Name: Planet of the Apes Mini Epics—Dr Zaius, Zira and Cornelius  Manufacturer: Weta Workshop License: Planet of the Apes (1968) Year: 2018 Material: vinyl Height: 5 1/2” Type: vinyl figures  

The apes join Weta Workshop’s line of stylized vinyl figures—Mini Epics—in time for the PotA 50th anniversary. Designer and sculptor Mauro Santini captures Zira, Cornelius and Zaius’  expressive personalities, in the sculpts and the great box art. They have the feel of maquettes for an Adult Swim animated series that may have happened in an ape alternate timeline. Check out Weta’s other cool ape products here.

Name: Caesar License: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (knockoff/custom) Manufacturer: JG Toys Year: 2016? Material: plastic, fabric and metal clothing Height: 1” Type: custom 1:6 scale figure head sculpt

Bring me the head of Caesar! Detailed 1:6 custom/knockoff head. Nicely done. Sadly doesn’t fit inside the helmet of my yellow space suit.

Name: Dr. Zaius & Dr. Cornelius Itty Bittys, Limited Edition License: Planet of the Apes Manufacturer: Hallmark Year: 2018 Material: plush Height: 4.5” Type: stylized plush

Hallmark Itty Bittys for the 50th anniversary of Planet of the Apes. The backing card features 2 scenic backdrops: Ape City and the Statue of Liberty finale.

Name: Darth Cornelius License: knockoff of 1968 PotA Manufacturer: Mexico? Year: c1970s? 80s? Material: blow-molded plastic Articulation: 3 points Height: 3 3/4” Type: knockoff action figure        

Darth Cornelius! A knockoff hybrid of Apes and Star Wars. The head resembles other Mexican knockoffs, but his body is a friend of Vader’s. Mine, sadly has no cape or lightsaber (so I Photoshopped some onto the last photo).    

Name: Banana Them All to Hell! Banana Fosters Cider Theme: Planet of the Apes Producer: Graft Cidery with Slim Pickens Cider & Mead Label Illustration: ? Year: 2018 Ingredients: NY apples, banana, milk, sugar, dark rum, vanilla Type: Banana Fosters Cider

Banana Them All to Hell!!! Some friends knew I needed this can of banana cider. It’s Graft Cider’s Shared Universe collaboration with Slim Pickens Cider & Mead. Intense, sour, banana-y. Zira prefers her grape juice plus.

Name: 1:4 Scale Space Adam—Special Version - Limited 200 (White Suit) Collection: Apexplorers Artist: Winson Ma, Winson Classic Creation Manufacturer: COO Model Limited Edition: 186 of 200 Year: 2016 (released 2018) Material: plastic, fabric and metal clothing Height: 18” Articulation: lots Type: designer action figure

.Happy 4th—in the spirit of exploration, science, imagination and hope for the future that we must fight every day to bring back!

Winson Ma’s 10th Anniversary Space Adam! At 1:4 scale, he’s giant. My favorite Apexplorer is still the original 1:6 Adam, a classic, in his beautiful, deep red pleather space suit. But the new version has a great bonus—a stunning second head option with space-weary age sculpted into every winkle, and an almost iridescent paint job. This Adam comes in both standard orange space suit and this limited-edition white suit. Gloved hands and 2 sets of bare hands (young and old). Helmet and Laser gun have LED lighting. Under his extremely-detailed space suit (full of straps, buckles, pockets, pouches, radio, stitching, space dirt, metal boots, cool power pack, wires and hoses and stuff), he wears silver decompression underwear! This special version includes a sculpted stand base that looks like a charred chunk of a crashed ship.

Name: Astro-Apes: Warrior Ape, Artemus, Myra and Dr Zorma License: Knock-Off of Planet of the Apes  Manufacturer: United Manufacturing Company, HK (inflatables: Dan Brechner, Taiwan) Year: 1970s Material: plastic, fabric clothing (inflatables: vinyl) Height: 8” (inflatables: 3”) Type: action figures, mini inflatables

Astro-Apes! I wish this had been an animated series! It took a long time to assemble this family of rare British PotA knock-off characters—now my set is complete. Artemus and the Warrior Ape came as disintegrated shards of plastic inside dry-rotted clothes. I replaced the bodies and cleaned and resewed their outfits. The face sculpts are kinda great—cartoony, but detailed. 

The Warrior Ape has a Flash Gordon helmet and jumbo ray gun. Artemis totes a mysterious tiny briefcase. Myra wears a yellowish space flower in her hair. Dr Zorma sports professorial glasses. And they’re all rocking their brown galactic pleather.  

The header card features character art with an 8th-grade notebook feel and lets you know their names (collect them all!).

The Astro-Apes are probably the only knock-off toy line to have spin-off licensed mini inflatable versions. Assorted colors, full-body illustrations. You can often find these (and other great stuff) at I Had That Toy.

Name: The Lawgiver Tiki Mug, Mondo Exclusive Bone License: Planet of the Apes Artists: Michael Bonanno, Tom “Thor” Thordarson, Tiki Farm Manufacturer: Mondo Tee-kis Edition Size: 240 Year: 2018 Material: ceramic Height: 8” Type: tiki mug

For the Planet of the Apes 50th anniversary, Mondo added the Lawgiver to their movie-themed tiki mug collection. This is the limited-edition “bone” color with brown glaze wipe. There is also a basic, a Liberty gray-blue, and a dripping Bloody version (like the towering vision in Beneath). Perfect for a banana daiquiri (I’ll make something else for Zira).

Name: Spider Ape (#2 of 50), Sparking Kong, Antique Apeology, Sparking Kong Sticker Artist: Don Picton Company: FriendPrices Year: 2018 Size: 12x16", 12x12", 10.5x12", 3x4" Type: screen prints, sticker

It was the amazing Spider Ape that got me when I saw it at the sketch stage in instagram—then I ordered every ape item FriendPrices had. Love Don Picton’s cool, retro, bold, graphic monster art. And the free bonus art! Their stickers are produced by Rockin’ Stickers. 

Name: Darwin’s Revenge (Black) Edition: 100 Artist: Paul Jackson Manufacturer: Mightly Jaxx Year: 2017 Material: polystone, magnets Height: 6" Type: polystone sculpture

Gruff golden gorilla head with a surprise inside. His face lifts off to reveal a hidden pilot at the controls in his brain—Charles Darwin. Based on a Pearl Jam gig poster by Toronto illustrator Paul Jackson, known for detailed anatomical imagery. It’s his first 3D figure. 

Name: Zaius/Orangutan Planet of the Apes Behind the Scenes Costume Card #CC2 Film: Planet of the Apes Manufacturer: Rittenhouse Archives Ltd/scifihobby.com Year: 2005 Size: 3.5" x 2.5" Type: costume swatch trading card

Something cool and different...A trading card containing a small swatch of fabric from Dr Zaius’ costume—or more likely one of the many random orangutans from the original films. (There were a lot of orangutan costumes left over—check out the Star Wars Bar sketch from the Richard Pryer Show [nsfw]). Rittenhouse makes limited-edition autographed and costume cards for many classic properties. 

Name: The Lawgiver License: Planet of the Apes Manufacturer: Sideshow Collectibles Year: 2004 Material: polystone Height: 18.5” Type: 1:6 scale polystone statue

“Beware the beast Man, for he is the Devil's pawn.” The Lawgiver knew what he was talking about. This may just be my favorite part of my Planet of the Apes collection. It’s big and heavy and feels like a piece of history. A fitting entry to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of the original Planet of the Apes. Happy Birthday POTA!!!!!

Name: King Korpse, Classic Black-and-White Movie Version Artist: James Groman Manufacturer: Hiroto Ohkubo, InstincToy Year: 2017 Material: sofubi vinyl Height: 13” Articulation: 9 points Accessories: an alternate head (the original sculpt), “Skeleton Lady” (his zombie love) and a special left hand to hold her Type: sofubi vinyl figure

THE BEST version of James Groman and Hiroto Ohkubo/InstincToy’s award-winning King Korpse. The subtle grayscale paint job lets you see all the beautiful detail of the sculpt, while recalling the classic tones of the 1933 King Kong—if his rotting form rose from the cracked sidewalk below the Empire State Building by the will of a zombie enchantress with a crush on him. He features a fierce new roaring head, as well as the original. He comes with 2 different left hands (lady-holding and original fist), and of course his grinning, jewell-eyed heart, beneath his removable rib cage. And the skeletal Fay Wray is lovely.

Name: Cher and Soldier Apes Show: The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour Year: 1972 Size: 8" x 10" Type: photo print

A focal point of my guest bathroom! An image from a Planet of the Apes parody on the second season of The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour on CBS. Here’s the clip, featuring special guest, Jim Nabors, as the astronaut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU0kgD6O-XI

Name: Ray Platform: Primates in Concrete Jungle Artist: Jason Siu Manufacturer: ACI Toys Year: 2013 Material: plastic, plush hair, fabric clothing Height: 13” with gorilla head (12” with human head) Type: 1:6 scale designer action figure

One of Jason Siu’s two multi-headed DJs—each includes a human head, stylized ape head and speaker head. This is Ray, with his gorilla head. The other character is Brad, who has a chimp head. Cool DJ accessories. Great detail. His boots are the best part.

Name: Dr Zaius super-deformed model License: (bootleg) Planet of the Apes Artist: Eichi Mogi Painted: Me Manufacturer: Monster Shop, Japan Year: 1980s Material: resin Height: 1.75” Type: mini resin garage kit figure

Eichi Mogi’s limited-edition resin garage kit Zaius. He’s a very grumpy orangutan. Originally sold at Wonderfest Tokyo in the 80s. My custom paint job. They also created Zira, Soldier Ape, and maybe Cornelius.

Name: Samurai Apes (series 1) Artist: Yyobbi Manufacturer: Precious Junkz Year: 2017 Material: resin, fabric clothing Height: approx. 4" Articulation: shoulders Type: resin figures Samurai Apes! With clothes! Sleek, stylized sculpts by Yyobbi. Resin versions of the even cooler furry figures shown at UrbanToyStage 2017. The Mandrill is my favorite. They must earn their katana—or maybe they have taken up a life of quiet contemplation.