Thursday, November 27, 2014

Planet of the Apes - ZIRA!

Planet of the Apes (Classics): Series 2 - Zira - NECA 2014

My obsession with NECA keeps growing and growing in recent years.  Most of their current toy lines seem to be based around video games and adventure movies (which are way off my radar honestly).  But at the same time they have a great aesthetic for nostalgic properties.  The toy aisles are loaded with amazing figures of Rocky, Aliens, and Predator thanks to NECA.  My personal current obsessions are their Gremlins and Planet of the Apes lines.  It comes down to my love of puppeteering and fantasy.  I buy them all, but unfortunately for this blog, there are very few females in these properties.  The ones they do make, however, are undeniably amazing.  Zira is the calm voice of reason in the Planet of the Apes series.  She's a psychologist and veterinarian who specializes in the study of humans.  When she realizes that astronaut George Taylor isn't a "native" human (mute, tribal hominids) and can actually write, she becomes his greatest ally.  Let's check out the amazing Zira below!












Zira's cloth underlayer was a surprise to me.  I normally dislike soft goods on my action figures, but this skirt is unobtrusive so I'll let it slide. 















Zira comes with three tiny accessories: a paper airplane (made of real paper), a photo of Zira and her fiancee Cornelius (made of cardboard), and a piece of paper with Taylor's name on it (made of plastic).












Zira's articulation is very good, although her legs are very hindered by her clothes.  Side note:  Her calves were actually rotated backwards when I opened her.







Here are some images of Zira from the movie.














Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!


Here she is with her fellow POTA Series 2 members: Dr. Zaius (version 2) and General Ursus.




And here she is with all the classics so far.  From Left to Right: Gorilla Solder 1 & Gorilla Soldier 2 (from Gorilla Infantry 2-Pack), Dr Zaius v2, Zira, Dr. Zaius v1, Cornelius, General Ursus, and Gorilla Soldier (from Series 1)






Cheers!





6 comments:

  1. These are beautiful looking figures. I wonder if they will make any humans?

    Neca has been impressing me as well. I really hope their Aliens line goes long enough to get Lambert, Vasquez & the rest.

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    1. I dream of Veronica Cartwright and Jeanette Goldstein figures. In fact the whole Nostromo crew. Thou I know I feel John Hurt won't be game...

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    2. I have a couple friends who are going absolutely bonkers trying to find appropriate accessories to dress up their POTA displays. They're buying up LOTR horses and hoarding the gorilla 2-packs to make an army. They haven't been successful with a human yet, but they're desperately trying to find a suitable human stand-in for Taylor. I should give them my Ewok nets.

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  2. I have Zira, Taylor and Nova from some old series. Thou they were not articulated. They were great them. These look amazing. I need them all.

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    1. I think you might mean the UDF line from Medicom. That was a very impressive line with I believe 16-19 figures. One of my fanatical friends just bought the UDF Greatest Ape statue figure as a diorama right before NECA announced their upcoming Lawgiver.. he wasn't so happy about that.

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    2. haha, i bet. I remember them being very expensive due to being imports. They don't stand well, mine are always toppling. But at least i have taylor and Nova. I am not a fan of Monkeys but i love the first movie so much, and i like the new ones too, that i feel i need a whole display of it. Maybe my Munsters will have a break in the box...

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