The Planet of the Apes action figures released by legendary action figure giants Mego in 1974, were actually the company’s first foray into movie spin-off merchandising. Those first five vintage figures were based on characters from the original 20th Century Fox film which had been released in 1968 – Cornelius, Zira, Dr. Zaius, the Soldier Ape and a somewhat generic figure called “the Astronaut”. (Charlton Heston, who had played the part of Taylor in the original movie, refused to grant Mego the licensing rights to use his likeness).
When 20th Century Fox brought Planet of the Apes to the small screen with an hour long weekly television series the following year, Mego added to its line of action figures with Galen, Alan Virdon, Peter Burke, General Urko and General Ursus.
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