Playsets 1996 - 1998
With Micro Machines now firmly established as a recurring toy seen for years in the stores, the playsets continue to change to correlate to the vehicle releases and styles of each year. TV/Movie themes begin to show up such as Jonny Quest and Aliens, then quickly fade out too. The Exploration series saw a serious push with many playsets offered. National Geographic was a late addition that was done well, but didn't seem to take off in popularity unfortunately.
With Micro Machines now firmly established as a recurring toy seen for years in the stores, the playsets continue to change to correlate to the vehicle releases and styles of each year. TV/Movie themes begin to show up such as Jonny Quest and Aliens, then quickly fade out too. The Exploration series saw a serious push with many playsets offered. National Geographic was a late addition that was done well, but didn't seem to take off in popularity unfortunately.
1996 Playsets
Examples from 1996 include another release of the Toolbox City, but now with visible vehicles which was a good selling point. The Street Corners Super Set is a popular playset since it is fairly rare and includes a visible semi truck also found in the mainline series. Monster Truck Arena is also very rare and ends up in competitive matches between collectors since the vehicles included are unique to the playset. Jonny Quest playsets are well done and difficult to find too. The suitcase/airport playset has a copyright of 1996 on the instructions, but it is unknown what it looked like sealed.
Examples from 1996 include another release of the Toolbox City, but now with visible vehicles which was a good selling point. The Street Corners Super Set is a popular playset since it is fairly rare and includes a visible semi truck also found in the mainline series. Monster Truck Arena is also very rare and ends up in competitive matches between collectors since the vehicles included are unique to the playset. Jonny Quest playsets are well done and difficult to find too. The suitcase/airport playset has a copyright of 1996 on the instructions, but it is unknown what it looked like sealed.
1997 Playsets
Nothing is more exciting for Micro Machines playsets than a unique semi truck. Rex's truck Stop City is where the Thunder Road Transport semi truck originates. Loose, the vehicle is not too uncommon, but sealed, it can be a challenge. USA and Italian versions are shown below as well as the odd AVON white box version. It is actually unknown where the white box version came from, but a rumor or discussion mentioned AVON, so it has stuck and how collectors refer to it. Other white-boxed sets are also known including 2 more shown below. A Japanese Double Takes Fire Escape playset is shown below which has some dramatically different packaging art differences. Less than 5 are known. The Aliens and Predator playsets were really popular, but only offered in 1997.
Nothing is more exciting for Micro Machines playsets than a unique semi truck. Rex's truck Stop City is where the Thunder Road Transport semi truck originates. Loose, the vehicle is not too uncommon, but sealed, it can be a challenge. USA and Italian versions are shown below as well as the odd AVON white box version. It is actually unknown where the white box version came from, but a rumor or discussion mentioned AVON, so it has stuck and how collectors refer to it. Other white-boxed sets are also known including 2 more shown below. A Japanese Double Takes Fire Escape playset is shown below which has some dramatically different packaging art differences. Less than 5 are known. The Aliens and Predator playsets were really popular, but only offered in 1997.
1998 Playsets
A large number of playsets were offered in 1998 with variations to box style too such as the Officer Speed Trap and Police playsets. A number of Exploration Earth and Sea playsets were released which were fun subject matter. They may indicate that the earlier releases of the Explorer series were doing well enough to promote the series with numerous accompanying playsets. The Street Corners playsets seem to be ushering in the color style of 1999 vehicle sets in a way. A pre-production packaging sample is shown below for the Deep Sea Drive-Thru/Big Daddy's Drag Strip dual playset release. While the paper used didn't matter as it was the dimensions and shaping that were the focus, the paperboard chosen is highly unusual and not Galoob implying a contractor or facility used by multiple companies was employed. The National Geographic T-Rex Terror playset was incredibly difficult to locate and may be rarer compared to the other 2 playsets released. The Italian playsets are believed to be 1998 released, but could be 1999. A copyright on the helicopter playset indicates 1997. The Star Wars pre-production packaging used for the Italian dual playset is an incredible combination to see compared to the released playset.
A large number of playsets were offered in 1998 with variations to box style too such as the Officer Speed Trap and Police playsets. A number of Exploration Earth and Sea playsets were released which were fun subject matter. They may indicate that the earlier releases of the Explorer series were doing well enough to promote the series with numerous accompanying playsets. The Street Corners playsets seem to be ushering in the color style of 1999 vehicle sets in a way. A pre-production packaging sample is shown below for the Deep Sea Drive-Thru/Big Daddy's Drag Strip dual playset release. While the paper used didn't matter as it was the dimensions and shaping that were the focus, the paperboard chosen is highly unusual and not Galoob implying a contractor or facility used by multiple companies was employed. The National Geographic T-Rex Terror playset was incredibly difficult to locate and may be rarer compared to the other 2 playsets released. The Italian playsets are believed to be 1998 released, but could be 1999. A copyright on the helicopter playset indicates 1997. The Star Wars pre-production packaging used for the Italian dual playset is an incredible combination to see compared to the released playset.