A thoroughly entertaining and comprehensive discussion about the original Mego Planet Of The Apes toyline, from Analog Toys and Brick Mantooth, for Iconicon 2022. It just doesn't get better than this.
Great video as always. The Mego Apes were my first action figures. I had them when I was 6-7 and loved them. A friend had some too and we’d have elaborate Apes adventures in our gardens, with Action Men being the fugitives. The Star Wars came along and took over for the next five years, but looking back I think I’m much more nostalgic for the Apes.
I've ironed on my Captain Zargon decals on to two tee-shirt and they look great, so thanks Brian! I was studying furniture design in the early seventies along with Jackie Dehn, whose father was allegedl was the original Planet of the Apes writer
I want a full Icarus Crew in ANSA uniforms including a variant Stewart Skeleton along with a to-scale Icarus. Also, ANY Return to the Planet of the Apes figures in any representation (Mego scale, 3 3/4, etc). Also, yes… if it’s Planet of the Apes, I collect it too!
Loved the mego apes as a kid in the 70's(and still have them) and now I'm buying the new mego ape figures, would be good if mego rereleased the playsets as they were impossible to get in the UK.
It's not Apes related, but one of the things mentioned made me think about those moments when my "universe" of toys expanded. A key one was when visiting up North as a kid and seeing a "local" toy store commercial and seeing in one scene (for all of a few seconds, I'm sure) where among all the usual toys they had a Japanese toy. And one that looked shockingly like one of the hero-mech's from my Shogun Warriors comics. Blew my mind to see a toy that me and my buddies always complained should be made to be right there. Not knowing where anything up North was I naturally asked to go there (which turned out was hours and a state or two away). So never went and never saw in person, not even when checking actual local stores. And of course it became just a tall tale as far as most friends were concerned when I got back. But for me and the ones who believed it it set our wheels turning in those pre-internet days picturing what else from that and other things just might be out there.
Great discussion about the wonderful mego apes but I would like to see some love shown towards the palitoy bradgate figures….these are the ones I have decided to collect so any information or collecting tips would be great….keep up the good work
"Beware the beast MAN for he is the devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for lust, for sport, for greed. yay he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Shun him, drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of DEATH." Roddy McDowell--original 1968 Planet of the Apes.
I did something years back that pissed my brothers off, whatever it may be, I don't know. But my next eldest sibling told me a few years ago that while my dad was building a cinder block wall in one of the houses we lived in, my brothers took all my apes figures, Caesar/Cornelius/Galen, Zira, Zeus, Virden, Burke, Urko/Soldier Apes(I had a few of the soldier apes) and they put them in the holes in the cinder blocks. I never questioned what happened with them, I figured my mom gave them away. Oh, well. If anybody ever tears that wall down, they will end up with a few toy treasures. The cinder block wall was an interior wall, so there should not be any moisture issues. There were a few other Apes related things that are in the wall also, just not really sure what anymore? Possibly the little army man type figurines? Silly story, just thought I'd share.
Had Mego superheroes, star trek, and dukes, but not apes. A reissue of evel knievel and rockem sockem robots has rekindled a thirst for the "Old". I've since acquired loose original apes, carded diamond select reissues, and the new Mego apes. The vintage toys are mini "time machines" that take you right back there through space and time. Lost moments you didn't know still existed. Recently rediscovered MidgeToy cars, 5 and dime knock-off matchbox and hot wheels. Our old garden area probably still has a bunch of them waiting to be discovered by some archeologist from the future.
