Microtron: best of the Super7 Micronauts thus far!
This and Biotron are easily the best releases thus far, followed closely by Emperor.
Microtron gets a huge boost in articulation compared to his vintage motorized original. The new elbow rivets are well hidden in his chrome arms. Adding an o-ring waist works surprisingly well on this chonky boy.
What really impressed me most as a vintage fan is that details that were just decals on the original are sculpted into the back of the head and sides of the caterpillar treads. This in top of all the original details preserved on his back in spite of the panel being broken into two by the new waist.
On top of this, while the original 5mm interchangeable sockets are replaced with Super7 format sockets matching their back port, the large number of these on his torso, shoulders and "wheels" allows for a lot of possibilities, making him the most fun to experiment with. The only ones missing are that the original claws had a 5mm grip, but this one lacks any similar grip.
Areas that could be improved (minor tweaks):
The shoulder joints would have matched better if they were chromed as well, or at least the front half.
The back panel (which was access for the twonAA batteries originally) was originally blue, so it would have been cool if it were painted to match. Similarly the sculpted decals could benefit from paint applications. These are all things a fan could add to customize though.
The caterpillar treads could have been put on hip joints with the o-ring to add more posing potential, but they are faithful to the original swivel so that's fine.
He is a bit oversized compared to his Marvel comic version and especially in proportion to Biotron, but this allows all the nice interchangeable options, so that's fine.
Biggest issue: the head on both him and Biotron should have been on a peg. There's no reason to lock it on the body, and if it could be freely interchangeable like the original, this would allow for more fun tank configurations and headswaps.
Speaking of, he does lack the second alternate head the original toy came with, which would have been a good accessory. The original also came with a blue crane-like accessory to use with some if its alternative configurations, but wouldn't have much use here so it's understandably omitted.
Articulated swivel wrists like in the comic would have been a cool bonus, but probably not as easily implemented.
These are all easily customized, though, so aren't really complaints at all. It's an outstanding figure with a lot of added character. It's the biggest "must have" in the line-up thus far. The original also served as the mold for most of the later "Nemesis" roboid, with a different head, arms, drill and wheels, so I hope we will see him in a coming release.
