Play set:Micro Machines Scale Miniatures

Galoob Toys introduced Micro Machines--teeny cars, trucks, and other vehicles barely larger than N scale--in the 1980s. Smaller than a Hot Wheels vehicle and a Matchbox car, Micro Machines were sold five to a package and came in a wide variety of play sets that included road cars, race cars, trucks, motorcycles, emergency vehicles, airplanes, trains, and boats. Other sets represented Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, Power Rangers, Men in Black, and even James Bond and Indiana Jones. When Hasbro, Inc. bought up Galoob, it produced micros for G. I. Joe and NASCAR. Micros also offered the Insider series, which featured a smaller vehicle that fit inside a standard Micro vehicle of a different model. One line of vehicles changed colors when exposed to sunlight. By the 1990s, Micros came in transforming sets, for example a factory set converted into a test track, and a toolbox transformed into a city. The popularity of Micro Machines declined in the United States throughout the 1990s, though the toy line continued in Europe after marketing in the USA ceased. The line was revived for a few years after 2000, but now seems to be most popular among adult collectors hoping to recapture the fun of their youth.