed the video .I just started kitbashing some SW and ST ships. Lots of fun.
It is a fun time
The Star Wars Micro Machines were the reason why I first noticed things like the Executor being different from other Star Destroyers (and a recurring ship), or B-Wings, or those weird orange Bespin speeders.
Yeah a great way to learn SW ships!
I still have the folding heads on display. Love them.
The best folding heads ever made
Star tours (and the shop after) literally blew my little 10 year old mind, it was crazy to think I was in Disneyland to begin with, but to imagine such a paradise existed there...
Separate note, I had a bunch of those head sets, the biker scout was my favorite! I remember getting another really awesome set that had preproduction vehicles instead of the final movie versions, a snow speeder and atat iirc. Can't remember if they were micro machine though lol
Yes, those were fabulous
Those head sets still give me nightmares.
The action fleet x-wing was my favorite toy as a kid!
A worthy favorite.
The book sets did end up at some retail stores. I worked at a Suncoast Motion Picture Company store, which was owned by the Musicland group from 1995 - 2001. I remember those sets being available in my store, as well as the On Cue and Sam Goody stores that were in neighboring areas (those chains were also owned by the Musicland group). I can't recall seeing them at other retailers in my area, but I distinctly remember having those book Micro Machine sets in the Musicland group stores.
Yeah I have heard this. They were discounted after "phone" distribution did not work
I love the Star Wars Micro Machines and Action Fleet spin-off lines. Action Fleet was and still is, incredible and collectible. The playsets were awesome and remain some of the best Star Wars and Micro Machines playsets ever made. Galoob launched the line in 1994 with 3 packs and 3 playsets from each film: The Death Star, Ice Planet Hoth and Endor. The line quickly expanded in 1995 with more of the transforming action sets (the ones that were character heads that opened up). The 3 packs were re-released in 1996-1998, and the playsets went under the new branding also until the line was discontinued with the Rebel Transport, Imperial Star Destroyer/Space Fortress and Cloud City in 1998, before Episode I came in. Toward the end of the Original Trilogy sets, Galoob made vehicle playsets too.
Such great toys!
I made and still have a custom battle damaged Darth Vader TIE Advanced Micro Machine. I was so creative.
More talented than I!
Man I loved these.
Such great toys
Love these Galoobs vehicles. My old car that I was driving in college has all the suction cup dangling mini vehicles on the wind screen! Good thing my girlfriend at the time also loved them
I had the Falcon in my car for years!
Cool video. I just acquired a few vehicles and figures on Monday. Came in a few assorted grab bags with some MOTU stuff. I wasn't familiar with the small toys. I thought at first the figs were game pieces cause they had bases. I bought my kids some of the I believe Hot Wheels brand ships with the stand you can put your finger in and fly around. Every time the property does something right, I drop your channel name and try to send viewers over. I let them know you are one of us and a step in the right direction.
Thanks for sharing the videos! It helps the channel a ton!
I loved the starwars micromachine range, I had the action fleet vehicles and both death Star play sets, including the "battle damage" Darth Vader tie fighter. It was deffinetly an awesome line.
So loved!
Great video. Don't see a lot of people talk about this line of Star Wars toys. Anything with Shadows of the Empire represented has got to be cool.
Yeah it is amazing how under talked about these are
I loved those. My favorite was the Vader head that unfolded to be Cloud City.
The Star Trek ships were awesome as well in this line!
It really was a fantastic toy line
I have sooo many of these, a lot still in the packages! I wish they had more value today because I sadly need to sell them off to make space. When it came to the mini ships, I loved the Rebel fighters and Tie fighters but didn't like the larger and smaller ships because the scale was so off. I was also a big fan of the little figures. I had so much fun with all the playsets, especially the big Death Star, the Hoth Base and the Millenium Falcon. My friend's little brother had the super cool Aztec Rebel Base and I wanted that one so much. My favorite was the Action Fleet. They made such great little display and play pieces. I was a big fan of their size and it was the first time I was able to get my hands on a decent sized, affordable Tie Bomber, which is my favorite ship. I always wanted the old metal Kenner one but it was too rare and pricy. To this day, I'm still so disappointed that I could never find the Tie Defender. I wanted that more than anything. We went to Walmart and Kmart so many times searching for it but never could find it.
That Big Death Star comes up a lot. It was a real favorite toy of many.
@@spectorcreative1872 I had so much fun with it back in the day! I'd set up all my little bad guy and alien figures all over then have my hero figures like Luke and Han adventure through all the various locations fighting the bad guys, making their way to the very top to fight Vader. :)
This is great, I love micro machines 👍👍 I have a few hundred cars and vehicles and have a few unopened star trek packs. Now I'm going to have to track down some of these, they're just awesome. I forgot they made these until one of your recent videos had some pics of your collection 👍
Micro machines are so under rated!
@@spectorcreative1872 yes, they are!
The early 90s was my favorite time to collect SW to be honest, it was an “entirely different beast/game”
The MicroMachines were my favorite line and I spent many mornings tracking down every single sub-set. I still have them in the back of a storage unit.
In many ways a better time
I collected as many of these as I could....love the action fleet. There are still several I need to get my hands on.
Totally worth tracking down!
@@spectorcreative1872 totally..the ones I don’t have though are apparently very rare...basically if I’ve found them I’ve bought them...regardless of price, I admit, with just a tad bit of shame, lol
I really liked the Action Fleet series, I believe they ended it after Episode 2, so there are plenty they could make if they started their and moved forward with some classics thrown in there.
Oh it was great, I just prefer the Micro line
The action fleet TIEs (including the Defender) were on my shelf for many years. The Micro TIE would look great next the them but I never did get it, just the x-wing that I loved crashing on every surface in the house.
Yes they ended Action Fleet after Episode 2.
I agree 100%. The Z-95 Head Hunters should have been in the Prequels. I've always thought the Jedi should have piloted them and the Clone pilots should have flown the sleek looking, panel covered Y-Wing bombers and fighters. This way the ship designs would have flowed more seamlessly into the OT. Given that the Y-Wings were the oldest fighters in the Rebel Alliance, it would have made sense to see them instead of the ARC-170s.
I know right! so much that was set up to be part of the prequels never showed up.
Pretty sure I saw those Novel packs at retail back in the day. But I believe it was in a local store and not in the big box stores.
I think they did make it to retail/discounters after the phone orders were over
The Micro machines were great! Sometimes I wish I collected these, not only would I have a Tonnika sister in my collection, I'd probably have more room!
Awesome!
The book sets were available at retail in Canada, from Zellers, a now defunct department store chain. I had the Jedi Search set, and I remember seeing Heir to the Empire and The Truce at Bakura sets for sale.
Yeah after the phone thing it looks like they were sold on clearance pricing to a lot of smaller retailers to liquidate stock
I remember seeing the Legends Books sets in the dump bins at Kay Bee bar k in the 90s. I'm pretty sure I had the "Jedi Search" one. Memories...
Yeah they were eventually discounted to retailers after the phone promo
I loved the Millennium Falcon play set because it was a decent sized Falcon at a decent price. Same with the action fleet line.
Yeah the playsets would make a good video to themselves
An the memories! I used to collect the action fleet and some of the playsets that was until I got into my eBay phase and sold Luke's xwing and the millennium falcon for 50 bucks. To this day the only one I own now is slave one with boba fett and frozen Han.
When toys were toys
As you said toward the end, the Star Wars Micro Machines and Action Fleet line included vehicles (Rebel Transport, Imperial Star Destroyer, Cloud City, Echo Base) which still haven’t appeared (as far as vehicle playsets are concerned), anywhere else. Action Fleet had the E-Wing, TIE Defender and at the end the Republic Assault Ship, which barely resurfaced as vehicles again. The Micro Machines line folded in 2000, Action Fleet in 2000 and again in 2003 and Hasbro did cover Episode III with Micro Vehicles, a very short lived line with 3 playsets. The Separatist Battle Cruiser, Clone Turbo Tank and Blockade Runner (Tantive IV).
They did but never completed
@@spectorcreative1872 that is true that it was never completed as Micro Machines omitted Episode II and Action Fleet never made it to Episode III. It was a shame when Hasbro cancelled the Action Fleet line. They seriously mismanaged it for many reasons. Having taken out the figures by Episode II and producing the last Episode I vehicles in lower quantities, making them much harder to find. Out of all the lines I’ve collected (The Transformers, Kenner Star Wars, The Power Of The Force II, MASK, Star Wars Micro Machines, Masters Of The Universe, Visionaries, Action Fleet and now, Dino-Riders) Action Fleet has been the hardest to get (until you start looking for Visionaries and Dino-Riders that is). Hasbro also changed the packaging design, taking out any advertising for the other vehicles in the line (using only images of the ships from the film, not the Action Fleet vehicles) and didn’t even show the action features. I have the AT-TE from the Episode II line and they seriously undersold it through the box design. Nowhere on the box does it say all the legs move, the cannon rotates and the cockpit opens. This was done to make them more display models than action vehicles. But it wasn’t a good move on Hasbro’s part at all. The idea of removing any mention of the action features probably made it tank on shelves as people weren’t interested in Action Fleet vehicles that apparently had no “action” to them.
I loved them back in the 90s. I was happy when they brought them back for TFA...even if they were a bit "different". I was extremely happy with the the Ep 2 and 3 vehicles. But that TIE Phantom...exquisite. Sadly, the Rogue One sets never made it to Canada. I even bought most of the Titanium and Mattel's versions.
SW vehicles are certainly worth collecting!
Great video!! Still have a lot of Action Fleet ships, and my kid plays with them.lost all the mini figures sadly
Yeah those mini figures tend to be taken by the same elves that go after socks and car keys
I have those big packs of multiple Star Wars and another of Star Trek micro machines. I haven't opened then since I was a kid (though the boxes are a bit banged up) because I wasn't sure I waned them. I'm a fan, but not a big geek for these franchises. Though, as I am getting older, I am looking back at things and wondering if I was and didn't know it.
All part of the Spector Creative experience
I have a 3.75" 'Ishi Tib' Tibrin figure. He's one of my favourites.
The 'Book Sets', I bought from Forbidden Planet, here in England - I got a couple of each, one to open, and one to keep.
The 3 3/4" Ishi Tib is not the one from Jabba's Palace. Same species, but different character. The Hasbro/Kenner one is from the Home One briefing scene.
I specifically remember the book MM versions being in a store of some sort, maybe KB Toys, but I remember picking them up looking at them and thinking what a cool idea it was.
It seemed like a good idea at the time
The Action Fleet stuff brings back memories cause we used to play Star Wars Miniatures Battles from West End Games and although the action Fleet was more 20mm than 25mm we would base the figures on pennies to make em taller and use the vehicles as scenery or objectives.
Toy memories are the best memories!
I did forget to mention the Starship Troopers Action Fleet line! Also you mentioned “it was never completed”. Definitely agree. Micro Machines ended in 2000, completely skipping Episode II but returned for Episode III as “Micro Vehicles” and also Micro Machines, in 2005. There were only 9 packs and 3 playsets released though. The figures were more Action Fleet sized and the playsets were vehicles that opened up which didn’t show up often in the Micro Machines line. The Action Fleet line ended in 2000 but due to increasing fan demand was revived in 2002. Hasbro cancelled it in 2003 releasing 5 vehicles for Episode II and took out the figures entirely and only continued the battle packs range, releasing only 3 before it all folded.
I was already into micro machines, so these did interest me. There were just too many for me to afford. I did get the x-ray larger scale variants though. Micro machines had a regular car x-ray line, which was very cool, so I was ecstatic when they did x-ray Star Wars vehicle sets.
Oh yes I recall those X ray X wings
I would argue that Star Wars the roleplaying game by Westend Games kept Star Wars alive for me and many kids, they also were key in creating a lot of the EU, naming species, vehicles and characters.
The Westend game books are so underrated
I really liked the Action Fleet scaled vehicles. They were big enough that they had more play value (at least to me) and the playsets were sweet. I had all 3 (Hoth, the Death Star and Yavin Base) when I was in middle school right before I stopped really playing with toys and they were awesome.
It was a fun toy scale!
Those book sets did ship to comic book shops. I remember them sitting on the shelf next to Star Wars cards. But those were tiny outlets in comparison
I have a feeling the comic shops may have ordered them by hand over the phone just as we did!
I have similar feelings regarding the small Star Trek ships MM put out... good stuff. And yeah, the SW Action Fleet was special; I almost got into making dioramas with them. I should find where I have those and turn them into work desk decoration...
The best desk decorations are always toys
One of my good friends has *tons* of the microfigures; I think I have a few droids floating around here I could contribute to her collection. I kind of suspect a bit of the collector spark may be re-fueled!
Toys, go get em!
For a guy who atm isn't really into the whole figure thing (except for the history of it) this is awesome. I would have loved these as a kid. I don't think they ever sold over here though :/
It is a line worth tracking down!
@@spectorcreative1872 i do still want an ISD model...
I always wanted to gather the strength to start collecting them :) Another nice line of models in similar scale are the ones from Star Wars Armada and the X-Wing miniature wargames.
And such a great complete collection!
Nice for folks with limited space like me :) ...got quite a few of the ships and play sets.
Yeah space to display is at a premium!
Not to mention how cool it was that they also made Babylon 5 Micro Machines!
True dat
I bought a few of these back in the day . I use them as monopoly token pieces now .
Nice!
Yeah. I loved it when these came out. I think I have practically all of them. Folks have pointed this out already I think, but the first wave of the “ book sets “ were released heavily at retail. I don’t think they sold well so the ones you had to contact the company to get were probably the , from what I’ve seen, extremely rare second wave. They did a similar thing with the little mini head sets but all or most of that second assortment became kids meal toys at Pizza Hut.
Yeah they did wind up at retail at clearance after the phone sales
Wish I knew about that. Oh well. 🐸
It looks like Micro Machines is making a comeback I saw some in the toy isle on Monday.
They are back in aisle, but the quality is way down
Was it that retail said "no thank you" to Star Wars or just that they didn't want an abundance of product if there was no movie to push them?
More that later that without content the brand was seen as "dead"
Scott, you have given us another great video. I wonder if there is anything you can say or want to say about games which involve small toys. For example, Star Wars Miniatures, Hero Clix and so forth.
I'll add that to the list!
i and i cant stress this enough forgot about the deathstar play set from 97 and holy cow i remember owning and it i got 100s of hours of play out of that thing easily.
Such a great toy!
I think I remember seeing the Novel sets in store way back when. I believe I saw them being carried at FAO Schwartz store.
Yeah after the call in sales I think they were sold to retailers at discount
I own some Aliens action Fleet vehicles. That line is beyond brilliant.
Oh yes!
These came out as I was transitioning from play to collecting. So still in packs. The only ones I opened were the Titanium series since the package didn't do them justice.
Yeah the package covered too much of the fig for my taste
I actually bought one of those novelization sets at a Blockbuster Video in 1997 so a few did make retail, it was I think the only set I owned and I bought it because the set was the first time Mara Jade and Wedge Antilles were released
And Wedge had a largeish PVC figure too in the mid 90's
Galoob’s best offering was the Action Fleet Rancor than could eat the mini figs, which could then be retrieved via a hatch on the figure’s backside. My friends and I refer to this as “the pooping Rancor.”
Ah, pooping monsters. Nothing beats that
I still have the Death Star dangly and the Jedi Search book pack. I can’t remember where exactly I got the dangly, but it was in Texas, and not Disney Land. The book pack I got from the Ft. Hood PX.
Interesting! I didn't know those danglies were sold anywhere else. Cool to know!
Also in like 1995 got paid to review the Millennium Falcon playset by one of those survey groups you'd always see in malls
That is awesome!
Oh my. I was twelve when these started coming out. I was leaving G.I. Joe and getting these. I have A TON of Star Destroyers (including Vader's SD from that Toys R Us exclusive pack you mentioned).
They are awesome to army build with!
They are! I forgot how many I had. They're all boxed away along with the die-cast Executor you showed you that came later from Hasbro.
The one thing that today reminds me of these SOOO much is the X-Wing tabletop game. They even have stands similar to the micromachines. I wonder at times if they're the same darn mold.
Those book sets actually released to retail in Europe. I remember seeing them in Toymaster here in Ireland.
Yeah after the phone thing I believe they were sold at clearance price to a few retailes
I asked over on Twitter... you said a while ago that the Cartoon/Toy Age did come to an end at the end of the 80's, right? The thing Reagan unleashed, but it sounds like it changed eventually?
Yet I do still see cartoons and toys happening.
What changed?
Keep up the great work!
Well once it left broadcast TV there were no regulations
Watching this made me remember I gave away a lot of small ships to a GF I had back in the day. Lol I wish I hadn’t.
Hope she was at least a good girlfriend
@@spectorcreative1872 no she wasn’t
Tony Galoob was great in the show monk
Wings too
Ha
oh, these were such fun as a kid!
i had a jacket with a popped seam in the pocket and i would hide micro machines in the lining of my jacket so i could play with them on the go
did they have wheels?
i remember wheeling them on some micro machine play sets, but i could be remembering wrong, it was a long time ago
Well Galoob did make Micro Machine "cars" but they were not branded Hot Wheels.