Anybody who thinks sci-fi merchandising bonanzas began with
Star Wars really needs to go back about four years prior. This was when 20th Century Fox went absolutely nuts with milking the
Planet of the Apes franchise to the last nickel. Almost everything Star Wars did later, Planet of the Apes merchandisers did first, very likely teaching George Lucas a thing or two about hawking trinkets.
As with most pop culture crazes, common sense was immediately shoved in a rocket and launched into space, never to return (well, at least not for several thousand years). Thus,
Planet of the Apes toys and merchandise ranges from the awesome, appropriate and incredible to the ridiculous, weird, and downright stupid. Here are the
Apes items, past and present, that stand the most upright... as well as the ones that broke the Lawgiver's heart.
THE BEST:
6) Planet of the Apes Kubricks
The Medicom Kubrick format can add a bit of awesomeness to just about any property, especially when you add fun little extras like the Icarus (that's Taylor's ship) the Lawgiver statue and the upper portion of the Statue of Liberty. Medicom did sets based on all five
Apes movies, which makes for a lot of adorably blocky
Ape goodness.
5) The Simpsons "A Fish Called Selma" Pop-Out People
A crossover item that both nerds and norms can appreciate, Dark Horse released this awesome set in 2003 based on
The Simpsons' infamous musical "Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off," including Dr. Zaius, a Soldier Ape and Troy McClure as the human -- the part he was born to play!
4) Don Post Masks
In the "well,
duh" category, any film that portrays the titular characters in rubber masks is a shoe-in for such merch, especially when it's done by Don Post Studios, the Cadillac of 1970s rubber mask makers.
3) Forbidden Zone Trap
Mego was the first company to make
Planet of the Apes action figures; while many of their earlier toys and playsets were simply recycled from earlier, un-Ape related toylines, this depiction of a post-apocalyptic ruin was a pretty awesome and somewhat gritty item for the mid-'70s.
2) Mini Play Sets
These smaller, hand-painted figures from the '70s were low priced and usually came packed with tons of army men and other great stuff that allowed you simulate an all out Apes vs. Mutant battle in your sandbox. Sure, scales were often a little off, but hey, Monkey War!
1) Medicom/Sideshow Planet of the Apes Series (tie)
The early part of the century was just an Ape lover's dream, whether you preferred the 1/6th scale of Sideshow's wonderful figures (shown on the right) or the smaller, 6-inch scale of the Medicom figures, it was amazing the character breadth finally available to a
Planet of the Apes fan -- both lines included dozens of characters, all the way from Dr. Zaius to General Ursus.
The poop gets flung with the most ridiculous PotA
merch, beginning on the next page.
More links from around the web!
