I’m more of a MOTU vintage line collector (my kid period) but I truly enjoy your Mego content/videos. I have three vintage Megos in my collection - Superman; removable cowl Batman; Robin.
I tell my wife the same thing every time we venture into a toy aisle at Walmart or wherever: "Today's kids do not have good toys compared to 70s and 80s kids!" Thanks for this video. I only ever had the planet of the apes board game and a few bubble gum cards. I always wanted this playset!
LOL 😆 My sister gave me Planet of the Apes board game. I never really did figure out how to play it. I had to talk friends into playing it, but it always ended up .. " This is boring!" 😂🤣
@@mpshields I never figured it out either. But I liked that there was little cardboard figures and some sort of fort that you assembled. I think I got mine in one of those compulsory secret Santa exchanges in maybe first or second grade. Glad you remember the board game as fondly as I do! LOL!
@@YAMISOOLD2009 Oh my gosh, yes. That cardboard fort in the middle of the game. Was it a jail? Walk the plank & fall off? 😆 I had the mego apes figures & tree house, so I was like, what do I do with this cardboard fort? LOL!
@@mpshields I think at some point I just took the fort and the cardboard characters and played with them on my own.I would love to take another crack at that game and see if it really was as bad as we remember!😆
Hey you changed the music for the toy pics!!! I really like it! Has a Sci-Fi theme to it!😁👍 This set looks really cool. Glad everything was there. Congratulations on a cool set.
But the late 70s gave us Star Wars and Kenner came along and gave us those action figures we loved. I missed out on planet of the apes toys but I didn't miss the Star Wars toys. Loved that Death Star playset.
I was born in 1980 and only had Spidey and Hulk Mego figures, Star Wars and Masters of the Universe were my main toys. Some of my friends had alot that were passed down from older brothers and I always wished I could have my own collection, which is still beyond my means lol. Recently subbed so I have ALOT of catching up to do, ty for the videos!!!
The table is also a sort of reference to the tv show. There was a rather strange episode whereby the Zara equivalent Female Chimpanzee Doctor was brainwashing the astronauts by strapping them to a table and spinning them around really fast like one of those playground fixtures. Ah, the 70’s. A much simpler time.
Your videos are always such a treat to watch; this one is no different. Thanks for the video and that piece of music you chose was awesome. It'd be swell if you didn't mind sharing the name of it :)
Glad you dug it, it's just something I got out of the UA-cam audio library appropriately titled "Cages", if you make videos, you can use it Royalty free.
For the longest time, I thought the 2001 theme was from Planet of the Apes. I then came to realize that it was only used in the toy commercials for some bizarre reason, not the Apes movies at all. I guess the ape scene from 2001 was close enough. :-D
was the Fortress based on a design from the cartoon series ? Not as a fortress but as a building as the art looks somewhat similar , but I havnt seen it since the 70's so I can be remembering the style of art completely wrong . I remember most playsets at this time were constructed similarly , with thick printed upon cardboard and plastic additional pieces . Great episode and thank you .
Dang, I love the cheap-but-effective aesthetic of cardboard playsets. It's why I love the Palitoy Death Star and Action Force playsets. However, one of my holy grails, which I am still awaiting a lottery win to purchase... is the Amsco Marvel World Playset. Come on lottery, I need me some cardboard joy!
This was great to watch, I had the tree house set with all of the figures as well as the jail and battering ram. This brings back great memories and they were alot of fun for sure. 👍
Great video as always, I haven't jumped into the planet of the apes yet as I'm still acquiring the world's greatest superheroes but plan to eventually get some apes as well as start collecting the Star Trek figures.
What a great video... love your channel. I've always wanted to see one of these close-up, and out-of-the-box. Has anyone ever thought to do high-res scans of the pieces for posterity/repro purposes?
Never had the play sets but my brother and I each had a gorilla. Our mom bought them for us to play with in the waiting room while she visited my uncle in the hospital. I was more interested in the m16 the gorilla had. The TV series SWAT made the m16 a popular toy. It’s interesting the apes accounted for such a large percentage of sales. My brother and I were way more into the superhero line. I stuck with mego through my toy days but my brother moved on into the Star Wars stuff. Kenner made those? I don’t remember.
I had the treehouse. It had a plastic frame, made to look like brown logs. The thing was big, and I recall part of it broke, and my father had to glue it . . .
Y’know, looking at this again, after looking at some of the high tech wizardry in my Wife’s crafting room, this might be the easiest vintage play set to recreate. You could bang out a sturdier version using a decent scanner, ink jet printer and a laser cutter. Even do it on wood or plastic sheet instead of cardboard.
Very true indeed. I remember using clear plastic sheets I could cut and then using a chemical to make plastic weld itself to other pieces I created a Cobra playset for the 1983 figures that didn't have a playset. Then tried copying the comic showing the walls and such.
One wonders if that Urko would have been a Fist Fighter figure. The art seems to indicate he is punching and that action feature was big around that time.
That's a cool playset as it's very well designed and includes a lot of what you want from the POTA theme. Something had to give for the cost of 8" scale playsets so I think this tab construction approach is valid. In hindsight the panels could have been made of a sturdy transparent plastic or more of that vinyl sheathing on cardboard. Was thinking with a transparent panel material you could create more of an illusion of holes instead of black as the only recourse. Was thinking the FP-Construx or later day K'nex Mario playsets had a good element of skeletal framing systems that could shore up some of the weaker load bearing elements Eg. that ladder looks vulnerable.
When I was a kid I remember noticing that some of my Mego superhero figures had hands that were sculpted to look like there was hair on them. They must have been reused Planet Of The Ape figure hands.
I get the feeling when the Apes series was cancelled, it slowed down apes toys, the Gorn and the Falcon at least in 1976 were using overstock General Ape bodies. Later Falcons stop using them.
I got the POTA Fortress the same Christmas as the Mego Enterprise Bridge playset. The Fortress was a pain to put together and the play value just wasn't there for me so it just became background scenery. I don't think it made it to Spring. Loved the accessories.
Lynda was/is beautiful, but word on the street is that she was a real psycho to work with. The permission for her likeness I believe rests with her employers, i.e., those who own the "property" that is Wonder Woman. This is how other companies like MEGO, Mattel, etc., got permission via licensing to do their figures like Star Trek, Kotter, etc. I'm no attorney, but I think that's how it works, Perhaps Brick can confirm that?
@@BrickMantooth Do you ever pretend that the Astro Apes are part of the POTA line and play with them as if they were characters from POTA? I imagine Zorma being an associate of Dr. Zaus and the Warrior Ape being a High Ranking Ape Soldier LOL
It kind of reminds me of the escape scene from Planet of the Apes. You can pretend that you can bust out of jail and chase the Astronaut all over the place.
I wish mego would make these cardboard playsets again. Yes they were cheap and flimsy but they made the best play environment and where the most bang for the buck.
I had the Planet of the Apes treehouse I didn't know there were any other please sets I think I remember one beach type of a place that the Statue of Liberty or I might be thinking of something else what's The Fortress in the playhouse in the only two I'm completely certain of
meet some guys dressed as apes at blackpool. when they were doing a planet of the apes display in the early seventies. the suits they had on stunk. or it could have been the guys.
It wasn't just the _recycled_ Action Jackson tree house or the Bat Cave. It was THE Action Jackson tree house and the Bat Cave, of the future... ....when apes ruled the world!
I see this, and other Mego products and imagine "What if Mego accepted George Lucas' proposal?". Eight inch would be the accepted standard. I, to this day, love Mego toys. Figures Toy Company just does not compare. I wish Marty Abrams could have gotten his hands on more IPs for the return of Mego 8" action figures. Star Trek was a hit for them this time around too. I loved the POTA cartoon. I watched it every Sunday on WPIX channel 11, with Fantastic Voyage cartoon. Looks like a fun toy!
Star Trek was HUGE, in 1976 it's sales were equal to Apes and Superheroes combined. Mego went 3 3/4" with Micronauts in '77 and that was their next big thing, it all changed.
@@BrickMantooth I saw something that hinted at Micronauts was their attempt at the 3 3/4 space foray due to Kenner, maybe Fisher Price Adventure People. I had their Pocket [heroes] line and I loved them. Back to eight inch...the clothed, toy, high articulation action figures went away for a long time. Now, my 10 year old sees toys from you and Tony @Analog Toys and it upsets him that I had awesome toys and now action figures break too easy, except for Imaginext. Thanks for the nostalgia!
Oh to be a spoiled kid in the early 70s who owned this AND the Star Trek figures. To spend hours roleplaying Captain Kirk talking to Dr Zeus. I was born too late.
If I were a kid in the early 70s, I would've begged for this. Planet of the Apes was huge at that time.
I wanted this so badly as a kid but never had it. I loved the apes and still do.
Same story right here, never got it as a kid, still love the apes.
I’m more of a MOTU vintage line collector (my kid period) but I truly enjoy your Mego content/videos. I have three vintage Megos in my collection - Superman; removable cowl Batman; Robin.
Appreciate knowing that and you can't go wrong with that trio of figures.
I tell my wife the same thing every time we venture into a toy aisle at Walmart or wherever: "Today's kids do not have good toys compared to 70s and 80s kids!" Thanks for this video. I only ever had the planet of the apes board game and a few bubble gum cards. I always wanted this playset!
LOL 😆 My sister gave me Planet of the Apes board game. I never really did figure out how to play it. I had to talk friends into playing it, but it always ended up .. " This is boring!" 😂🤣
@@mpshields I never figured it out either. But I liked that there was little cardboard figures and some sort of fort that you assembled. I think I got mine in one of those compulsory secret Santa exchanges in maybe first or second grade. Glad you remember the board game as fondly as I do! LOL!
@@YAMISOOLD2009 Oh my gosh, yes. That cardboard fort in the middle of the game.
Was it a jail? Walk the plank & fall off? 😆
I had the mego apes figures & tree house,
so I was like, what do I do with this cardboard fort? LOL!
@@mpshields I think at some point I just took the fort and the cardboard characters and played with them on my own.I would love to take another crack at that game and see if it really was as bad as we remember!😆
Great video! Thank you SO much for breaking this out of the box for us all to see.
It was fun, glad you dug it.
Wonderful video Brother. So Happy You had the complete set. Thanks for sharing Your passion for collecting vintage!! 😀👍♥️🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇧🌎🎉🎉🎉🎉👏👏👏👏🎉🎉🎉🎉💯💯💯💯
I had all of these toys and loved it!!
Hey you changed the music for the toy pics!!! I really like it! Has a Sci-Fi theme to it!😁👍
This set looks really cool. Glad everything was there. Congratulations on a cool set.
I didn't want to use the "mint off card" music for this, it needed something with a little more edge.
Well friend I thought you made an excellent choice!😁👍
But the late 70s gave us Star Wars and Kenner came along and gave us those action figures we loved. I missed out on planet of the apes toys but I didn't miss the Star Wars toys. Loved that Death Star playset.
The monotone narration in the commercial ad is a hoot ☺
Yeah, they're fun now.
Awesome Video. This also randomly happens to be my most recent Mego find, having stumbled across a mailerbox version tucked away in an antique mall.
That is an awesome find!
Oh man, that commercial was great. 👍👍
I was born in 1980 and only had Spidey and Hulk Mego figures, Star Wars and Masters of the Universe were my main toys. Some of my friends had alot that were passed down from older brothers and I always wished I could have my own collection, which is still beyond my means lol. Recently subbed so I have ALOT of catching up to do, ty for the videos!!!
thanks for watching!
The table is also a sort of reference to the tv show. There was a rather strange episode whereby the Zara equivalent Female Chimpanzee Doctor was brainwashing the astronauts by strapping them to a table and spinning them around really fast like one of those playground fixtures. Ah, the 70’s. A much simpler time.
Oh I own that episode on 16mm!
Awesome video
Thanks!
Your videos are always such a treat to watch; this one is no different. Thanks for the video and that piece of music you chose was awesome. It'd be swell if you didn't mind sharing the name of it :)
Glad you dug it, it's just something I got out of the UA-cam audio library appropriately titled "Cages", if you make videos, you can use it Royalty free.
For the longest time, I thought the 2001 theme was from Planet of the Apes. I then came to realize that it was only used in the toy commercials for some bizarre reason, not the Apes movies at all. I guess the ape scene from 2001 was close enough. :-D
Yeah, it's a bit weird.
I am just really in love with this. It's awesome. It's unbearably cool...
was the Fortress based on a design from the cartoon series ? Not as a fortress but as a building as the art looks somewhat similar , but I havnt seen it since the 70's so I can be remembering the style of art completely wrong . I remember most playsets at this time were constructed similarly , with thick printed upon cardboard and plastic additional pieces . Great episode and thank you .
This predates the cartoon.
I was lucky enough to obtain this piece recently! Along with the tree house! I bought them from a friend for 200 dollars each! Apes 4 Ever!🙉🐵🙈🙈
Apes 4 Ever!
Always and 4 ever Apes!!🙈🐵🙉
So cool! Beautiful set!
thanks!
Dang, I love the cheap-but-effective aesthetic of cardboard playsets. It's why I love the Palitoy Death Star and Action Force playsets. However, one of my holy grails, which I am still awaiting a lottery win to purchase... is the Amsco Marvel World Playset. Come on lottery, I need me some cardboard joy!
This was great to watch, I had the tree house set with all of the figures as well as the jail and battering ram. This brings back great memories and they were alot of fun for sure. 👍
Great video as always, I haven't jumped into the planet of the apes yet as I'm still acquiring the world's greatest superheroes but plan to eventually get some apes as well as start collecting the Star Trek figures.
Apes are a nice pursuit after you've got your fill of heroes.
Wow this stuff brings back the memories
I had tree house and a catapult
What a great video... love your channel. I've always wanted to see one of these close-up, and out-of-the-box. Has anyone ever thought to do high-res scans of the pieces for posterity/repro purposes?
Glad you liked the video, I'm not sure how folks would scan this piece, it's really big.
I remember this thing under the Christmas tree when i was 6. I confess I liked the toys better than the movies....
Never had the play sets but my brother and I each had a gorilla. Our mom bought them for us to play with in the waiting room while she visited my uncle in the hospital. I was more interested in the m16 the gorilla had. The TV series SWAT made the m16 a popular toy. It’s interesting the apes accounted for such a large percentage of sales. My brother and I were way more into the superhero line. I stuck with mego through my toy days but my brother moved on into the Star Wars stuff. Kenner made those? I don’t remember.
Great video. I have a story behind this set when I was a kid. To long to type
awesome. as is the Mego Commercial
I had the treehouse. It had a plastic frame, made to look like brown logs. The thing was big, and I recall part of it broke, and my father had to glue it . . .
Yeah the treehouse had lots of plastic.
Y’know, looking at this again, after looking at some of the high tech wizardry in my Wife’s crafting room, this might be the easiest vintage play set to recreate. You could bang out a sturdier version using a decent scanner, ink jet printer and a laser cutter. Even do it on wood or plastic sheet instead of cardboard.
Very true indeed. I remember using clear plastic sheets I could cut and then using a chemical to make plastic weld itself to other pieces I created a Cobra playset for the 1983 figures that didn't have a playset. Then tried copying the comic showing the walls and such.
One wonders if that Urko would have been a Fist Fighter figure. The art seems to indicate he is punching and that action feature was big around that time.
That's a pretty popular theory and one I can't debunk, I also can't prove it. It bugs me.
Apes have always ruled the earth, ALWAYS !
Agreed.
That's a cool playset as it's very well designed and includes a lot of what you want from the POTA theme.
Something had to give for the cost of 8" scale playsets so I think this tab construction approach is valid. In hindsight the panels could have been made of a sturdy transparent plastic or more of that vinyl sheathing on cardboard. Was thinking with a transparent panel material you could create more of an illusion of holes instead of black as the only recourse.
Was thinking the FP-Construx or later day K'nex Mario playsets had a good element of skeletal framing systems that could shore up some of the weaker load bearing elements Eg. that ladder looks vulnerable.
When I was a kid I remember noticing that some of my Mego superhero figures had hands that were sculpted to look like there was hair on them. They must have been reused Planet Of The Ape figure hands.
I get the feeling when the Apes series was cancelled, it slowed down apes toys, the Gorn and the Falcon at least in 1976 were using overstock General Ape bodies. Later Falcons stop using them.
@@BrickMantooth YES! Now that you mention it I recall it was the Falcon!
I got the POTA Fortress the same Christmas as the Mego Enterprise Bridge playset. The Fortress was a pain to put together and the play value just wasn't there for me so it just became background scenery. I don't think it made it to Spring. Loved the accessories.
That wonder woman really did look like Lynda Carter,I heard somewhere she was upset they used her likeness without her permission.
Lynda was/is beautiful, but word on the street is that she was a real psycho to work with. The permission for her likeness I believe rests with her employers, i.e., those who own the "property" that is Wonder Woman. This is how other companies like MEGO, Mattel, etc., got permission via licensing to do their figures like Star Trek, Kotter, etc. I'm no attorney, but I think that's how it works, Perhaps Brick can confirm that?
Awesome Video, must be very rare to find, if you take into consideration that they are mostly made of cardboard.
Yeah I doubt many survived heavy play.
Must.... Have!!!
It's a fun set! I wish I could keep it set up 24/7
@@BrickMantooth Do you ever pretend that the Astro Apes are part of the POTA line and play with them as if they were characters from POTA?
I imagine Zorma being an associate of Dr. Zaus and the Warrior Ape being a High Ranking Ape Soldier LOL
Awesome
glad you liked it.
@7:17 Control Sticks FTW
It's hard to top 45 year old cardboard.
totally agree.
It kind of reminds me of the escape scene from Planet of the Apes. You can pretend that you can bust out of jail and chase the Astronaut all over the place.
Good point!
I was 9 in 1974. Loved all apes toys. Just wish that they would have produced a spaceship for the astronaut
I wish mego would make these cardboard playsets again.
Yes they were cheap and flimsy but they made the best play environment and where the most bang for the buck.
They really are fun.
I picked up my MEGO Apes Fortess back in the 90’s for about 150 bucks in the box only thing missing was the jail to this day haven’t yet obtained
thats wonderfull brick!!
thank you!
You are most welcome
I didn't have any as kid but have noticed that Amazon has a couple of reprints for sale
Still binging.
I had the Planet of the Apes treehouse I didn't know there were any other please sets I think I remember one beach type of a place that the Statue of Liberty or I might be thinking of something else what's The Fortress in the playhouse in the only two I'm completely certain of
What is the music you are using?
stock music from the UA-cam library.
meet some guys dressed as apes at blackpool. when they were doing a planet of the apes display in the early seventies. the suits they had on stunk. or it could have been the guys.
I have a poster for a UK Apes appearance like that. I can't imagine those leathery costumes allowed the actors much air.
@@BrickMantoothi don't think it was the guys.
Damn dirty apes
@Quasar IceMage i bet i smell better than you
I still have mine with the box!
Yes please!!!!😫
I never had the Fortress, but I did have the Forbidden Zone and the Tree House
It wasn't just the _recycled_ Action Jackson tree house or the Bat Cave.
It was THE Action Jackson tree house and the Bat Cave, of the future...
....when apes ruled the world!
Mind. Blown.
I see this, and other Mego products and imagine "What if Mego accepted George Lucas' proposal?". Eight inch would be the accepted standard. I, to this day, love Mego toys. Figures Toy Company just does not compare. I wish Marty Abrams could have gotten his hands on more IPs for the return of Mego 8" action figures. Star Trek was a hit for them this time around too.
I loved the POTA cartoon. I watched it every Sunday on WPIX channel 11, with Fantastic Voyage cartoon. Looks like a fun toy!
Star Trek was HUGE, in 1976 it's sales were equal to Apes and Superheroes combined. Mego went 3 3/4" with Micronauts in '77 and that was their next big thing, it all changed.
@@BrickMantooth I saw something that hinted at Micronauts was their attempt at the 3 3/4 space foray due to Kenner, maybe Fisher Price Adventure People. I had their Pocket [heroes] line and I loved them. Back to eight inch...the clothed, toy, high articulation action figures went away for a long time. Now, my 10 year old sees toys from you and Tony @Analog Toys and it upsets him that I had awesome toys and now action figures break too easy, except for Imaginext. Thanks for the nostalgia!
How did the apes waterproof their fortress? Wouldn't it fall apart in the rain?
That's their one weakness, I guess this was meant as an "indoor" toy.
2001 An Ape Odyssey.
1970’s me weeps...
Q: Planet of the Apes, Six Million Dollar Man, Micronauts, Star Wars figures, and JARTS. A: What is my childhood!
I think they went overboard with that flag in bold print.😂
it's a touch much.
Who’s your favorite ape ?
Favourite Mego ape? General Urko.
what a great looking set, but i sure am glad mego never built automobiles.
Anybody else laugh at the old commercial using the main theme from 2001 A Space Odyssey?
I was too young for this cardboard vinyl wrapped treasure.
It seems like all the playsets for Planet of the Apes were based more on the failed tv series and not the movies.
Oh to be a spoiled kid in the early 70s who owned this AND the Star Trek figures. To spend hours roleplaying Captain Kirk talking to Dr Zeus. I was born too late.
You have the mexican version of Cornelius inside the fortress!
I had the tree house.
These toys helped kids bring out there imagination, Not like today with all the electronics.
Wow, that is, uh, chintzy. Cool, but chintzy.
I feel like the movie 🍿🎥 is the future of usa terrible 😞