Mego 8" Planet of the Apes Dr. Zaius

This is Mego's 8" Dr. Zaius. He was first released in 1974, also.

Dr. Zaius sort of presides over the science and religion aspects of Ape Society as the "Minister of Science" and "Chief Defender of the Faith." He's seen as a wise old sage by most of ape society. However, Zaius knows more about ape history than he is willing to divulge to others. He's fearful for ape society if the truth of its origin leaks out. Kind of like how our government hides the truth about UFOs, Bigfoot, and Unicorns from us...allegedly, of course. If they do, it's for our own good.


Mego did an outstanding job with the head sculpt on Zaius. It looks a great deal like the character in the films and seems to almost have every crease and wrinkle. He even seems to have that certain twinkle in his eye that actor, Maurice Evans, brought to the role. Am I seeing too much?

Dr. Zaius didn't come with any accessories. It would have been nice if he had come with a scroll or something, though. Nope, he'll just have to suppress the truth and torment humans using only his wits and hairy mitts.

A complete Dr. Zaius should include his fur-cuffed tunic, pants, and black boots. Some versions of Dr. Zaius include boots with symbols from the Ape alphabet embossed on the sides of them. However, the example pictured is wearing the standard black boots without symbols. It should also be noted that with all the Mego Apes, Zaius included, the hands of the figure should be sculpted with a hairy texture.

Mego 8" Planet of the Apes Soldier Ape

I could go on and on all day about how much I loved the Planet of the Apes as a kid...and how I still do. I could also go on and on also about how I think the Apes movies and TV show deserve more love from the current geek community.

At any rate, this is Mego's 8" Soldier Ape action figure. The soldier apes were the "Star Wars Stormtroopers" of the Apes films. They all looked pretty much alike and wore the same uniform (they also tended to be fairly dumb). So, in the toy world, you could buy as many soldier apes as you liked and build an army without someone saying, "Aren't they all the same guy?" There was an understanding, as with Stormtroopers, that identical figures represented a whole bunch of individual soldiers...that all looked very similar (or simian). However, I only had one. I'm just trying to give the non-Apeheads a sense of who these guys were in the films.


The Soldier Ape was one of the first 5 Apes figures that Mego released when they started the line in 1974.

One thing about him that really bugged me as a child (and that I love today) is his fingerless gloves. He just has fabric pouches that cover all his fingers and make it more than a little difficult for him to hold his rifle. These days, I love the fact that Mego made decisions like this... Hey, it's just a toy.

Although his gloves were a bit odd, the Soldier Ape's costume is excellent for a Mego figure. They even included a bandolier and rifle.


A complete Soldier Ape should include his tunic, pants, black boots, gloves, bandolier, and rifle with string. It should also be noted that late releases of the Soldier Ape did not include gloves, but rather, vinyl cuffs attached to the tunic that left the hands bare.

I also posted about Cornelius from this same set and release HERE.

"I smell an ASTRONAUT!"

Remco Star Trek Phaser

This is just a quick follow-up post to my garage finds post back in August. I had mentioned that we had a Star Trek phaser that shot disks but didn't know what had happened to it. A couple of weeks later, my Mom stopped by with a few more little things that she and my Dad had found. Lo and behold, there was the Star Trek phaser. No big deal... just thought I'd throw it on here.

It's made by Remco and is dated 1976. This was a time when there really weren't any active movie or television properties associated with Star Trek running. However, Star Trek toys were made throughout the 70s, even when there wasn't a show to promote.

Kenner 12" Large Size Luke Skywalker

This is Kenner's 12" Luke Skywalker Large Size Action Figure.

Like the Darth Vader in my previous post, he's also from 1978.

This is the figure that replaced my broken Darth Vader and I've kept it all these years. At the time, I would have preferred to have replaced Vader with another Vader but it was not to be. So, I settled for Luke... Vader's son. I just didn't know he was Vader's boy at the time.

Having grown up on 12" GiJoes and Mego figures, I was a bit surprised to open this figure and find that his articulation was very limited...like a Ken doll. He's built like a Ken or Barbie doll, as well, with a hard plastic torso and rubbery arms and legs that only swing forward and backwards. Also, like Ken and Barbie, he has limited elbow and knee articulation. There's some sort of "clicking" armature inside that allows very limited bending movement.


Still there's something about Luke's head sculpt that I still like to this day. It's not trying to be uber-realistic and it's definitely not a generic sculpt. Mark Hamill is in there, albeit somewhat stylized. I definitely prefer this kind of sculpt versus a sculpt that's trying to be realistic and has gone wrong...as most of Hasbro's 12" figures from the 1990s exhibited. However, I do enjoy realistic sculpts, also, when they really hit the mark.

To be complete, Luke should have a white tunic, tan pants, white boots, black and silver "utility" belt, a blue lightsaber, and grappling hook.

If these accessories were released with a figure today, screen accuracy junkies' heads would definitely explode.

Overall, this is a nice rendition of a now iconic character. Today, there have been many 12" versions of Luke Skywalker produced by Hasbro and more recently by Sideshow Collectibles. However, this was the first 12" scale Luke and still deserves recognition despite it's doll-like qualities.

Kenner 15" Large Size Darth Vader

This is Kenner's 15" Darth Vader "Large Size" action figure.

In 1978, Kenner started producing Star Wars figures that were the extreme opposite of the small, insanely successful 3 3/4 scale action figures they had released earlier. Kenner started producing 12 inch, sixth-scale figures of the most popular characters from the first Star Wars film. Vader was one of the first four released along with Chewbacca, Luke, and Leia.


To this day, I'm unsure what compelled Kenner to produce these figures. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely a fan of figures in this scale. It's just that I don't quite understand the reasoning behind releasing these when they already "had a good thing going" with the smaller figures, vehicles, and playsets. I can only imagine that many parents weren't too keen on buying Johnny a new set of Star Wars figures in a whole new scale after having purchased so many items in the smaller scale.

As a kid, I was already vested in the smaller scale Star Wars figures. However, my appetite for Star Wars knew no bounds and I begged and pleaded to be able to get some of the new large Star Wars figures. My parents succumbed to my pleas...somewhat. I managed to snag two or three of the larger figures while they were on toy shelves.

My first figure was a Darth Vader. He fell off of a six foot shelf the first day I had him and the elastic keeping his arms attached to his torso snapped. Back to the store he went. However, replacing him with another Darth Vader was not to be (until 10 or 15 years later). The large size Star Wars figures were fairly scarce and another Darth Vader could not be found within a 20 mile radius from where I lived. I had to settle for a Luke Skywalker...but that's another story.

So, the large size Vader became the "one that got away," in a sense. I really felt the sting of having to give that Vader up. The sting of having it and then having to let it go so quickly. Silly, I know...but I was only a kid and girls and cars hadn't entered the picture just yet.


Kenner's approach to the large size figures was "all over the board," so to speak. Some were produced completely in hard plastic and some were produced in full "dolly" mode with a Ken doll style body and cloth clothing.

Vader is produced in plastic with his cape being the only cloth used for his costume. His articulation is very limited...only hips, shoulders, and neck. The only accessories that came with Vader are his lightsaber (gotta love that candy-like, semi-translucent plastic) and his removable cloth cape.

Despite his shortcomings, Kenner's 15" Vader is still a nice looking figure and is an impressive sight on any toy collector's shelf. Imagine how cool it was for kids back in 1978 when the only other Vader figure produced, up to that point, was about 4 inches tall.

Ideal Evel Knievel Super Jet Cycle

The Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle was a tremendous success for the Ideal Toy Company in the early 1970s. Eager to continue the line and keep it a success, Ideal produced many different vehicle sets that used the same "rev and go" technology that made the Stunt Cycle such a success with kids and retailers alike.

One of those toys is the Evel Knievel Super Jet Cycle. This set was first produced in 1976, just a few years after the introduction and success of the original Stunt Cycle set.



Originally, when talking about jumping the Grand Canyon (ultimately to become the Snake River Canyon), Evel Knievel promoted the idea by showing off a jet-powered motorcycle that had wings mounted to the bike. Eventually, this design gave way to the, now famous, "Skycycle" rocket that Evel used to attempt his jump across the canyon back in September 1974.

I have a hunch that the design of this toy is loosely based on Evel's original idea for his jet-powered motorcycle.

Evel (left) on a talk show with his Jet Cycle prototype.

The red "jet pods" on the back of this toy actually have a function. When you rev the cycle on the Energizer, a wheel in each of the jet pods spins against a piece of flint and produces sparks (you had to replace the flint from time to time). The red pods fill with sparks and the sparks also shoot out of the holes on the sides of the pods. This was a very cool effect. However, it was dampened by the fact that the spinning wheels in the pods had a dragging effect on the cycle's flywheel motor that kept the Jet cycle from reaching the kinds of speeds that the original Stunt Cycle could attain. All things considered, though, the Jet Cycle was still a great toy.

I received my original Super Jet Cycle for Christmas in 1976. I'll never forget jumping this toy over ramps in the basement over and over again. In Montana, there was always quite a bit of snow outside during Christmas.

The Jet Cycle did have some improvements over the original stunt cycle. It was made out of a softer, studier plastic that was less prone to breaks and cracks. The original Stunt Cycle, although sturdy, was made of a harder more brittle plastic. This, most often, resulted in broken handlebars and foot stirrups. It was much more difficult to break any pieces on the Jet Cycle.


Like the original Stunt Cycle set, the Super Jet Cycle came with the Energizer base, instructions, decals to apply, and a white-suited Evel Knievel figure with helmet (at this point, Ideal had stopped including Evel's famous "Swagger Stick" cane with figures). A pair of extra flints were also scotch-taped to the front of the instruction sheet. It came in a windowless box with a terrific illustration on the front and line-drawing illustrations of other available Evel Knievel toys on the back. I love these kinds of illustrations from this era. No photoshop effects, computer coloring, or filters...just fantastic hand-produced artwork.

I'll bet Ideal Toys had a lot of fun figuring out what other vehicles besides a basic motorcycle Evel Knievel figures could ride across the driveway, basement floor, or roof. They came up with quite a few inventive toys before the line shut down around 1977. The Super Jet Cycle was no exception and is another classic Evel Knievel toy that should never be forgotten.

Lakeside Popeye Bendie

When I was a kid...a very little kid, Popeye was the "Man." I watched Popeye cartoons on tv, played with Popeye toys and games, and even dressed up like Popeye from time to time. I had a real corn cob pipe and sailor hat. Ball point pen provided the anchor tattoos on my scrawny forearms. I even tried eating cold spinach out of can to emulate my hero once...ONCE.

Until recently, I had forgotten about the Lakeside Popeye bendie. I had one as a kid but it was a forgotten memory. After seeing a photo of one online, I had an "Oh, yeah!" moment and memories of having this bendie came flooding back.

This was produced by Lakeside in 1968 and was sold through, at least, the early 1970's. I do remember that he was sold alongside the Smokey the Bear bendie on toy shelves.

This particular bendie has a greenish sailor suit. Mine, as a kid, was bright blue. I'm not sure if this is from a different production run or if time has altered the original color of the rubber (since the green color is the actual color of the rubber used and is not painted). I have seen both colors in various pictures of this toy online.


I remember being very confused about Popeye's face as a tyke. Is that an eye? Where's his chin? Does he have two mouths (one for talkin' and one for smokin')? The sculpt on this bendy did nothing to clear up my confusion. This is truly one of those faces only a mother could love.

...and therein lies the beauty of Popeye..."I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam." Popeye was always comfortable with himself just the way he was and that always made him cool, in his own right.

Yours truly, about to deliver a spinach-fueled beatdown to "The Bomper," an obviously evil, up-to-no-good clown.

(Edit: I just realized that the bop-bag probably doesn't say "The Bomper." I looked up "Romper Room" and, sure enough, it's a licensed Romper Room toy. The clown's still evil, though. Hmmm. All these years, I thought it said "The Bomper.")