Micro Machines I are a line of toys originally made by Galoob (now part of Hasbro) in the mid-1980s and throughout the 1990s. Micro Machines are tiny scale component style “playsets” and vehicles that are slightly larger than N scale.

The toy

Many different styles of Micros have been made including all the popular cars and trucks of the times, trains, emergency vehicles, tanks, boats, airplanes, helicopters, and motorcycles. The Tuff Trax series contained many of the popular TNT Motorsports Monster Trucks, including the influential Grave Digger truck. Star Trek and Star Wars models were also made, as were models from other science fiction franchises including Babylon 5, Power Rangers and MIB. James Bond and Indiana Jones themed toys were also released. After being bought by Hasbro, Winner’s Circle NASCAR and G.I. Joe themed cars and playsets were added.

While the Micro Machines collection is known primarily for sizing down automobiles, it has also featured several playsets including 1991’s fold-out Super Van City. Licensed character products would often be fold-open heads including miniature characters and vehicles interactive with their playset environment. Micro Machines also utilized several diverse features such as color-changing cars and “Private Eyes” vehicles that even allowed one to peek inside and view an illustration of the contents.

One of the many Micro Machines product lines was the Insiders series. Incredibly popular in the late ’80s and early ’90s, the Insiders series featured a small vehicle inside the standard size Micro Machine. The body and chassis of the larger vehicle connected via a hinge. Opening the larger revealed the smaller, which was a different model of car.

Micro Machines released a special Presidential Limousine series, which used President Harry Truman‘s 1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan Bubble top limousine. President John F. Kennedy‘s Lincoln Continental or the X-100 convertible limousine, and President Jimmy Carter‘s 1977 Lincoln Town Car was featured in series done in 1989.

For 3 to 4 years, Micro Machines was the largest selling toy car line in the US with total dollar sales exceeding the combined sales of the next top-selling lines: Hot Wheels, Matchbox and Majorette.

Micro Machines had a well-known advertising campaign in the 1980s involving fast-talker John Moschitta Jr. The commercials featured pitches in his trademark speedy style and ended with the slogan “If it doesn’t say Micro Machines, it’s not the real thing!”.

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 6×6 to a jungle. Earlier releases included models 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.

A popular playset from the 1990s

When sold to Hasbro, the basic line was largely discontinued, and new packaging of the toys did not catch on. 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.