by TJ Norris
The first-ever figure/s I collected were Planet of the Apes (POTA), yes, the old school figures, with the playset, et al circa the early 1970s. Yes, from an early age I was fascinated by evolution. Earlier this year I covered the playsets of yore. My thought is Pierre Boulle's enduring 1963 story, La Planète des Singes, of an alternate universe with talking apes, probably has a lot to do politically with race in general, and my respect for animals (and like many of them I've been vegetarian since the mid 80's!). All personal references aside, here comes NECA's latest induction in their soon to be further-growing series of very much updated vintage characters based on the 1968 original film. Above you see the Toys R' Us Exclusive Gorilla Soldier 2-Pack (watch for the silver sticker). Earlier this year NECA released a single Soldier Gorilla as well as Cornelius and Dr. Zaius, all sold separately. Expect to see three new figures added to the line in early 2015!
There have been so many iterations of the POTA over the years: the aforementioned MEGO figures, Hasbro's wonderful Signature Series from the late 90's (some came in tubes, others were branded Beneath the Planet of the Apes in tall rectangle window boxes), Kenner's 1998 foot-tall variations. Many want to overlook Tim Burton's iteration on POTAs (2001) though from that version also came a few different series' of figures. And then came 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes with only a single figure of the leads, Caesar and Koba in 6" figures from Hiya Toys. Of course Funko released four POTA Pop!s in late 2013 and probably some of the most exquisite (12"-18") come from Hot Toys/Sideshow Collectibles, these are highly sought after and primarily only available at auction prices....though a lil' birdie tells us that we haven't seen the end of this line just yet! ;)
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