Hot Toys Planet of the Apes ( Review )

[censy]

I kiss apes, when no one is looking.

Chris

[jessica]

I'm actually happier about the Captain. He was hideous when he was first posted and in hand he looks better than what I expected.

I will have to see General Ursus again Gorn Captain, and see how he fares against his first photos.

[jessica]

Here's Hot Toys gorilla Captain and Sideshow gorilla side by side:

[Gorn Captain]

Great photo comparison, Jessica.

To be honest, I'm glad I didn't pay a $100 extra, just for that "cheap wig" the Hot Toys has on.
Ursus might be "saved" by his helmet covering up most of his hair. But what's the point of having the "real hair" as the main attraction, and then having to cover it up because it just didn't really work?

I also thought his "battle armour" looked better in the first pre-release photos. Less "plastic-like".
If ever I do buy one, it'll be at a convention, where I can inspect him personally.

[megozilla13]

Thanks for the review megozilla13, but many apes’ fans won't agree with all your points. I for one find the hair on these apes laughable… and the price is just mad.

I’m a HUGE Planet of the Apes fan, and I’m also a fan of Sideshow’s Planet of the Apes lineup. Admittedly Hot Toys made some GREAT costumes, but the gorilla sculpts and the hair is really lacking for such a hefty price. I would never pay this insane price for a toy of this quality. To me, this is nothing more than a hyped up, glorified Hasbro toy.

I have to stand with the folks that believe Sideshow has made the best apes to date. I also believe Mego made the best nostalgic ape toys.

Without question, the Hot Toys General Ursus looks the best of the three Hot Toys. However, that’s probably because his “troll like” hair is being covered up. I’m certainly not a fan of that wooly hair.

I'd say just the outfit on the soldier ape is worth $100+ They found incredibly thin leather and incredibly thin velcro and made an almost perfect replica of an actual outfit thats in perfect scale and perfectly tailored.
The hair, I agree looks completely troll like and laughable in every picture I've seen on the internet, but in real life the figure looks much better. I can't imagine it being possible for a toy company to do a better job with the hair in this scale. If you have a picture in your mind of a certain soldier ape that to you, is representative of what all soldier apes should look like, I agree this isn't it (at least not to me). No widow's peak...hair is too long and flowing,........... but there were vastly different looking soldiers, some with big 80's- like hair, short hair, flat tops, no peak, sharp peaks etc...., and this is just one of them.

The costumes on the Sideshow gorillas were not movie accurate and the sculpting on the head was more cartoony than the realism they tried to achieve with the human characters imo.

As far as mego apes being the most nostalgic, I have a few of those and I agree. I'd also say some of mego's sculpts (zaius, burke and virdon, maybe cornelius) are just as accurate and detailed as anything sideshow or hot toys has done.
mikej

[jessica]

I agree with you Mike about the outfit. Although it is made of fleather, and not real leather...but it still looks killer. It is perfectly tailored. I could not have made it myself.

[jessica]

Here's another shot of my General Ursus:

[PeterRR]

I just got my of Hots Toys apes and they are great looking figures. I'm glad I sold all my junky Sideshow apes. and gave away my Hasbro 12" monkeys (what junk). I have almost all figures made from Hot Toys and they get better and better. The GodFather figure is a work of art. All the Ironman look great. And the best is the new Predator. I hope hot toys does more apes . You can pick up the HT apes for $115.00 . The Sideshow apes were $45-50 each . I would rather spent double the money to get something better . So sell off your Sideshow apes and get these great looking apes
Peter

[jessica]

Peter I hope Hot Toys cranks out some more apes, particularly the chimps. I am rooting for them to make 3 chimps: Zira, Cornelius, Lucius....or Zira, Cornelius, Dr. Galen....or Zira, Cornelius, TV Galen (since they did make a TV Captain!). The Hot Toys apes are truly spectacular. I could never create an outfit like the gorilla vests with such amazing detail.

[michael crawford]

Yea, the 'wigs' are actually extremely well done, and I like them quite a bit more than I had expected. I'll be reviewing Ursus and the Captain soon...

[jessica]

Michael, I really enjoyed your article and look forward to reading your upcoming review on General Ursus and the Captain!!!

[michael crawford]

You're clearly a person with great taste, Jessica :D

[jessica]

I'm a chimpette!

Don't you forget that!!

[ODBJBG]

Yeah I definitely think the Hot Toys ones blow the Sideshow ones away. The real hair is what makes them.

That said, the sculpts are much better too. I always thought the Sideshow apes weren't much better than the Mego ones and that's scary considering the price and time differences.

[jessica]

[/QUOTE]

:maul:maul:monkey4:monkey4:stake:censored:censored
Wow. I just got word from Hot Toys, that they will not fix my gorilla vest, for some ^^^^up they did. Well they can just kiss my hairy behind!! I will no longer support any Hot Toys apes or any future production of any Hot Toys apes.

Here is their reply:
Sorry for keep you waiting!
We're very sorry to tell you that over 30 days of purchase or product released for more than 1 year will NOT be accepted.
Sorry for the inconvenience caused.