A Soldier Apes tale....

[English Paul]

One of my first loves as a Mego collector were the Planet of the Apes figures. Early on I added a regular cuffed Soldier Ape and a regular gloved Soldier Ape. I had intended on leaving the soldiers at that until a chance stumble upon a Silver Soldier changed that for me. At that moment I knew I was in for the long run with the variations. As a fitting end to 2008 I have finally added the maroon cuffed Soldier to my collection.....


Flickr Photo Download: Mego Soldier Ape

It's been a long and patient wait and although his tunic has a couple of small nicks i'm happy for now. Maybe it will take another 3 years to find one in better condition

Here he is with his buddies......


Flickr Photo Download: Mego Soldier Ape army

L-R - Silver, blue cuffed, black cuffed, maroon cuffed, blue gloved, lizard and brown.

Vintage Mego Corp 1974 Planit-Of -The-Apes Soldier 8"Ht on eBay, also, Planet of the Apes, Action Figures, Toys Games (end time 11-Dec-08 13:06:56 GMT)

[SUP-Ronin]

That, Sir, is a really cool set. Congratulations. I like the Soldier apes. POTA is one of my favorite lines for sure.

[Remco Monster]

Magnificent Ape lineup there. Nice score man. Congrats!

[jessica]

Neato!! Congratulations. That is amazing.

[HardyGirl]

Wow! So much ape-y goodness all in one spot! Fantastic!

[Mikey]

Very neat !!!!!!

One thing,
I heard all cuffed Soldiers MUST be on a T-1 body.
Is there any truth in that ?

m

[vulcan2074]

What a Fantastic set of Apes. I've Recently gotten into Collecting the POTA. I've been a Fan of the Movies for such a long Time. I Hope one day to have a collection as cool as Yours
Sammy

[English Paul]

One thing,
I heard all cuffed Soldiers MUST be on a T-1 body.
Is there any truth in that ?

m

Mike, the ones that have come my way have been on T2s. It's certainly not something I have heard before.

[drmego]

Type 2 cuffed soldier apes make more sense. Mego switched to the type 2
body in mid-1975 - the second year of ape production. The cuffed soldier
is the same tunic as second year non-helmet Urko/Ursus. I think that Mego
re-considered the Soldier Ape's gloves after the first year of ape production.

The first year - 1974 - was when most of the type 1 apes were made, and
production would still continue into '75 since the second series was ordered
at Toy Fair in February, THEN tooled and probably arrived in stores around
May-June. This would have been the introduction of type 2 bodies.

[Wee67]

Type 2 cuffed soldier apes make more sense. Mego switched to the type 2
body in mid-1975 - the second year of ape production. The cuffed soldier
is the same tunic as second year non-helmet Urko/Ursus. I think that Mego
re-considered the Soldier Ape's gloves after the first year of ape production.

The first year - 1974 - was when most of the type 1 apes were made, and
production would still continue into '75 since the second series was ordered
at Toy Fair in February, THEN tooled and probably arrived in stores around
May-June. This would have been the introduction of type 2 bodies.

I think Paul makes a lot of sense and I agree. I will, however, assume that some of the gloves may have made it on to T2 bodies, as Mego's standards were all over the map. Also this from the Museum's gallery page-

"It was once believed that cuffed soldier apes were only released in the UK, although much scarcer than their gloved counterparts, cuffed soldier apes have been found on U.S. cards with both type-one and type-two bodies."

[Lynn TXP 0369]

My last Soldier ape in '77 or '78 was a cuffed blue with T2 body, my other three, were two lizard skins and one blue gloved ape all on T1's.
I wish I knew what ever happend to those.

Lynn

[highquality]

Awesome, Paul. I was wondering who won that one.

[kryptosmaster]

The very last Mego I bought new was my second soldier ape. He is dark blue, cuffed and Type 1 body.
Is there a different head for type 2? Is the neck shorter like most other figures or did they use the same head all the way through the run?
Rich