CORNELIUS

PLANET OF THE APES (NECA)

Well, I still haven’t gotten around to seeing Dawn of the Planet of the Apes yet, which means I still don’t know if my purchase of NECA’s Caesar figure from the movie was warranted or not. Okay, actually it’s a great figure, and even if the movie was terrible, I wouldn’t feel bad about spending the money to get it. However, that figure was more or less a trial run for what was to come. See, I haven’t seen the latest Apes movie, but I’ve seen all of the originals. And NECA, who are well on their way to being my very favorite toy company, are making a line of Classic Apes figures to compliment the new ones. The first series consists of a generic Solider Ape, the esteemed DR. Zaius, and Cornelius. I’ll be looking at that last one today. Cornelius is one half of the pair of apes that assist Taylor and Nova in the first film, as well as returning for the second film, and gaining a starring role in the third.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cornelius is a part of the first series of NECA’s Planet of the Apes line. The figure is about 7 inches in height and features 24 points of articulation. Cornelius only really ever had the one look in the movie, so that’s what the figure has been based on. The sculpt is completely unique to this figure, and it is just fantastic. It would have been easy for NECA to phone things in a bit on the head, and make it more generic, but they haven’t. Roddy McDowell was pretty well buried under the ape makeup in the movies, but there’s no denying that this figure is based on him as Cornelius. On top of the great likeness, they’ve also included some wonderful details in the face and hair that make the figure look incredibly lifelike (well, for a fake monkey…). The body is pretty great too. Cornelius’s garb is nicely detailed. I really like how they’ve differentiated between the different materials of his clothing. They’ve used a rubber add-on piece for his torso, so that he can have some torso articulation without ruining the flow of the sculpt. Cornelius’s paint is just as good as his sculpt. Everything is nice and clean, with no slop or bleed over. They’ve done a great job using the paint to really accent the sculpt. The paint offers just as much detail and texture as the sculpt, and it looks really nice. Cornelius’s only accessory is one of the ancient scrolls. This same piece is also included with the Dr. Zaius figure from this series. I don’t mind the re-use, but it seems to be a last minute addition to the figure. His hands haven’t really been sculpted to hold it, so there’s not much he can do with it. He’s a perfectly nice figure without it, so it doesn’t bother me too much.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I was younger, I used to stay at my Grandparents’ on a fairly regular basis. My dad wanted me to have some things to play with, so he brought out his old Megos. Mostly, I was just focused on the super heroes, but he had a Cornelius, and I remember playing with that one a fair bit. When I finally got around to seeing the movies, Cornelius was far and away my favorite character. When NECA announced they had gotten the Planet of the Apes license, Cornelius was the figure I knew I wanted right away.

Cornelius was purchased for me by my dad from a local toystore by the name of All Time Toys. I wasn’t certain if I wanted the whole first series of this line, so I wanted to get Cornelius by himself. Cornelius is a fantastic figure and I would wholeheartedly recommend him to anyone who is a fan of the movies. Or if you just like really good action figures. Or monkeys!