Planet of the Apes and Mego, Together Again




As it has done with the Predator license, NECA has been producing an impressive selection of merchandise under the Planet of the Apes license. So far, it has released intricate, multi-jointed figures based on both the original Apes movie series and the reboot that started in 2011 with Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Now, NECA is returning to another area of the Apes franchise that hasn't been seen since the '70s: figures based on the classic Mego 8-inch action figure design. Mego produced a line of Planet of the Apes toys during the mid-'70s, with figures based on characters from both the movies and the live-action TV series that aired in 1974.


Some of Mego's original Planet of the Apes action figures.


NECA's line of Mego-styles Apes figures will begin with two characters from the original 1968 Planet of the Apes movie: a gorilla soldier and George Taylor, the astronaut character who was played by Charlton Heston. Both figures will come with cloth suits and accessories, and will feature impressively sculpted head designs; in fact, NECA's Taylor figure is the first of its kind to bear the likeness of Heston. Both figures will be released in early 2015, and you can place your pre-orders here and here.

Hopefully, these figures will be successful enough that NECA will produce more Mego-like figures from the original Apes films. I'd personally like to see NECA release a figure based on the underground mutants from Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), complete with removable face.


The underground mutants from Beneath the Planet of the Apes,
holding their faces in hand and singing praises to a nuclear missile.



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