Do you remember the 80s? If so, you must remember the world’s smallest collectable model cars? Micro Machines which were first introduced in 1987 are toy cars made from metal and plastic, 1/10th the size of a HotWheels Car putting them at a scale of 1:152, making them slightly larger than N-Scale, meaning they were the smallest toy cars ever seen on the market. Micro Machines were made by Galoob (now a part
of Hasbro), the first year of production comprised of just 11 collections of cars, trucks, military vehicles and planes. Over the following years, the range of Micro Machines expanded to include almost every different type of vehicle on the roads, rails, air or water and included trucks, cars, campers, monster trucks, boats, bikes and aircraft, totalling anywhere up to 50 collections in later years. In the 1990s, transforming playsets were released. Some could transform from one playset to another, such as a factory to a test track. Others could transform from giant vehicles to playsets, such as a 6x6 to a jungle.
Earlier sets included one that could transform from a toolbox to a city. Another innovative release was a line of special boats in the 1990s. While past boats had merely sunk and were not intended for water use, these new sets could actually float. When sold to Hasbro, the basic line was largely discontinued, and new packaging of the toys didn't catch on as well as hoped, though some imitators continue to be sold in toy stores. In 2006, the brand name was visible only in the detail panel of the Star Wars and Transformers Titanium series die cast vehicles and figures. It seems that Micro Machines are now another ‘lost toy of the 80s’ but through Fettler’s Workshop, they live on…
