La Planète des Singes: That is, of course, the name of the original social fantasy by French novelist Pierre Boulle circa 1963. And it was 1968 when the world was first widely introduced to The Planet of the Apes directed by Franklin Schaffner (screenplay by Michael Watson and Rod Serling - yes, that Rod Serling!). The original film that starred Charlton Heston in a remarkably timeless role grew into a franchise with multiple sequels from 1968-1973. Set in 1972 (five years after filming) the crew of astronauts time travel to 3978 AD and a strange planet ruled by apes.
The original film easily makes my top five films of all time, as do the sequels. All have the lustre of Kodachrome and Panavision, all have that quintessential Seventies something, not to mention the endearing cast including the incredible Roddy McDowall. Even the short-lived television and animated series have endured the crest of time rather well - mostly due to the fact that a core group of people stuck with all these renditions throughout.
For those of you who are collectors out there today we have a treat for you.....
ISMS TO THE NTH DEGREE: This odd combination of science-fiction, political intrigue and wonderful special effects (masks/costumes) hadn't really been a combination tried prior - and it is, in fact, this upside down world where man and beast are in opposite roles that peppers the plot. Much has been written about the epic series' impact of social commentary on war and racism. It's just perfectly imbued with overt innuendoes not to be ignored in its time, and the legend continues with the latest sequel due in 2017, War of the Planet of the Apes. If it's anything like the just two previous: Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - we are in for an even more exciting, dark adventure my friends!
Aside from the epic fail by beloved and visionary director Tim Burton in 2001 this entire set of films are a stylish, topsy-turvy look at our own world that has remained nearly unscathed. And with each film we have seen from the inception in the 1960's there has been some form of action figure or collectible made available to film fans. Since this series was born around the same time I was I became one of those early adopters, yes, my very first beloved collectible toy was the entire Mego playset, the catapult, the action horse, the nets and sticks, yes, the entire kit n' kaboodle. In those days we played with these, and really had no idea of what "collectible" meant. I'm sure I wore the thing to death before it ended up in a heap of parts and pieces somewhere...
PLAYING CATCH-UP: Well, folks, do not dismay, if you like this alternative world, you will absolutely fall in love with what the National Entertainment Collectibles Association (aka NECA) has been crafting over this past year, several of which we are featuring today. First, the Classic Action Figure Series. They are up to Series 3 of these various POTA figures that are packaged and released singularly (until the current wave) in distinct trios of 7" (approx) figures which only begun in January 2014 (series 1 is now officially discontinued).....
Series 1: Gorilla Soldier, Dr. Zaius, Cornelius
Series 2: Dr. Zaius (older), General Ursus, Zira
These figures have so much detail and include various accessories (weaponry, scrolls, walking sticks, even a paper airplane for all who remember the "human" reference) - and probably the best face/head sculpts of any figures, no matter the scale, from any maker out there. NECA also released the more tribal-like figures from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (series 1 and 2 - the latter was partially also released by Japanese company HIYA Toys under the moniker Rise of the Planet of the Apes):
So, we went ahead and prepared a short video (dur. 10 mins) that explores some of the exciting new additions to the already exciting world that NECA has created in tribute to the fans of this historical fantasy film series. In it I touch upon the latest offerings including the Lawgiver (Greatest Ape) statue which is made of resin and about a foot tall, and will nicely go alongside the figures, in a limited edition of only 1700 made (now if they could just make a rusty Statue of Liberty under a sand beach base!); Astronaut George Taylor and the Gorilla Soldier in "Mego-Style" (but nothing like Mego at all, really) retro 8" fabric clothed figures (in clamshell plasic cases) and finally we present the latest Series 3 Classic NECA Figure trio including: Conquest Gorilla, General Aldo and Caesar. This version is the 2015 Convention Exclusive. Take a look:
As you can see the latest figures are stunning and have really innovative accessories and the sculpts are truly impeccable. Prior series' were available through a host of resellers, but these are different, they will only be available in two formats, the Convention Exclusive (in a white box, see below) and the trio in a bundle set from Toys R' Us.
That's how we stack it! So, if you are a completist, or if you collect NECA figures (or any action figures), you will want to get these. And just a lil buzz in your ear, we hear that there is a Series 4 in the prototype stage (Adam Smith), we have no other word on it, and we hope that they see the light of day as they just keep getting better and better in terms of style and finesse thanks to Alex Heinke (sculptor), Anthony Minichino and Brad Haskins (fabrication), Jon Wardell and Geoffrey Trapp (paint) and a special nod to Randy Falk who is in charge of this line's product development. In all there are eleven total figures in this particular series (including the Gorilla Soldier Infantry 2-Pack from Toys R' Us - which are new sculpts).
Image ©Grantland
The only thing we could hope for, aside from the next trio wave of figures, would be some additional diorama sets. It would be like old times - only much more updated and crafted in a stylistic way to inform adults (as the original Mego sets and figures were really meant for kids). One can dream! I'm going to leave you with some additional detail images from our video shoot today so you can play catch-up with NECA and all the Planet of the Apes goodness roaming out there for a limited time.
IN CONCLUSION: And the two retro clothed figures are below. These figures are about an inch or so larger than the others and are thicker width-wise. The costumery is painstakenly put together and the detailing is top-of-the-line craftsmanship. These are NECA's Reel Toys line.