My best freind, the only friend I had that had Mego WGSH (the fellow who showed me his RC Bats in my story) moved away only a few months after that. His Dad had built a house and I never saw him again until I finally got to see him again just a few years ago. I'd wondered what happened to him and my cousin ended up working with him. I'm happy to report he is doing well but like a bonehead, never got his email address or anything.
I can relate in your love of the Apes. I loved them since I can remember. One Easter (I think I was 5) I came downstairs and up on the mantle were boxed Astronaut, Corny, Zaius and Soldier Ape. I was speechless! Mom knew. lol. I remember I hated the Astronaut's boots but I loved Zaius' so I swapped them. My Astro didn't have a helmet in the box and I never knew he was supposed to have one until I was around 25.
That summer, I was out at the lake with my cousins and Aunt and Mom and happily playing in the sand with my Apes. My older cousin was swimming. For some reason, and I may ask him about this as he was like an older brother to me and I loved him to death, ran up onto the beach, snatched my Apes and Astro, ran in to the lake, swam way out past where I could swim, dove down and buried my apes in the sand. I never saw them again and I hated him for that.
A few years later a friend who was a few yers older than me showed me his Ape collection. He had ALL of them. Verdon, Burke whom I'd never seen and the treehouse! I asked if he would sel them and he agreed as he didn't play with them.. Mom gave me the money then he told me his Mom said No. I was heartboken as I really wanted Burke and Urko. I think the show was on at the time.
I never saw another Mego Ape until I was 15. I was at a friend's house and we were listening to music and just hanging out. His room was a disaster area, not unlike my own and his closet was open. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted what looked like a brownish colored helmet. I had to see what it was. When I picked it up, it was a naked Ursus. I freaked and he said, Oh I have a couple more in there somewhere. So I found Ursus, Urko and a Soldier Ape. If I recall correctly, I found all the pants and shirts for them and one pair of General boots. He told me to take them home. I was never happier. lol. I was reunited, somewhat with the Mego apes! Of course, I now have them all loose and almost complete. Need a vest for Verdon, Burke's brown shirt, one pair of General boots and a sword. Here's to EMCE for bringing them back! I can't wait to get my filthy paws on them.
Why I collect Megos?
Hmmm.
Not exactly a hard question but how to not take up 5 pages of this thread is the bigger problem.
Megos were my absolute favorite toys when I was a kid in the 70's. I had Superman, Batman (no RC. I didn't even know it existed until 1989. A co-worker friend of mine told me he had RC Batman & Robin and I didn't believe him. I thought he was lying.), Robin, Joker, Mr Mxyzptlk and a few other heroes. But my favorites were the Planet of the Apes. I had them all. Two soldier Apes, even. I remember getting the 2nd Soldier Ape at Big N when the Megos were starting to fizzle out. They were across the aisle from a huge shelf full of Aurora monster model kits.
I also remember going into a store called Nichols and seeing (from ceiling to floor and what seemed like an aisle the whole length of the store. Hey I was like 8 or 9) nothing but POTA Treehouses & everything else POTA.
I never did get the Village but I had all the other POTA playsets. MY favorite is was the Forbidden Zone Trap and I really want to replace that someday. Saw a nearly complete one go on ebay recently for way too much than I can afford.
Megos bring back those warm summer days when you could leave the house in the morning, go play with your friends all day and come back when the streetlights came on and your Mom never worried where you were.
I took my Megos (POTA mostly) everywhere. We played in the sand at the playground, we played down at the creek, we played on my back porch deck, we took baths together. I even lent them to my friends sometimes until Alan Virdon came back with a broken leg (a type 2 that I fixed with a type 1 leg. That reminds me. I need to find a new leg for him). I had the whole POTA universe set up in my bedroom. MY best friend and I would have these "plays" that we would do. We would each take turns doing a whole little "play" while the other watched. I'm sure I criticized him constantly as I was a bit of a brat at times. The plays always ended with everyone dead at the end. Yes, even the last guy alive committed suicide (or died from wounds, etc) because he didn't want to be the last guy on Earth.
Kinda morbid for a 10 year old now that I think about it. What was I watching and reading as a kid???
I don't know what happened to my superheroes but I'm thinking the ones that didn't get broken probably went to my cousin and best friend (mentioned above) when I had to move. The only Megos I managed to keep (and still have) were my POTA and a few select other & accessories plus the walking stallion. I had to hide them. I even saved the boxes from my stuff. All that stuff had to go when I moved due to limited space in the moving truck.
I kept in touch with this best friend even after moving all the way across the country in 1979. Sometimes we'd talk about Megos. He had the Mummy while that was the only Mad Monster I never got. He had Spock & McCoy while I had Kirk & the enterprise.
I lost contact with this friend about 4-5 years ago. Tried and tried to find him (he moved and left no forwarding number). Unfortunately, earlier this year my Mom ran into his older brother at a funeral (I'm from a small village) and told him I was trying to find Joey (my best friend). He informed her that he had died from an infection about 3 years ago. I was devastated. A part of me died when I heard that. He was the closest thing to the brother I never had. He was only 37.
A few weeks ago I replaced my POTA Treehouse on ebay.
When I put it together and looked at it, all my childhood came flooding back and I couldn't help but think of Joey and all the great times we had with our Megos.
I will dig out my original Apes & other remaining figures and display them with my new treehouse.
Joey, here's to you. Thanks for making my life memorable and I'll never forget you and our Megos.
Rich
Hmmm.
Not exactly a hard question but how to not take up 5 pages of this thread is the bigger problem.
Megos were my absolute favorite toys when I was a kid in the 70's. I had Superman, Batman (no RC. I didn't even know it existed until 1989. A co-worker friend of mine told me he had RC Batman & Robin and I didn't believe him. I thought he was lying.), Robin, Joker, Mr Mxyzptlk and a few other heroes. But my favorites were the Planet of the Apes. I had them all. Two soldier Apes, even. I remember getting the 2nd Soldier Ape at Big N when the Megos were starting to fizzle out. They were across the aisle from a huge shelf full of Aurora monster model kits.
I also remember going into a store called Nichols and seeing (from ceiling to floor and what seemed like an aisle the whole length of the store. Hey I was like 8 or 9) nothing but POTA Treehouses & everything else POTA.
I never did get the Village but I had all the other POTA playsets. MY favorite is was the Forbidden Zone Trap and I really want to replace that someday. Saw a nearly complete one go on ebay recently for way too much than I can afford.
Megos bring back those warm summer days when you could leave the house in the morning, go play with your friends all day and come back when the streetlights came on and your Mom never worried where you were.
I took my Megos (POTA mostly) everywhere. We played in the sand at the playground, we played down at the creek, we played on my back porch deck, we took baths together. I even lent them to my friends sometimes until Alan Virdon came back with a broken leg (a type 2 that I fixed with a type 1 leg. That reminds me. I need to find a new leg for him). I had the whole POTA universe set up in my bedroom. MY best friend and I would have these "plays" that we would do. We would each take turns doing a whole little "play" while the other watched. I'm sure I criticized him constantly as I was a bit of a brat at times. The plays always ended with everyone dead at the end. Yes, even the last guy alive committed suicide (or died from wounds, etc) because he didn't want to be the last guy on Earth.
Kinda morbid for a 10 year old now that I think about it. What was I watching and reading as a kid???
I don't know what happened to my superheroes but I'm thinking the ones that didn't get broken probably went to my cousin and best friend (mentioned above) when I had to move. The only Megos I managed to keep (and still have) were my POTA and a few select other & accessories plus the walking stallion. I had to hide them. I even saved the boxes from my stuff. All that stuff had to go when I moved due to limited space in the moving truck.
I kept in touch with this best friend even after moving all the way across the country in 1979. Sometimes we'd talk about Megos. He had the Mummy while that was the only Mad Monster I never got. He had Spock & McCoy while I had Kirk & the enterprise.
I lost contact with this friend about 4-5 years ago. Tried and tried to find him (he moved and left no forwarding number). Unfortunately, earlier this year my Mom ran into his older brother at a funeral (I'm from a small village) and told him I was trying to find Joey (my best friend). He informed her that he had died from an infection about 3 years ago. I was devastated. A part of me died when I heard that. He was the closest thing to the brother I never had. He was only 37.
A few weeks ago I replaced my POTA Treehouse on ebay.
When I put it together and looked at it, all my childhood came flooding back and I couldn't help but think of Joey and all the great times we had with our Megos.
I will dig out my original Apes & other remaining figures and display them with my new treehouse.
Joey, here's to you. Thanks for making my life memorable and I'll never forget you and our Megos.
Rich
RIP Joey.
)
Leave a comment: