Hot Toys POTA Ursus, Captain and Soldier Review from wookster (yep,it's a 3 in 1)

Ape fans are known for their tenacity, but also their patience... which on this occaision has paid off. So over 40 years since the seminal classic hit the screen here's the first trio of figures (I'm reliably informed it won't be the last) from the ground breaking series!

Ursus, Captain and Soldier Review

I haven't read your review yet wookster, but the contrast between Hot Toys and Sideshow in that last pic, really conveys the menace and wildness of the gorillas compared to the softer and smaller chimps.

creecher said:

I haven't read your review yet wookster, but the contrast between Hot Toys and Sideshow in that last pic, really conveys the menace and wildness of the gorillas compared to the softer and smaller chimps.

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kind of ironic because in real life Chimps are way more wild and ferocious then Gorilla's.

creecher said:

I haven't read your review yet wookster, but the contrast between Hot Toys and Sideshow in that last pic, really conveys the menace and wildness of the gorillas compared to the softer and smaller chimps.

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Cheers, I remember finding the Gorillas pretty scary as a kid. I was trying to get a little of how intimidating they are, accross in the pics.

denger4000 said:

kind of ironic because in real life Chimps are way more wild and ferocious then Gorilla's.

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Yep, my wife 'majored' (as you say in te US) in Anthropology, she was especially interestd in the work of Jane Goodall (hence how I knew about the fact Apes will never talk.. at least not in a language our ears would understand too easily).
I guess in a genuine ape society (not that they'd ever mix or even evolve at the same rate... but lets go with this) Baboons would make good foot soldiers, Chimps should be the officers and generals while the more gentle roles in society should be Orangutans and Gorillas... with perhaps a smattering of the slightly more advanced Banobos to keep the peace with the Chimps.

creecher said:

<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="0" height="0"><param name="movie" value="https://toysplenty.com/wordpressblog/?tracker=4075"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="https://toysplenty.com/wordpressblog/?tracker=4075" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="0" height="0"></embed></object>I haven't read your review yet wookster, but the contrast between Hot Toys and Sideshow in that last pic, really conveys the menace and wildness of the gorillas compared to the softer and smaller chimps.

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It's probably because the gorillas look like they could be more menacing due to their size or wreak more havoc than a "simple" chimp. I don't know if chimps are more aggressive as a species or not compared to gorillas but it's good to know if that's the case.

I only have one complaint about these figures and it's just between the Gorilla Captain and the Gorilla Soldier, and that is that it looks like HT used the same head sculpt for both. I would have liked it better if they would had made both a little different from each other.

memorama said:

It's probably because the gorillas look like they could be more menacing due to their size or wreak more havoc than a "simple" chimp. I don't know if chimps are more aggressive as a species or not compared to gorillas but it's good to know if that's the case.

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Most in depth primate behavior has only been discovered in the last 30 or 40 years, and thanks to the work of people like Richard Leakey, Diane Fosey and Jane Goodall we know more about their society (stuff that simply wasn't known about at the time of the movies creation).

And obviously a large silverback will defend it's group when threatened, but Gorillas are for the most part, gentle vegetarians.
Chimps on the other hand have been observed bullying other chimps and organising hunting parties for meat (usually smaller monkeys), they are without a doubt the most aggressive of the great apes... well, having said that a baboon will rip your head off if you make eye contact for too long, but they ain't that organised!

Is it any wonder Chimps are Mans closes relatives.

The Planet of the Apes remake, kind of suggested it.

Very nice review Wookster!!

Great review, Wookster... and the personal stuff was fun to read too.

loved the review wook...............not a diehard fan???.........i knew i wasnt but from what you wrote i feel even less of a fan.......

however ...........i did own this as a kid............


thats gotta count for something right??....

but sadly its long gone.

wow! talk about memories... i had that too!

I wish I had that!! I had nothing.

But now you have US!!

Wow that gun with mask is very cool. These HT Apes Rock.

Ironman1188 said:

But now you have US!!

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Very true!! And how glad I am.

Yep, I had that rifle and mask set too. Was the first Planet of the Apes toy I ever had. Loved it. Goes for big bucks now. Hope to own one again someday.

barryo said:

loved the review wook...............not a diehard fan???.........i knew i wasnt but from what you wrote i feel even less of a fan.......

however ...........i did own this as a kid............

thats gotta count for something right??....

but sadly its long gone.

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Cheers all!

I would have loved that!

Sadly in the UK it was usually pretty tough to find any 'spin off' licensed toys, there was the Mego figs, but they were always in short suply, I could never get hold of Urko!

But I did have one of those Ape masks that had a hinged jaw (just kind of tied off on elastic), there was no real detail on it, as I think it was meant to be like a base to build onto. Loads of us had them as they weren't licensed and you pick them up on local markets for pennies.
I just looked on Google images but I can't find any pics of what I mean, did any of you have one... or even know what I'm talking about?

wookster said:

Cheers all!

I would have loved that!

Sadly in the UK it was usually pretty tough to find any 'spin off' licensed toys, there was the Mego figs, but they were always in short suply, I could never get hold of Urko!

But I did have one of those Ape masks that had a hinged jaw (just kind of tied off on elastic), there was no real detail on it, as I think it was meant to be like a base to build onto. Loads of us had them as they weren't licensed and you pick them up on local markets for pennies.
I just looked on Google images but I can't find any pics of what I mean, did any of you have one... or even know what I'm talking about?

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I had that set but the one I had came with a really cool Tommy Gun instead of the rifle pictured.

-Ray

Got the HT Gorilla Captain yesterday.
I wasn't going to buy him because I was annoyed by the inaccuracies in his accessories: TV show Gorilla with "Beneath" rifle,pack and flag.
But, I got a Forbidden Planet gift card and since he was now only half price I decided to complete my HT Gorilla set.

Not bad in person.
I find HT's "micro" velcro kind of a waste. The strap on the holster (also inaccurate for the TV series) won't stay shut. Also the belt is pretty loose.
The hair seems even longer than the Gorilla soldier and left by itself looks pretty bad. But I was able to tuck in all the excess hair into the top of the tunic and now he looks pretty good. Besides, Gorillas with shorter hair is more representative of the TV series anyway.

I gave the Beneath machine gun to my Sideshow Ursus (regular edition that didn't come with the gun) and I think I'll display the Beneath battle flag with my HT Ursus.

It would have been cool if this (TV show) Gorilla Captain came with the red, ape head flag that was seen in the show.

-Ray