The Original 1974 Mego Zira Prototype

[Captain]

Cool stuff indeed. Does this mystery Mego employee have more hidden treasures? A lot of the big Mego lines all appeared in a couple of year span around the apes line introduction...these people (or person) where in the right place at the right time!?

[dumbldor]

Congratulations, Brian. I know you have been trying for a long time to get the owner to share.

[mego73]

Awesome picture!!!

$4.75 back in 1974?, man that is expensive.

Tom L.

Captain Company usually was on the pricey side.

[Hector]

That is so very cool!!

I'm kinda shocked at your reaction here...coming from you...the ultimate ape fan.

You sound so subdued.

[Hector]

Very awesome...having said that...this prototype Zira looks very manly.

[Meule]

What an awesome discovery, way to go Brian.
I wonder how long it will take before someone customizes one of these. T1 body painted brown, Addar Cornelius head and custom suit

Did anyone notice the chest emblem is upside-down in the black & white pic??
Does this indicate there was more than one of these at some point??

compare:

http://www.megomuseum.com/pota/proto...apefmshare.jpghttp://www.megomuseum.com/pota/prototypes/zira3.jpg

Good question. Brian?

[thunderbolt]

what a find, thanks for getting this in the Museum for us to see.

[megoscott]

For me this is the coolest museum find of all time. I'm so glad they survived and that the pictures will be here.

Something interesting to note. If you look closely, the leather chest patch isn't hand painted, the red color is offset by quite a bit unlike the other colors indicating it was painted by machine with a mask. My guess is that this design wasn't done for the apes but was part of something else (maybe a purse or a belt) and was cut out and put on the figure.

mikej

I think you are right about this. The markings are the same on the Zira and Cornelius, and the pieces are really crudely cut. I'm picturing them dismembering some crafty 70's piece of junk they pulled out of the closet or bought from a hippie street vendor.