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

Mego 8" Fonzie

This is Mego's 8" Fonzie from the Happy Days television show. Happy Days was a popular TV program that aired from 1974 to 1984. Mego Fonzie was released in 1977. The show was a nostalgic look back at a family (the Cunninghams) during the 1950s and early 1960s. To kids watching at the time, Happy Days depicted an era that seemed almost as ancient as the Depression of the 1930s or the Wild West of the late 1800s. To parents, the Happy Days era probably seemed fairly recent as it depicted a time that was only 20 years previous to when the show aired. One's age and how it relates to the perception of time passing is a very strange thing.


It's difficult to describe Fonzie (aka The Fonz, Arthur Fonzarelli) to someone that hasn't seen the Fonz "in action" on Happy Days. You see, Fonzie was the coolest of the cool... the leather-jacket-wearing-guy that could never fail and always kept his cool no matter the situation. He was almost like Superman, James Dean, and Evel Knievel all rolled into one. Fonzie could best almost anybody at anything (he even jumped a shark on water skis... which eventually led to the term "jump the shark). Few dared to oppose him and many looked to him to help them out of sticky situations. The character became such a cultural phenomenon that he spawned such things as t-shirts, lunch boxes, toys, and even an official Fonzie kids leather jacket (that I tried on while shopping for school clothes once... My Mom said "No." Can you tell that I've been scarred for life?).


Point of Shame: When I was about 9, I was a such a Fonzie fan that I started a "Fonzie Club" in my neighborhood... individually drawing Fonzie with markers on each "club member's" white t-shirt.

Mego did a nice job on Fonzie. The head sculpt looks very much like a Mego-ized Henry Winkler (the actor that played the Fonz). This figure also includes an action feature that is unique to this figure. His thumbs swivel into a "thumbs up" position on each hand and a lever on his back thrusts his hands up from waist to chest level. You see, on the show, the Fonz would thrust both thumbs up and utter his famous-at-the-time line, "Aaaaaaaay!!" The Fonz would often do this to show his approval of something... or he could change the inflection to reflect something more like disappointment with someone (sans the thumbs). I can't tell you how many kids walked around in the mid-Seventies saying "Aaaaaay!!" or "Sit on it" (another catchphrase popularized by Happy Days).



A complete Mego Fonzie should include his leather jacket, white sleeveless under-shirt, jeans, and black boots.

The original "shark jumper."

Mego 8" Planet of the Apes Astronaut Peter Burke

This is Mego's Peter Burke from 1974. He's the other astronaut that was stranded with Alan Virdon on the TV version of Planet of the Apes.

As with Virdon, Mego did an outstanding job of capturing the actor's (James Naughton) likeness... especially by 1974 toy standards.

To be complete, Peter should have a brown long-sleeved shirt, tan pants, a burlap (yep, it's even rough and itchy) vest, and brown moccasins (same as Virdon and Cornelius/Galen).


This concludes the Mego Planet of the Apes action figure line. Mego produced 9 individual figures from the films and TV show (ten characters... as Mego used the same figure for both Cornelius and Galen). Although, we really didn't care what movies or shows the figures came from as long as we had a good assortment of Apes and Astronauts to play with... and Mego delivered. I think Mego did an outstanding job on the Planet of the Apes figure line. For Megos, they are well-detailed and come with a nice assortment of accessories (at least the Generals did). For me, this will always be the quintessential Planet of the Apes figure line and I'm glad I was the right age when they arrived to enjoy them like I and many others did.

Mego 8" Planet of the Apes Astronaut Alan Virdon

In 1974, those dirty apes from the series of ground-breaking sci-fi films were transported to my family's little black and white television (along with millions of other televisions, I'm sure). The Planet of the Apes television series didn't last long, but while it did, I was always glued to the set to see what would happen next to the astronauts that were stranded in this strange world where apes ruled and humans cowered. The TV show, in premise, was a lot like the first Planet of the Apes film. Although, instead of one astronaut surviving and being on the run, the television series had two...Peter Burke and Alan Virdon.

This is Alan Virdon, one half of the human astronaut duo that survived through all 14 episodes of the television show that were produced. Mego produced Virdon as part of the their second series of Planet of the the Apes (POTA) figures. While the first series of figures featured a generic astronaut that looked nothing like Charlton Heston, this new batch of POTA figures featured astronauts with very good likenesses to their living, breathing counterparts on the TV screen (Alan Virdon was played by actor, Ron Harper).


I remember seeing these two newer astronauts in the Coon Rapids, Minnesota Target store in 1974. Instantly, I wanted to bring them both home for my apes to chase and torment. It wasn't to be... and, as a kid, I never did get these two astronauts. However, my mom did make a very convincing version of one their tattered costumes for my Mego Tarzan and he did a fine job of standing in for these official Mego astronauts (and Evel Knievel's Canyon Sky Cycle stood in as the astronaut's ill-fated rocket ship).

Alan is a pretty basic Mego figure. He didn't come with any accessories or extras... just the figure and his "ripped-up" clothing. To be complete, he should have his tan shirt and pants, brown vest, and brown moccasins (the same ones that Cornelius and Galen came with).

It was great to finally get Alan and his astronaut buddy, Peter, a couple of years ago. It made that 7 year-old that had to leave them behind at Target very happy.

Mego 8" Planet of the Apes General Urko

Okay...I'm going to get through all these dang dirty apes if it takes me several months. I promised myself that I'd get through all the Mego apes in a reasonable amount of time... and I've failed. So, onward!! I'll do the best I can. Just a few more to go and then I'll move on to some other 70s toy goodness... like more large-size Star Wars.

This is the other ape general. I knew him as General Urko, as a kid. You may know him as General Ursus. His package variations, back in the day, used both names. Go figure.


This General was a hard "sell" to my parents. I never did get him as a kid. He looked too much like the previously released Soldier Ape for my parents' taste. They did have a point. However, he was different enough that I wanted him and envied those that did have him. There was something cool about his face sculpt that I really liked. Although, not screen-accurate, he was much closer looking to the apes in the movies and TV show than the first gorilla soldier ape we got from Mego. He looked menacing to me... maybe it was the knife.



A complete General Urko should include his tunic with attached cuffs (although, some variations of this figure were packaged with the original soldier ape tunic and separate "mittens"), pants, black split-toe general boots, bandolier with knife holder, knife, and M16 rifle (with brown string).

I've always viewed this guy as one of the "newer" Mego apes since he was released after the TV show started airing. That was over 35 years ago. Man, I'm getting old.

Almost Vintage: Mattel Retro-Action DC Super Heroes Green Arrow

Back in the very early Seventies, a company named Mego began producing some of the very first Super Hero action figures. They produced a wide array of characters from both DC and Marvel comics in a toy line titled "World's Greatest Super-Heroes!" They were 8" tall, colorful, and full of playability. Many "kids" of that era swear by Mego figures as being the best toys ever created. Mego figures may not have been the most durable toys but kids loved them and many grown men (and women) today still do. The way that Mego figures were designed often left the characters looking slightly goofy and "off-model." However, looking back, the quirkiness of Megos lends them their greatest charm.

Over the past ten or fifteen years, nostalgia for Megos has lead to at least two toy companies trying to recapture the "magic" of Super Hero Megos in a 9" format. Two of the things that makes a Mego a Mego are cloth costumes and and a "reusable" base body. In kind, the new 9" "Megos" from Hasbro (DC Super Heroes) and Toybiz (Marvel Famous Covers) had cloth clothing and utilized a "reusable" base body. Both companies succeeded to some degree with both hits and misses in their respective lines. However, both companies were trying to create a product that would appeal to both nostalgic Mego collectors AND to the current generation of children roaming the toy aisles with their parents. In my opinion, by trying to hit both targets, they also missed both to a great degree. The 9" format wasn't truly in scale with the vintage Mego figures that Mego collectors already had AND children were more used to action figures with sculpted clothing and a smaller scale. Both lines did fairly well but began to fizzle after a relatively short time.


Just recently, in 2009, Mattel toys announced that they would partner with EMCE Toys (makers of the fantastic Star Trek and Planet of the Apes Mego replica figures) to resurrect the "World's Greatest Super-Heroes!" toy line by producing brand-new "Megos" in an 8" scale. The figures would be made to closely resemble the style and look of vintage Mego figures. All new characters that Mego never produced would also be a part of the new Mattel line. Mego fans rejoiced at the prospect of having all-new Megos and have been waiting anxiously for the figures to become available. It should also be noted that the "World's Greatest Super-Heroes" name has changed, sadly, and the line is now called "Retro-Action DC Super-Heroes."

The first new "Mego" from Mattel is Green Arrow and he is an online exclusive through mattycollector.com. The following waves of figures will be exclusive to Toys R Us stores and a few online toy sites. Green Arrow just shipped out to collectors last week and is just now arriving to homes, currently.

So, how does this new "Mego" stack up? Let's find out.


Packaging: The packaging on the "Retro-Action" Green Arrow is a definite "nod" to the packaging of vintage carded Megos. It consists of a somewhat flimsy cardboard backer and a simple clear bubble to hold the figure. The figure and accessories are packed in the bubble with nothing to hold them in place. This is exactly how vintage Megos were packed and it definitely adds to the nostalgia factor of this toy to not have twist ties or an insert tray to keep everything in place. The packaging art is also clearly an homage to vintage Mego art using many of the same design cues like the rectangle for the name of the toy line, the white line around the border of the card, and vintage looking drawings of the characters on the front and back. There is also a bit of "distressing" to the card art to help carry over the idea that this is an homage to a vintage toy.


The figure: The figure itself is very Mego-like. The way that the costume and accessories have been produced gives them a quality that is very close to vintage Mego. The costume seems to be made of the same type of material that Mego used and the accessories are molded in a single color (without painted details) just like vintage Mego accessories. His hat, bow, and quiver all look very much like their vintage counterparts with just a slight bit of updating.

Green Arrow's boots are made of a much denser, hard rubber-like plastic that gives them a bit of a different feel than vintage Mego boots. Vintage boots are a bit slimmer and less chunky looking. They were also made of the thinner plastic that almost "rattled" on the vintage figures' feet.

Green Arrow's head is still squishy like a vintage Mego. The headsculpt is also very reminiscent of classic Mego sculpts.

The body used on Mattel's new Megos will probably elicit the most criticism from vintage Mego fans. Clothed, Green Arrow looks quite a bit like a vintage Mego. However, it does have some key differences that do point away from Mego, somewhat. It's limbs and torso are sculpted to look a little more muscular than a vintage Mego. For instance, Mattel's new "Mego" body has a much smaller waist and legs that seem a bit too muscular and "bow legged." However, official word is that the legs will undergo some "tweaking" before the second wave (characters yet unannounced) of these figures hit shelves. Articulation-wise, this new body has the same basic style of articulation of vintage Megos and in the same spots on the figure. That's a plus.

As you can see, the new Retro-Action Green Arrow "hangs" with vintage Megos quite well.

Overall, the Mattel Retro-Action Green Arrow hits almost all of the right buttons and should produce a good dose of nostalgia for anyone that loves the old Mego action figures. I definitely felt a nostalgic rush while cracking open this brand-new "Mego." Much more so, than other aforementioned attempts at bringing back some "Mego Super Hero magic." I, for one, am very excited about the what the future holds for this line.

As I mentioned, Green Arrow is currently available at www.mattycollector.com. This Spring (2010), the next four figures (Superman, Lex Luthor, Green Lantern, and Sinestro) will begin hitting Toys R Us shelves.

I can hardly wait.