Who looks nothing like Charlton Heston, dresses like the Maytag Man, and has mutton-chops that would make a Rhinestone Cowboy jealous?
This guy.This is Mego's Planet of the Apes Astronaut.
He's kind of a generic, all-purpose astronaut for the simian Planet of the Apes figures to attack, torture, and maim. In the original Planet of the Apes film, three men survived from their ship's crash landing only to stumble upon a hostile ape civilization. The primary astronaut, Taylor, was played by Charlton Heston and was the obvious choice for a likeness when Mego produced their astronaut figure.
I'm not sure if Mego decided that kids wouldn't care if this figure didn't look anything like Heston...or if Heston refused to allow his likeness for the toy...or if Heston was asking for too much money to license his likeness. At any rate, this is what we got. He was just called "Astronaut" on his package and in the television commercials.
He is made of completely recycled parts from Mego's Action Jackson line of figures. Action Jackson was a smaller copy of toy lines like Gi Joe and Action Man. Everything from the Astronaut's head and helmet down to his boots was recycled from the Action Jackson line. Even then, it was a bit disappointing that his helmet and suit looked nothing like the astronaut suits from the film. The least they could have done was give him a white suit.
However, there is something quaint and innocent about the fact that there once was a time when a toy company could get away with something like this. He was an astronaut and was stranded on the Planet of the Apes... this was enough for most kids and their imagination filled in the rest.A complete Astronaut includes his silver helmet (with chin string and retractable goggles), blue jumpsuit (with GIANT zipper pull), white belt, and black boots.
ON the plus side, that is a terribly awesome lid he's sporting! I mean the visor works and everything! (though, given the design he should be "Helicopter Crewman" or "Jet Pilot" rather than "Astronaut"
ReplyDelete(You know, it was cool lids like that one that lead me to a stint in U.S. Coast Guard aviation as a helicopter crewman. Of course, ours weren't held on by a bit of string...)
I remember that fellow well. He may have been THE only figure I owned for Mego's POTA line. I not only had to imagine his identity; I also had to imagine his simian enemies.
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