The Microman line was a series of 3.75-inch-tall (9.5 cm) action figures with accompanying vehicles, robots, playsets and accessories.

Unlike other toylines at the time, Microman figures were marketed as being the "actual" size of cyborg beings called "Micros" that hailed from a fictional planet known as "Micro Earth" and disguised themselves as action figures while on planet Earth.

[1][2][3][4] The core of the Microman line consisted of 3.75-inch-tall (9.5 cm) action figures which were known for their high number of articulation points relative to other toys of similar size/scale in the 1970s.

[5][page needed][6][7][unreliable source][8][9] The Microman toyline was licensed and released in the United States by Mego Corporation as the Micronauts from 1976 to 1980.

Joe figures — with their bodies molded in clear plastic, exposing their inner workings and supposed cybernetic parts.

[5]: 6–96 [1][2][17] By downscaling their size, Takara sought to create the Microman line to offset the sheer cost of producing a full line of plastic-based 8-inch-tall (20 cm) & 12-inch-tall (30 cm) figures and related playsets as well as acknowledging that basic living space is limited—and considered a premium—to most Japanese households.

[3][4] The first 1974 series of toys was called Microman Zone and included four figures and several vehicles such as the MIC-1 Space Buggy, MIC-2 Bulk Lifter, MIC-3 Sky Roader and the M115 Conning Tower Base.

Additional vehicles were sold as "Micro-Kit Machine Series" sets which required assembly prior to use.

Additionally, all figures were now identified by a new alphanumeric figure-type designation system—such as M10X, M11X, M12X, M20X, M21X, M22X, etc.—across the whole line as well being given formal, character names such as George (M101), Jack (M102), Jesse (M103) and John (M104).

[5]: 71–75 [23] Takara moved away from releasing 3.75-inch-tall (9.5 cm) figures and instead concentrated on larger-sized toys, robots and sets that all contained some sort of "gimmick" to them.

After seeing the success Hasbro had combining Takara's Diaclone and Micro Change lines into the Transformers toyline in the U.S. market, Takara decided to end both the Diaclone and Micro Change toylines and instead focus their efforts on releasing their own Japanese versions of the Transformers.

[5]: 98–128 [6] From 1996 to 1997, a small Japanese hobby toy company named Romando acquired a provisional license from Takara to reissue vintage Microman figures.

By 2003 the Replica Microman series continued to put out releases but only on a very limited basis and mainly through Takara's e-Hobby Shop.

[5]: 210–219 In the late 2000s, Takara expanded the overall Microman brand and Microman 2003 line to include various licensed brands, including Batman (both comic based and from Batman Begins), Superman (both comic based and from Superman Returns), Evangelion, Street Fighter, Godzilla, Alien vs Predator and Kinnikuman.

The line featured toys that were seemingly ordinary items (such as cassette tapes, microscopes, watches and even guns) that could transform themselves and "change" into other forms to help Microman in their fight against the Acroyears.

[35] Below is a table showing which Transformers were based on which Micro Change toys and their variants: In 1977, TV Magazine—a children's oriented magazine published by Kodansha Ltd.—began publishing an official, Takara approved serialized Microman manga drawn by manga artist Yoshihiro Moritou.

Additionally, a set of 30 Menko cards featuring Moritou's manga versions of Microman characters and vehicles was released during that period as well.

The plot focused on a school boy who receives a package that contains five small action figures that begin to move on their own and start to talk to him.

[56][57] A PlayStation game related to the series, Chou Jiryoku Senshi Microman: Generation 2000, developed by Barnhouse Effect and published by Takara, was released in Japan on December 16, 1999.