Thanks for your patience...

Mego Bend 'n Flex Planet of the Apes Astronaut

Quick post. This is Mego's Astronaut from their Bend 'n Flex bendy series from 1975.

I picked this guy up last year from a Mego Marketplace seller. I'm keeping him carded as I love the cheesy, vintage artwork and, in this case, the packaging feels as much a part of the toy as the toy, itself. I especially love the illustration on the back of the package that shows all the characters in the series.

I only had two of these Planet of the Apes bendies as a kid...the astronaut and a soldier ape. I got the Astronaut first and he accompanied me on a road trip from Minnesota to Montana to find a new house when I was about 8 years old. While visiting Montana, we stopped by a Kmart and I was allowed to buy a soldier ape. So, my strongest memory of these Ape bendies has to do with playing with them in the car for hours and hours while riding from state to state.

Better than a Gameboy or Ipod for passing time? Eh, probably not... but there wasn't a whole lot for a kid to do on long road trips back then.

I've said it before, but I love how Mego got away with making their astronaut toys look NOTHING like the astronaut characters from the films.

Gotta love the 70's.

Mego Micronauts Baron Karza

The Micronauts were a toy line that debuted in the US in 1977. Like Shogun Warriors (from Popy), they were created by a Japanese toy company (Takara) and imported by a US toy company for sale in the States. In Japan, the line was called "Micro Man" but Mego Corp. renamed the line "Micronauts" and sold it in the US.

The Micronauts were a bit ahead of their time. They were a fully-articulated line of 3 3/4" inch figures that pre-dated Hasbro's 3 3/4" articluated GiJoe line by 5 or 6 six years. Although most of the figures were around 4 inches tall, there were some larger figures in the Micronauts universe. The subject of this post is one such figure. This is Baron Karza. He was kind of the "big bad" of the Micronauts line. Although Mego didn't really provide much story for the toy line, Marvel Comics produced a series of comics that did flesh out the story of the Micronauts.

Baron Karza is about 6" tall and uses a fairly unique mechanism for his articulated sections. Magnets. His shoulders, neck, and hips are all magnet joints that can be pulled apart and then put back together... in crazy configurations, if desired. Baron Karza's magnets also allowed him to be combined with a black magnetic horse toy called Andromeda to create a Centaur version of Karza.


This example belongs to my younger brother (but currently resides in the Yesterville Archives). As a kid, I didn't have any Micronauts because they were being sold alongside Kenner's brand-new Star Wars toy line. Consequently, my allowance usually went to something Star Wars while my brother tended to be a bit more "open" to other toy lines. As an adult, I can now see just how cool this line of toys was. These toys seem to have a nice, quality build to them that you just don't see all the time. Baron Karza is a fairly heavy, solid-feeling figure with loads of play value.



Like Shogun Warriors, Karza has projectile fists that shoot off at the touch of a button. Also included with the Baron were two large cone-shaped missiles and several small 1/2" red missiles (not shown...long gone). Both kinds of missiles could also be shot from Baron Karza's wrists or the missile port in his stomach. There was even a missile storing attachment included that could be carried on Karza's back and a pair of non-firing "missile silo" arms.

The good Baron with a smaller, more-typically sized Micronaut, Pharoid.

For information on the Micronauts Time Traveler (similar to Pharoid but the most recognizable figure in the series), please see Iok's (from That Figures) excellent post on the figure and the Micronauts series, in general:

MICRONAUTS TIME TRAVELER

The Micronauts were an insanely cool toy line that truly stood out on toy shelves in the late 1970s. They really had a unique look and unique set of play features that set them apart from other toys.

Karza looks awfully Vader-esque, don't you think? Coincidence?

Mego 1979 Diecast Metal Batman

I've posted a full review of this figure at Yesterville's sister-blog, Under the Giant Penny. Given that this figure is from 1979, I thought some Yesterville readers might be interested in seeing more about this figure. This one "crosses the fence" for the focus of both blogs. Just click the link below to be taken to the full review and many more photos.

Mego Diecast Metal Batman

Yesterville is TWO!!

I was just sitting here working away when it hit me... Yesterville is two years old today!! So, because I didn't have anything prepared, I dug though some old photos to find something that might be relevant. I found these photos of an Artoo Detoo cake that my wife and I made for our youngest son when he turned two (about 6 years ago...yikes, time moves quickly). So, since it was his second birthday and today is Yesterville's second birthday, I thought these images might be appropriate (plus, it's Artoo Detoo!!...).

I haven't been posting as much as I'd like over the past year or so but I'm trying to remedy that. There are also plenty of toys left in the Yesterville archive that I need to cover... so, stay tuned!

Kenner Six Million Dollar Man Critical Assignment Legs

This is the Six Million Dollar Man Criitcal Assignment Legs set from Kenner, produced in 1977. This was another add-on set for the Bionic Man figure... similar to the Critical Assignment Arms set that I've reviewed previously.

Despite Steve Austin's legs being bionic (robotic) in the television show, the Kenner 12" action figure only featured bionics in his right arm. With this set, kids playing with Bionic Man figures everywhere could finally have bionic features in their figures' legs, as well.


This set features two legs (naturally) that both perform unique bionic "actions."

The left leg is an "exploding leg." It features flesh-colored panels that hide the true nature of Steve Austin's powerful appendages. When the appropriate button is pressed, "Pow!!!" the panels explode off the leg. According to the back of the box, this function is to simulate a "bionic malfunction." Ouch.


The right leg features two opening panels. The panel in Steve's thigh opens to reveal wires and bionic circuitry. The panel in his shin provides the necessary tool to perform bionic surgery on Steve's leg, should he need it. It features a small blue hook that aids in pulling the wired panels from Steve's thigh... kind of like a mini Operation game without the lights and buzzer.



This set also features a pair of white shorts. In his regular, red standard-issue pants, it would be difficult to play with the features in Steve's new legs. The shorts allow adequate access to the various parts and panels in the legs. Cool beans.

I didn't have this set, as a kid. I picked this one up close to this past Christmas on Ebay. However, I did have the Critical Assignment Arms as a kid and did always want to add this set to my Six Million Dollar Man. So, it was great to finally add this set to my collection. I still think it's pretty neat that Kenner would produce add-on sets like this that would allow kids to add new features to their figures without having to buy an all-new figure. I guess Kenner really did care. After all, that WAS their slogan.

Kenner Star Wars Large Size Jawa (12" Scale)

This is Kenner's Large Sized 8" Jawa from 1978. He's the last of the twelve that I'll be reviewing on Yesterville. Maybe I'll have to set up a Star Wars Large Sized "family photo" as a finale to finally finishing all the Large Sized Star Wars figures.



One of the great things about the original Star Wars trilogy was the fact that George Lucas didn't feel like he had to explain everything... or give us a glimpse under every helmet or head covering. Who was under the Stormtrooper helmets? Who knows? What does Boba Fett look like? Is he human? Who knows? This was part of the fun of Jawas, too. As a kid, it was pretty fascinating to see Jawas for the first time in Star Wars. Those covered faces, strange voices, and light-up eyes were pretty startling. I always wondered what their faces looked like and if those lights were actually their eyes... or lights that they needed to see with. Who knows?

Kenner's Jawa is a pretty basic figure. He has swivel shoulders, swivel thighs, and swivel wrists. He's really not too different than his 3 3/4 inch counterpart. I am glad that Kenner included bandoliers that could be worn over his cloak this time, though, instead of being sculpted underneath the cloak.

I found this Jawa many years ago at a comic convention, as well. I would always make it my yearly goal to add one more 12" vintage Star Wars figure to my collection each time I attended a comic book convention.

A complete Jawa should include his brown cloak, rubber bandoliers (one piece), and his blaster.

Ooootini!!!