Acrion Jackson Treehouse- a re-imagining

[ZMOQ]

Here’s the story of my “re-imagined” Action Jackson Treehouse.

I had one a long time ago, but I really didn’t want an authentic replacement. They’re collector’s items these days, and I’d need to scale it down anyway to fit my favorite smaller-than-Mego figures.

After looking at some photos of the original AJ/POTA treehouse, downloading the assembly instructions (from here) and reading the descriptions, I realized that it’s made of simple materials and I already had most of the supplies sitting around in my house. All I needed were some corrugated plastic election signs (to steal) but the election is still several months away. So regular cardboard would just have to do.

Luckily, we now have advanced tools, like cordless drills and hot glue, that was not within my reach as a child in the 70’s.

Materials:

Firm, good quality cardboard (like the ones Dell laptops come in)
Bamboo sticks (cheaper than hardwood dowels and available in Japantown)
Bamboo skewers
Disposable chopsticks
¼” hardwood dowels
wood grained shelving paper
coffee stirrers
wire
spare cloth
grommets

[ZMOQ]

Finished (?) results

It doesn't have to be museum-quality, or an EXACT repro. This was a quick, one-week project.

The basic construction was shelving paper-over-cardboard, supported by a collapsable framework of bamboo. This is where bamboo showed its advantages over hardwood, where it’s already hollow. So you could hot-glue a bamboo skewer inside a hollow bamboo stick, and…volia! You have your assembly peg. The other hole could be made to 1/8” in diameter by gluing a piece of cheap chopstick into the hole and using a 1/8” drill.

I only needed to use hardwood dowels when I needed a straight structural support. Otherwise, bamboo was my main frame material. After, AJ and the apes would use BAMBOO as their preferred building material of choice in the jungle.

Design improvements:

Added another set of bottom supports on the front of the treehouse. The original design just looked too unstable.

Added lighting. I had a spare battery box and some spare 3v LED christmas wreath lights. After all, there’s no reason why the occupants are supposed to sit around in the dark like cavemen or barbarians.

More tarps. Protects the occupants from the wind and the rain. I already had grommets in my hobby box and spare cloth in the sewing drawer. Why not?

[DocDrako]

Hey, that's neat!

[HardyGirl]

That is really cool! What figures do you plan to use in that?

[thunderbolt]

awesomeness. Election signs are all over the place down here. On the bright side, if they are on public property codes picks them up.

[The Bat]

Neat! Well done.

[Brown Bear]

Very cool. I love it. Nice job.

[megojim]

Excellent Job!! very cool

[sprytel]

Great job!

[ZMOQ]

Figures in Mego-esque Treehouse

The figures are 5" tall rubber jigglers. They're not proportioned exactly like human beings (only the skeletons are), so my guess is they'd take accessories scaled anywhere from 1/9 to 1/13. Way back during my childhood, my Dad got us Gi Joe stuff, but the rifles were bigger than the people and the clothes and boots were hopelessly oversized. Then, when Mego came out with Action Jackson, and Mattel came out with Big Jim, the clothes and accessories were almost perfect. That's why I have such fond memories of Action Jackson stuff. My bear and rubber apes had a ball with those M-16's and canteens and stuff.

1/13 is the scale of Aurora's "Monster Scenes" model kits. Those were also integrated into playtime because the scale was also compatible.

Here's my Mego-esque Treehouse with some of the figures.



With the light turned on. Notice the TV set. It has a slide show inside when you look thru a peephole. It's a souvenir from "Frontier Village", the now defunct amusement park.



Daiso, the Japanese housewares store, has a headlamp that might be able to substitute for the old Action Jackson searchlight. Next time I'm at the mall, I can take a second look at the headlamp.

[Donkey Hoatie]

Really cool.

[piecemaker]

That is cool!,i like the shelving paper and bamboo ideas.

[AJ Collector]

Now that's cool.....

[almitysufx]

Wow! I Love It

[Captain_Mego]

That's awesome...I love it.