Custom MEGO Box of the Day #3: PLANET OF THE APES

TOYHEM! If only you could have gotten your stinkin’ paws on these…

Welcome to TOYHEM! For the holiday season, we’re bringing you a series of features and columns celebrating the toys of our youth, which often made for the best memories this time of year. You’ll be hearing from comics creators, regular 13th Dimension contributors and more. Click here to check out the complete index of stories — and have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Chanukah and Happy Holidays! — Dan

As part of TOYHEM!, we’re bringing you a series-within-a-series — the Custom Mego Box of the Day, by 13th Dimension contributor and customizer extraordinaire Anthony Durso. (This follows a similar feature we did a year ago: 13 Great MEGO Boxes That Never Were. Click here.)

Custom Mego Box of the Day #2 was inspired by Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy. Click here.

And, now we bring you Custom Mego Box of the Day #3. Actually, it’s four of them, but we’re counting them together:

PLANET OF THE APES

For many years I’ve had Planet of the Apes boxes for the 10 characters Mego made back in 1974 (which were released on pretty generic blister cards). They were standard fare, showcasing the other characters in the line on the side panels. Serviceable but nothing spectacular in my opinion. Recently, I decided to take the artwork and sensibility from the POTA model kits released by Aurora and Addar in the ’70s and adapt them to Mego boxes. I’ve always enjoyed taking elements from other action figure or toy brands and twisting them through a Mego lens. When I was a kid, my Mego figures came from the Sears catalog at Christmas and I really don’t recall the packaging. I did have the model kits though and those boxes have always stuck out to me because of their fantastic artwork.

Anthony Durso is the owner of Retropolis Tees (click here) and The Toyroom toy package customizing company (click here), so make sure you check out his nifty wares.

NEXT: BATMAN ‘66. Click here.

MORE

— The Complete TOYHEM! Index of Features and Columns. Click here.

13 Great MEGO Boxes That Never Were. Click here.

Author: Dan Greenfield

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1 Comment

  1. I bet Mego really enjoyed making toys back in the day, especially if some were licensed.

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