Kenner 12" Large Size See-Threepio (C3PO)

This is Kenner's 12" See-Threepio from 1978.

After Artoo, it seemed natural to cover Threepio in this next post.


There's not much to say about Threepio, the character, that hasn't been said a million times before. With that said, I will say this...he's shiny, he's whiny, and if he had spent any time on Dagobah he might have felt a bit briny (I'm here all week, folks). Bad rhymes aside, Threepio (along with Artoo) made for great comic relief in the Star Wars films. Unfortunately, I think that the widespread acceptance of these characters and their humor planted a seed or two in George Lucas's noggin' that eventually led to much more ham-fisted comedy in characters like the Ewoks and Jar Jar Binks. The droids' humor was perfect...ewoks and Jar Jar, not so much.


Kenner didn't really go above and beyond the call when they made See- Threepio in his 12" size. For all intents and purposes, Threepio is just a larger version of his 3 3/4 counterpart. He sports all the same limited articulation (neck, shoulders, hips) and doesn't include any accessories or play features. Such limited articulation on a character that has built-in spots for extra articulation is a cheap cop-out and one of my pet-peeves (I've noticed some of the recent Buzz Lightyear figures have the same issue... There's an elbow joint sculpted right in that doesn't move!!!) What you see is what you get and it's fairly easy to track down a "complete" See-Threepio these days as he didn't have any extra pieces to lose. However, he does sport a very shiny, gold paint scheme. Pretty, ain't it?

As a kid, his limited play features were a huge disappointment. Sometimes, I think I was made to suffer. It's my lot in life.

Kenner 12" Scale Large Size Artoo Detoo (R2D2)

This is Kenner's 12" scale, large size Artoo Detoo (R2D2).

Artoo was quite a revolutionary character when he appeared in the first Star Wars film. He was shaped like a garbage can on legs and was not what we were used to as far as film robots go. Through the use of motors, puppetry, and sound design, he was brought to life as a character we all could love. I can't think of another instance in cinema before Star Wars where someone attempted to make a non-humanoid robot a sympathetic, fully-fleshed out character. We couldn't understand a "word" he said but we always knew how Artoo felt and what he was thinking. In my book, cinematically speaking, that's a huge achievement.


In 1978, Kenner released the lovable Artoo Detoo in the 12" scale to go along with their other 12" figures. I think they did a wonderful job of accurately representing how Artoo looked onscreen. Sure, he's not going to fool a studied prop-junkie but his proportions look about right and he's got oodles of detail and chrome paint.

It's a good thing Artoo is so good-looking because he can't do much else. His head turns and his legs swivel at the "shoulders" and the "ankles." He also has wheels to help him scoot along. No third leg on this guy, though.


The downside to vintage collectibles that are molded in white plastic (versus painted white), is that the white plastic almost always yellows over time. So, you can see that Artoo isn't completely white anymore but more of a cream color. Also, glue along joint lines tends to darken and show up on vintage white plastic (Vintage White Plastic would make a great band name, btw).

When you press a panel on the front of Artoo, a door opens in back to reveal the Death Star Plans that he's hiding from the Empire. There are two sets of plans inside Artoo that can be removed. Mine have fingerprints on them, and if I'm not mistaken, they look Bothan... go figure.

Artoo doesn't have much to get lost. He needs his two plans to be complete and that's about it... barring a missing leg or something.

His and hers?

This is a great piece and a collectible just can't get any more "Star Warsy" than a vintage Artoo Detoo giant action figure.

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.