First of all, the Rocket Tubes. Remember when our parents went to the bank and put their deposits in those plastic cylinder things, which were then deposited into a mailbox-looking thing and sucked (literally) through a pneumatic system into the bank? Well, that’s what these rocket tubes do. The commercial I found (via FuzzyMemoriesTV) is gnarly, but apparently it’s for an earlier version without the launching spaceships.
I love all the Micronauts stuff. It was a quirky, imaginative line. I remember having only one or two of the diecast metal figures, really heavy—they’re not here, but you can peruse them at BugEyedMonster.
I said in another post that I didn’t remember the Buck Rogers toys, but I instantly recognized the Star Fortress. It was made of incredibly flimsy cardboard, and the buildings folded and stuck clumsily into the base with tabs.
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2 Warps to Neptune 
I had the original version of the Rocket Tubes; the one shown in that commercial. In fact, I remember them so well that I almost crapped my pants when I saw your ad with the launching spaceships—I totally thought I’d gotten ripped off since mine never came with it.
Micronauts were a trip. They were super-articulated and all, but sort of reminded me of a weird, cold and dehumanized future. I actually liked them for that reason, but at the same time used to rack my brain trying to figure out the meaning of their universe, which was too much to handle at 9–10 yrs. of age.
Nevertheless, those rocket tubes were super awesome while they lasted, especially the elevator part, which had that weird silver-headed “box man” that went up and down with the regulated air flow. It was well-engineered, too, as it really did work, and it glowed in the dark!
Tell ya one thing, though…that commercial totally exaggerates the size of the kit. It did not come with enough pieces to build some super-long elevator shaft, nor some winding intricate mega-highway to snake around the living room or den. Lol. But it was still fun.
Btw, that Hornetroid thing on the bottom left? I had that, too. Trippy spacecraft. Freakin’ Micronauts, man.
“Trippy” is definitely the word I should have used, although we didn’t really know what that meant then. And you’re right on about the lack of a basic back story. Where the hell did all these colorful dudes come from? We had to wait for the comic to tell us. (I still have all of them.)
I wonder if you could buy extra tubing in addition to the kit to extend your elevator?
There were three versions of the Rocket Tubes sets. The standard release, the Sears exclusive (with the darts) and the deluxe Sears exclusive which also included 4 extra track pieces.
For lots more on Micronauts, check out http://www.innerspaceonline.com and then for even more, check out the incredible original Japanese toyline Microman at http://www.microforever.com, which not only spun off Micronauts, but also Transformers!
Very cool! Thanks a million. I’ll definitely check out those sites.
I’m looking for an old RC snake from a sears catalogue on 1989- 2000. Anywhere I can look?
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