In the late Seventies, Takara decided to try an offshoot of the Microman line and climb back up the scale ladder. The resultant toy line was not all that popular and consisted of only three figures and four vehicles.

This line, Timanic, was marketed in much the same way that the Microman line was. The figures included a story sheet that explained the origins of the mysterious Space Travelers and the figures and toys were interchangeable.

The Timanic line appears to have been designed to employ a gimic that shows up in the Microman line as well. Takara put two small magnetic plates in the backs of the figures that, when connected to some type of power source, completed a circuit and transferred power to the figure, lighting him up internally! Since parts of the figures are translucent colored plastic, this meant that the figures glowed with an unearthly light! This concept is put to good use in the Microman Police Keeper Climbleader as well.

Timanic is still not really a collector's item in Japan or in America on the same scale as Micronauts or Microman, but they are very nice pieces and well worth picking up. Prices should be reasonable for any Timanic piece, so don't get duped into paying a large amount for one of these just because it comes from Japan!

Timanic was also imported and released in Italy.