Super7 Planet of the Apes Lawgiver Statue Super7, 2022
Day #2,470: November 3, 2022
Planet of the Apes Convention Bloody version also exists
Planet of the Apes ReAction Figure (Boxed)
Item No.: No. 03439 Manufacturer:Super7 Includes:Scroll stand Action Feature:n/a Retail:$20.00 Availability: Spring 2020 Other: Ape Has Killed Ape
Super7's Lawgiver Statue isn't called a statue on the box, which makes sense as that may cause issues at customs. It is, curiously, an action figure of a statue that didn't do much other than bleed. The Lawgiver character appeared as an ambulatory being in the fifth film, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, which sadly didn't get a lot of action figures - with rocket-firing buses and evil human mutants, it's filled with weirdness. And Paul Williams! The statue appeared in (and was referenced in) other movies, and when the character did appear it was actor/director John Huston.
The figure is discontinued and the license has lapsed - I assume Disney didn't want to deal with Fox Apes stuff - so you can probably pick up a few stragglers from this charming line. (I did, we sold discounted bundles of them at work.)
If you bought any old Kenner figures, this is a lot like Anakin Skywalker or The Emperor, except 6-inches tall. Molded in tan and given a dusty spritz of paint, is it inarguably better painted than anything you'd have seen in the 1970s or 1980s. At best, it'd be brown. As it is, this figure does look like a statue at first glance and that's what makes it brilliant and goofy - it's the cheapest version of the famous movie statue, and it has moving arms, legs, and head. And it was about $20 which was a bargain - a resin 6-inch mini-statue is probably going to be at least $50 or potentially a lot more.
He's really big - he towers above your other 3 3/4-inch scale figures, and will give a lot of Transformers or 6-inch collector figures a run for their money. The sculpting is what you want to see - simpler than the movie statue, with different fabric wrinkles and a barely-simplified facial expression. His outfit is incredibly close to the genuine article and the ape-like hand poses are pretty much exactly what you saw in the movie. He's not perfect, but he's close enough that you won't notice and probably won't care. It's such a novel weird little thing to make that it's hard to dunk on it - the hair sculpting is good, the distinctive Ape suit looks great, and the orangutan's head is just fine..
The figure has foot pegs - unnecessary, as he's not going to fall over with those giant feet - and has no problems standing. His scrolls are molded to his hands, and you can pose him in front of the plinth included in the box. He can sit, but there's no reason for him to do so - this could have been a one-piece figure and you wouldn't complain much. It's rare that the ReAction Figure or any retro toy exceeds its mandate, but this one does. While Kenner did have oversized creatures and monsters in its toy line, usually you had action-attacking arms - there weren't any that tended to just be taller action figures. As such, this is a neat way to bring something very cool into play that most likely would never have been an actual toy during the 1970s or 1980s... but then again, Apes had two TV shows and five movies in under 10 years. That's a typical year for Marvel these days, but that's obscenely popular for a pre-VHS world.
If you've seen the original Planet of the Apes movies, and I hope you have, you're going to want one of these at (or under) its retail price. You may even be able to get one - it's been around SRP for ages, and you can find some cheap bundles if you know where to look. The funny thing is while I'm a fiend for old-style action figures, I'd recommend this far more to fans of the movie because it's a wonderfully good item for a price that, as I write this in 2022, is lower than market expectations. This was an incredibly clever idea for a toy figure, but in 2020 the children who were the first generation of fans were well into their 50s (or older.) Depending on who you ask, toy industry wisdom says a lot of fans start to exit the hobby in their 40s after starting (especially lately) a few years after they finish their education. Typically a classic franchise tends to enjoy a big second wind about 15 years later, and that rough target has held true on things like Star Wars (a huge fuss over a novel in 1991 kicked off the modern era), and we saw a number of store exclusive Jurassic Park toys around 2009. (15 years isn't exact.) Apes was pushing 50 when this came out, so the old monster kids and younger movie fanatics will no doubt love this one.
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