Such timing! Star Trek/Planet of the Apes #1 comes out this week from IDW and Boom! — and this 8-inch anti-hero arrived in the mail! Indulge me as I celebrate an action figure I’ve waited four decades for.
That’s not hyperbole. Li’l Dan’s childhood Hall of Heroes may have been led by Batman, but there was also Spider-Man, James Bond … and Taylor.
Hell, I didn’t even know he had a first name until years later. He was always just Taylor.
I was a devout Mego-head as regular readers here know. From the Planet of the Apes set, I only had Cornelius and Zaius but I loved them and played with them constantly. I never had the Astronaut figure. Rather, it was Action Jackson who would stand in as Taylor, bearded or not. I seem to remember making a toilet paper loin cloth for him.
H/T Mego Museum
Fast forward many years and I jumped in feet first when EMCE remade the original POTA set. I collected them all, as they say, and even picked up an original Ursus that I found for a song at a comics store in Manhattan.
Still, no Taylor.
But now NECA has corrected a historic wrong and given us an 8-inch-scale Mego-style Taylor that not only is a dead-on accurate depiction of Charlton Heston but takes its place among the very best action figures that I have ever owned.
All Taylor pix by Sam Greenfield
It’s that good.
Again, the level of detail in the head sculpt is extraordinary and, like many other fans, I hope we also get a 7-inch scale Taylor to do with the rest of NECA‘s superb 7-inch line, which I’ve written about here and here.
The clothes are a soft, kind-of felt material, with appropriate decoration including the ANSA emblem on the chest. The boots are molded-on plastic and the backpack not only comes off, but it opens to reveal an astronaut survival kit. The items, including a pistol, can’t be removed but that’s just as well.
The one quibble I have is that he doesn’t come with a loincloth change of clothes. Maybe NECA‘s got something up its collective sleeve on that front.
The packaging is classic Mego-style clamshell with gorgeous painted art, both front and back. It’s nice to see Dodge and Landon making cameo appearances.
“Hey, Landon … come and join the expedition … “
The clamshell is resealable but you have to cut away excess plastic and I would have preferred a design that didn’t require that. Other companies have solved that issue and I’d like to see NECA improve that.
Cornelius can’t bear to look
But these are such minor issues. I can without reservation say this is magnificent action-figure artistry and it raises the bar in the recent resurgence of Mego-like figures that have thrilled long-time fans like you and me.
“Colonel …” “Captain …”
