I bought a Mego Dr Zira from a Woolworths bargain bin for 50 cents here in Australia around 1977. It was a very brave thing back then for a 9 year-old boy to buy a female doll , even if it was a chimpanzee. That's how much I loved Planet of the Apes.

And Mego is bringing this line back!!!!!!! I'm so happy!!!!!!!

Thanks for the prototype photos. This was my favorite toy before Star Wars

@BrickMantooth

4 жыл бұрын

mine too, glad you dug it.

My brothers and I, and other kids in our neighborhood, played with the POTA figures and playsets endlessly. It is true that licensed toy tie-ins to films or even TV series tended to sell poorly, with one exception -- Walt Disney's animated feature length films, dating all the way back to Snow White. By 1959's debut of Sleeping Beauty, a plethora of toy merchandise was on the shelves. But Mego nailed the renewed interest in the films and short lived (sadly) TV series with this fantastic playline.

I know there is a huge mego fan following for the star trek line but for me it was about the planet of the apes. Had the tree house that was fantastic.

Ya gotta remember - the original POTA film was for adults. No way they were going to have any success merchandising the film. Although, I did have the entire collection of trading cards issued in '68, there was nothing else available until the 3rd Apes film was made in the early 70's. Then the merchandising exploded! The films started becoming more kid-oriented. Then the demand for a TV series was going full steam after the 5th and final Ape film. More merchandising. I, of course, went ape with it. Was in love with the Ape films since the first, even though I was not allowed to see it upon it's original release. Still are very fond of them.🙈🙉🙊

Quite possibly your best upload. But I think the same thing after every video you post. Thanks for all the great information you're sharing. Just awesome.

@BrickMantooth

4 жыл бұрын

thank you sir.

Best and favorite toy line ever!

Thank you for this great video. As one of the biggest Mego Apes collectors I am so thrilled to see this line finally getting some love. I sent an email to Mego museum to share some of my rare Mego Apes a while back but no one returned my messages so I just thought that Apes were of no concern as the Super Heroes line is the main focus for most Mego collectors. Once again thank you for this awesome post. #MegoWantsYouToGoApe 🦍👍

@BrickMantooth

4 жыл бұрын

Our email is spotty due to a high volume of spam and people confusing us with the real Mego and sending us ideas/complaints/praise. Apes are a huge part of the Museum and an ongoing concern for updating the Museum galleries. If you have something that we don't and would like to share it, PM me here and I'll give you a more reliable way to contact me.

I got my first Mego ape action figure (Dr. Zaius) in early August, '74 while recovering in the hospital.

@BrickMantooth

4 жыл бұрын

Heh I got a GI Joe in '72 being in the hospital, funny how that becomes unforgettable.

For me the big 3 of MEGO was Worlds greatest Super heroes,Star trek & POTA, the other lines never achieved that level of royalty n MEGO bloodline of 8 inch figures but set the bar very high.

The Addar model kits were the FIRST Apes merchandise released on the horizon of Ape Mania '74. The kits may have been out as early as 1973 . Maybe ?

Definitely my favorite!!🙈🙉🐵🙊

Thanks for the video it’s cool to see so many fans of the series still interested in the series. Had Zaius & the Gorilla soldier when they were released wanted the astronaut but was so bummed when they released him looking the way he did, as I was hoping for that super cool spacesuit that Heston, and the rest of the POTA movie astronauts wore.

I had Virdon, Cornelius, Dr Zaius and the gorilla soldier. For some stupid reason I buried the gorilla soldier in my yard when his rubber band inside snapped.

"I love you Dr. Zaius." 😄

Another great review friend😁👍 If my memory serves me right there also was a rare cap gun made that collectors really go after. I briefly collected vintage cap guns years ago and I remember seeing pics of it.

I love pota as a kid, but the toys were long gone from shops, i was stuck with star wars

Excellent piece, Brian! Great encapsulation of all the facts, folks and artifacts!

@BrickMantooth

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks Ray, I worried about my presentation so i really appreciate your thoughts.

Another Great video, keep it up!!! I loved MEGO POTA’s toys, I had all the original figures, except Zira. I also had the action stallion, the Forbidden Zone play set , the Treehouse play set, and the Fortress playset!!!

I wish they had made a mego soldier ape that was pictured on the action stallion box.

@davidpitkat6031

3 жыл бұрын

Joe Eberstein, YES! That golden detailed top and gloves looked awesome! As a kid, I always hoped we was going to show up in another wave.

Great video! I was a little too young for the 8 inch figures but I had lots of fun with the bendies.

It's curious to hear them talk about Doctor Dolittle as an example of not merchandising films ever when in fact it's an example of them not understanding what properties should be merchandised. 1967 had Cool Hand Luke, The Dirty Dozen, and a James Bond movie that year that had better potential. Just finished watching the five films again and for the time POTA was THE license you should merchandise immediately that it's funny to hear it took awhile. :S Wow so even back then the "license cost drag" aspect was there, noticed that with a lot toys that have internal product like LEGO, you get less per dollar for licensed sets. Too bad they couldn't get the Heston likeness, in the early 2000s the same thing came up for Indiana Jones video games where the Harrison likeness was dropped mostly for budget sake.

Great 👍👍 video.

Man oh man, thank you for this video!

@BrickMantooth

4 жыл бұрын

glad you liked it!

My biggest disappointment was that the astronaut figure was nothing like the actual film astronauts. The film suits were white two piece flight suits that were quite unique in appearance. The Mego astronaut was simply an Action Jackson

Im wondering why why they didn't do superheroes like the Flash? They did Kid Flash, but no Barry Allen Flash. Why not?

@cyborgroxx

4 жыл бұрын

The only guess that I could ever come up with was that during 1972 - 1976, The Flash was not popular in the comics. 1978 would see the Challenge Of The Superfriends cartoon that finally featured an entire Justice League cast that included Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Flash as full time members. 1972 - 1976 was the years that Mego made new 8 inch figures in that line. 1977 was the Teen Titans. Smaller scale of course. And the package never actually says "World's Greatest Superheroes". I think they were just basing the Titans after their appearances in the late 60's Filmation cartoons as they use the same cast. The Flash will always be a mystery. So is Lex Luthor, but the reason I heard was that he wasn't big in the comics between 1972 - 1976 (technically the last DC figure was in 1975, '76 was all Marvel). Lex got popular again after the 1978 Superman movie which Mego did do a 12 inch doll and a pockethero for. So I'm guessing that the Flash suffered the same fate. Same with Doctor Doom. If Mego had only made 8 inch dolls of Superheroes in 1977, we might have seen these figures get released.

@3dartistguy

4 жыл бұрын

@@cyborgroxx Well of course, I think it was a shame they didn't do a Flash, or a Captain Cold or a Lex Luthor or made some effort to tie their mego toy line in with the Challenge of the Superfriends cartoon. If theey had, they could have had a more successful toy line. Now they are making these retro heroes and villians Mego didn't make 40 years ago. MEgo could have made a Hall of Doom playset with all kinds of trap doors and exotic devices to combat the Superfriends. I think Challenge of the Superfriends was the iteration of Superfriends because it had the JUstice League combat their arch nemesis. Im going to meet Micheal Bell who did the voice of the Riddler in virginia beach in May. I also like to do 3d poser videos of the Legion of Doom as well which you can see on my channel 3dartistguy

Drcomèllus