When did it become clear the Palisades Micronauts line was seriously flawed?
It wasn’t clear at first if the early reports of bad product were just a fluke or not so Palisades had no clue just how extensive the damage to the line was until well after it was far too late to recall the product. We started getting the first shots back from the newly commissioned factory in China in June 2002, and they looked fantastic. Those of us who have owned preproduction samples can vouch that the initial hand-made prototypes were of excellent quality that matched or even possibly outdid their originals. Furthermore, Ken Lilly (head of Palisades’ product development then) went to China in September, saw the production floor and was given a number of samples. He sent back photos which included a nice, sturdy clear-cast Baron Karza that not only could form the centaur form properly but even hold the classic “rearing up” pose that the original toy could do so effortlessly. (The Karza that shipped could not form the centaur mode without serious modification and even then didn’t f
