For this Friday's feature, I get kind of personal and explain my love for Planet of the Apes model kits and how they made me the (largely unemployable) man I am today. Join me after the jump!
Recently, I spied a lot of Addar Planet of the Apes model kits on Hakes (shop there!). Finances weren't terrific (we were actually temporarily homeless due to a botched real estate transaction) but the sight of this model just broke my brain and I vowed not to lose the auction.
You see, back in 1985, I was desperately writing the (pricey) toy dealers in the back of Starlog hoping they'd trade the cool vintage toys they had for the stuff I could find in the local variety stores like overstock AMT Star Trek models and boardgames from forgotten shows like "Korg 70,000 BC" but nobody ever bit, 70s toys weren't in demand (except by me).
Until I found the Planet of the Apes Stallion &Soldier model in a store near my grandparents, it was the same store my parents got milk nearly every Sunday after a visit, I got a million comics there, my first starlog, even my first Han Solo figure was purchased there.
This store were a treasure trove of unsold 70s merchandise, I carefully compiled a list of what they had and mailed it out. Then the unexpected happened, somebody called.
A New Jersey toy dealer called frantically and offered me $75 in trade for the kit. I tried to not pretend I was a kid on the phone (my mom cutting in on the call destroyed that) but we made the deal. I begged my folks to take me there, spent the $6 for the kit and shipped it off.
Many, many weeks later, I received a carded Mego Space:1999 Captain Zantor figure from England. It sort of sent me on a path of Mego collecting that has yet to end I'm afraid.
That really sent me on my way, I begun hunting and networking, spending my free hours travelling to find old toys in those dusty corners. Often going to places that my parents probably wouldn't have been thrilled about me visiting.
That sense of wonder and discovery is why i have trouble driving by yard sales or why i still get up at ungodly hours going to flea markets and toy shows instead of sleeping like my friends.
During that time, I've found just about every Addar Planet of the Apes model in my travels, probably ten times or more.
EXCEPT for the Stallion and Soldier, I've never come across it since. When I saw it that lonely weekend, something just clicked and I had to have it. 32 years later, it's nice to be reunited.
It's probably not the same kit but I'd like to think it is....
I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me to suggest this until now, but you might want to get in touch with a collector I know that's a dedicated flea market/thrift store/yard sale hunter, as her area seems to be freaking full of 70s/80s toys and she'd likely be happy to grab things for you. Her blog is at:
ReplyDeletehttp://breyerhorsediva.blogspot.com
(The Mego connection is that the scale-model horse hobby has used their figures in competitive dioramas since at least the 70s, due to their size & articulated limbs.)
Thanks for that trip down memory lane.
ReplyDeleteIn the early 1970s I was an Ape-o-phile of the Nth degree (that's a thing, you know). These model kits were part of the prescription for my condition. Along with Megos, trading cards, etc.
Doug
LOVED your POTA article....well written n enjoyable, but more importantly a nice warm fuzzy feeling as I remembered better days n cooler stuff. Now I gotta get a new razor to shave my warm fuzzies-Thx!
ReplyDeleteI remember getting the Cornelius and Dr. Zaius models while on vacation in Wildwood, NJ. On the way hope, I assembled the models (snap-together, no glue required) in the backseat of our massive '67 Chrysler Newport ("It seats about 20!") while my Dad played old Redd Roxx comedy performances on 8-track tape. Couldn't get any better than that!
ReplyDeleteDid the Planet of the Apes ride exist in Wildwood during that vacation?I can remember a trip there in the Summer of '73 and each pier had no less than 3 haunted house type rides,ride thru, walk thru, you name it.The Planet of the Apes ride arrived a year or 2 later, and it was a mash up of old rides put together, with people in ape soldier costumes running around.A few years after that, it was made into a Star Wars ride.
ReplyDeleteDid you know there were other Addar Planet of the Apes kits?
ReplyDeleteThey did a 'kits in a bottle' range called 'Super Scenes' including the POTA.
There were 3 (that I have seen)
Cornfield Roundup
Tree House
Jail Wagon
Cheers
Jim