There are wide variety of methods of manufacture of microneedles (MN) and a diversity of MN designs and application methods. In this study we develop new routes for MN manufacture primarily using micro-injection moulding (mIM) processes with a range of high performance engineering thermoplastics with high volume outputs. To enable optimal characterisation and to assess the performance of these MNs a greater understanding of its penetration behaviour is required. The forces required for the mechanical failure, contact stiffness, creep behaviour & as well as mechanisms for MN penetration into porcine skin were studied. The scale of micro moulded products causes problems when considering assessment of dimensional properties, so Confocal Laser Microscopy (CLM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) were used to measure the tip radius and height of MN arrays. The failure forces were found to be much higher than forces necessary for skin penetration. Images captured during the failure force measurements showed that bending was the most common form of failure. The output of this findings will provide proof of concept level development and understanding of mechanisms of MN needle penetration and failure, facilitating design improvements for mIM polymeric MNs.