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Planet of the Apes 1974-1975

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Over its two year run from 1974 to 1975, Mego’s Planet of the Apes line was one of their best selling movie brands of the decade. All items essentially fell into two different waves, which included ten different figures, four fantastic playsets, several fun accessories, and the Action Stallion. A “Bend N Flex” series was also released in 1975 with six rubber figures. Fun Fact: The reason for Mego’s generic Astronaut figure was due to Mego’s failure to acquire the likeness rights for Charlton Heston’s character from the original movie.

For more information about Mego’s Planet of the Apes line, see bottom of page for a complete summary.

Mego released five brand new figures for the first series of characters in the Planet of the Apes line in 1974. All Series 1 figures were re-released the following year in conjunction with the Series 2 figures for 1975. Series 1 included Astronaut, Cornelius, Dr. Zaius, Soldier Ape and Zira.

Astronaut

Market Value:
Carded $250 – $350
Loose $65 – $90

Astronaut
Accessories: Cloth Jumpsuit, Boots, Belt, Helmet w/ Visor
Years Released: 1974-1975
Difficulty To Find: Moderate Difficulty – Takes patience and appears less often
Notes: The Astronaut figure was billed as a generic astronaut since Mego could not get the likeness rights to Charlton Heston from the Planet of the Apes movie. If the jumpsuit looks familiar, think Action Jackson with a white plastic belt. Fun Fact: The head sculpt is actually stamped with a 1972 date, so it can be assumed that it was meant for another line at some point.

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Cornelius

Market Value:
Carded $200 – $275
Loose $40 – $60

Cornelius
Accessories: Cloth Shirt, Pants, Moccasins
Years Released: 1974-1975
Difficulty To Find: Less Common – Appears often but some hunting needed
Notes: Cornelius was portrayed by Roddy McDowell in the Planet of the Apes movie, and the figure is a fantastic likeness of the character. Strangely, the Galen figure is nearly identical to the Cornelius figure, so it’s almost impossible to tell them apart without them being in the package.

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Dr. Zaius

Market Value:
Carded $200 – $275
Loose $40 – $60

Dr. Zaius
Accessories: Cloth Coat, Pants, Boots
Years Released: 1974-1975
Difficulty To Find: Less Common – Appears often but some hunting needed
Notes: Dr. Zaius was portrayed by Maurice Evans in the Planet of the Apes movie, and the figure is a fantastic likeness of the character. There is a slight color variation to Zaius’ hair with it either being orange or yellow type color.

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Soldier Ape

Market Value:
Carded $300 – $400
Loose $75 – $100

Soldier Ape
Accessories: Cloth Tunic, Pants, Boots, Gloves, Rifle, Bando
Years Released: 1974-1975
Difficulty To Find: Moderate Difficulty – Takes patience and appears less often
Notes: The Soldier Ape is the generic ape fighter figure from the Planet of the Apes movies, and the figure is a decent likeness, despite the bug eyes. The General Ursus figure is very similar to the Soldier Ape, except with different colored hair and slightly different head mold.

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Zira

Planet of the Apes (1975): Series 2 Figures

After massive success with the first series of Planet of the Apes figures, a 2nd series was released the following year in 1975. The new series contained five more new figures, with all figures being from the new television show, except for General Ursus, who was actually from the movie, Beneath the Planet of the Apes. In total, Series 2 included Alan Verdon, Galen, General Urko, General Ursus and Peter Burke.

Alan Verdon

Market Value:
Carded $225 – $300
Loose $50 – $75

Alan Verdon
Accessories: Cloth Shirt, Vest, Pants, Moccasins
Years Released: 1974-1975
Difficulty To Find: Moderate Difficulty – Takes patience and appears less often
Notes: Alan Verdon was portrayed by Ron Harper in the Planet of the Apes television show, and the figure is a fantastic likeness of the character. Fun Fact: Alan Verdon is a actually a typo by Mego, since the character is really named Alan Virdon in the show.

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Galen

Market Value:
Carded $250 – $350
Loose $45 – $65

Galen
Accessories: Cloth Shirt, Pants, Moccasins
Years Released: 1974, 1975
Difficulty To Find: Hard to Find – Occasionally listed, and usually sells quickly
Notes: Galen was portrayed by Roddy McDowell in the Planet of the Apes television show, since Cornelius was not in the show. Strangely, the Galen figure is nearly identical to the Cornelius figure, so it’s almost impossible to tell them apart without them being in the package.

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General Urko

Market Value:
Carded $550 – $650
Loose $65 – $90

General Urko
Accessories: Cloth Tunic, Pants, Boots, Rifle, Bando, Knife
Years Released: 1974, 1975
Difficulty To Find: Hard to Find – Occasionally listed, and usually sells quickly
Notes: General Urko was not featured in the movie but was a character from the television show and portrayed by Mark Lenard. Urko was a very well sculpted figure that came with a molded-on helmet, along with a rifle, knife and cool looking Bando to go across his chest.

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General Ursus

General Ursus
Accessories: Cloth Tunic, Pants, Boots, Gloves, Rifle, Bando, Knife
Years Released: 1974, 1975
Difficulty To Find: Both versions are Hard to Find – Occasionally listed, and usually sells quickly
Notes: Every character in Series 2 was from the television show, except for General Ursus. He was actually from the Movie, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, so it was definitely an odd choice. He is similar to the Soldier Ape figure, but for copyright reasons, a 2nd version of the character was made that was identical to General Urko. Therefore, you may find either figure on a General Ursus card, but both are tough to find.

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Peter Burke

Planet of the Apes (1974-1975): Accessories

There were four basic accessories released for the Planet of the Apes line by Mego from 1974-1975, with a fifth accessory, the Rock Launcher, only being available in the United Kingdom.

Battering Ram

Market Value:
Boxed $115 – $165
Loose $40 – $60

Battering Ram
Accessories: Ram w/ Boulder, Housing, Wheels
Years Released: 1975
Difficulty To Find: Moderate Difficulty – Takes patience and appears less often
Notes: The Battering Ram accessory for the Planet of the Apes line was a simple but fun addition to the series. It was a primitive looking battering ram, which fit in perfectly with the POTA universe. The actual Battering Ram was attached to the housing with string and would rock back and forth.

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Catapult and Wagon

Market Value:
Boxed $275 – $350
Loose $110 – $150

Catapult and Wagon
Accessories: Wagon, Horse Harness, Catapult, Rubber Band, 10 Rocks
Years Released: 1975
Difficulty To Find: Hard to Find – Occasionally listed, and usually sells quickly
Notes: The Catapult and Wagon set was a really fun accessory introduced to the Planet of the Apes line by Mego. It included a wagon full of boulders with a horse harness to hook up to your Action Stallion, along with a Catapult to then sling the boulders at your enemies. Fun Fact: The Canadian version came with a horse in the set.

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Planet of the Apes (1974-1975): Playsets

Mego released four large scale playsets for their 8″ Planet of the Apes line, with the Village and Treehouse being released in Series 1, and the Fortress and Forbidden Zone Trap being released in Series 2. All of the playsets remain tough to find in boxes and can fetch high prices on the secondary market.

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Treehouse Playset

Treehouse Playset
Accessories: Main Building, Staircase, Hatch, Table, Net, Weapons Bench, Batons x 3, Rifles x 3, Jail
Years Released: 1974, 1975
Difficulty To Find: Both versions are Hard to Find – Occasionally listed, and usually sells quickly
Notes: The Planet of the Apes Treehouse playset was not based on anything in particular but rather a generic playset that was modeled for the Planet of the Apes universe. It is actually a re-branded Jungle Treehouse from the Action Jackson line that was released in 1972. A gift set was released as well that included the Treehouse and all five of the Series 1 figures in plastic baggies. The gift set is a coveted item and difficult to find in box on the secondary market.

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Village Playset

Market Value:
Boxed $700 – $850
Loose $150 – $225

Village Playset
Accessories: Fold-Out Plastic Playset, Vinyl Mat, Table, Weapons Bench, Jail, Net, Batons x 3, Rifles x 3, Jail
Years Released: 1974, 1975
Difficulty To Find: Hard to Find – Occasionally listed, and usually sells quickly
Notes: The Village Playset from Planet of the Apes was a re-purposed Bat Cave playset, which was originally a Lost Continent Playset from the Action Jackson line. Still, it was a nice piece for Planet of the Apes and featured some really great artwork. It had many of the same accessories as the Treehouse, but sadly, it did not have the Bat Signal light from the Bat Cave. I guess there was no Bat-Ape character in this universe.

Planet of the Apes (1974-1975): Vehicles

Since there were no cars in the the Planet of the Apes world, they had to settle for horses and Mego released the Action Stallion for the line in 1974.

Planet of the Apes (1975): Bend ‘n Flex Figures

Mego had already released a series of Bend ‘n Flex figures based on the mega successful World’s Greatest Heroes line in 1974, so with the popularity of the Planet of the Apes franchise, it only made sense they would get the Bend ‘n Flex treatment as well. All five of the Series 1 figures were released in this format, as well as Galen from Series 2.

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By 1974, Mego Toys was quickly becoming a global name in the toy industry. With the World’s Greatest Heroes line already proving to be a huge success, Mego turned their sights on other licenses from the big and small screens with Star Trek and Planet of the Apes, which were both released in 1974. The original Planet of the Apes movie was released in 1968, which was then followed by four more films with the last one being Battle for the Planet of the Apes, released in 1973. Twentieth Century Fox was attempting to revive the Planet of the Apes franchise in 1973 by re-releasing the original two films on network television and then re-releasing all five films in theaters. Their strategy paid off big time because the country was thrust back into ape mania with the public clamoring for more. Mego took notice of this and quickly signed a licensing deal for a Planet of the Apes toy line. Planet of the Apes was the first series that Mego had released from a movie and was considered a bit of a risk at the time, since it wasn’t clear if any further Planet of the Apes films would even be released. Apparently that didn’t matter to the toy buying public, as the Planet of the Apes line turned out to be one of the biggest selling lines that Mego ever produced. It did well enough that a second series of figures was released the following year in 1975, which were based off the Planet of the Apes television show that was airing on the CBS Network. Planet of the Apes Merchandise exploded into every retail store in the country and even across the world, but no other brand ever achieved the success that Mego did with their iconic toy line.

During its two year run, Mego gave us some truly iconic figures and accessories for their Planet of the Apes line from 1974-1975. All the released items fell into two different series or waves. The first series contained five different figures that included Cornelius, Zira, Dr. Zaius, Solider Ape and a generic Astronaut figure. The reason for the generic Astronaut was that Mego failed to get the likeness rights to the Charlton Heston character from the original movie, Taylor. Also released in Series 1 was the Action Stallion, which would be re-used for a few other lines, and two new playsets, the Village and the Treehouse. The figures proved to be so popular that a second series was released in 1975, based on characters from the new Planet of the Apes television show airing on the CBS Network. Included in Series 2 were the stranded astronauts, Allan Virdon and Peter Burke, Galen, and two ape generals, General Urko and General Ursus. Also included with Series 2 were two more playsets, Fortress and the Forbidden Zone. These were both late releases and are generally hard to find in box nowadays. Four new accessories were also released in Series 2, the Battering Ram, Catapult and Wagon set, the Jail and the Throne. These all made for a lot of great fun and playability. The Planet of the Apes action figure line remains extremely beloved by the generation of children who grew up in that era, myself included.

The packaging for the basic assortment of the Planet of the Apes figures were colorful and extremely eye catching with beautiful artwork, which would remain a staple with Mego’s figure packaging. The Series 1 packaging in 1974 had each figure on a standard carded blister pack with the figure to the right side and a small beautifully drawn portrait of each character in the series to the left. The classic Planet of the Apes logo was at the top of the left side of the card with each character’s name just above the blister bubble in bold white letters. Beginning in 1975 with Series 2, Mego switched the small character portraits on the front of the card to reflect the new figures that were released in that series. Everything else about the cards remained the same. Like the World’s Greatest Heroes line, Mego continued their tradition of using multiple colors for each figure’s package, so each character featured a different color card. This made for a very attractive display on the toy shelves and hooks.