Alan Verdon (item # 50900/0) ( assortment # 50902) packed 5 per case
The two humans created for the second set of Planet of the Apes figures are based very closely on the television series actors. Mego made terrific representations of James Naughton, who played Peter Burke, and Ron Harper, as Alan Virdon. One of the humans suffers to this day from a Mego “typo.” The character of Alan Virdon was misspelled “Verdon” in all Mego packaging. His companion, Peter Burke , has been ribbing him about it ever since. Like all of the figures in Mego’s POTA line, these characters are found on both Type 1 (metal joint) and Type 2 (plastic joint) bodies. Burke and Virdon wear identical terrycloth pants and the same brown or burgundy moccasins worn by both Cornelius and Galen. He wears a long brown cloth vest over an open terrycloth shirt.
Look Familiar? Mego reused the Verdon headsculpt to produce the Cheron figure from their Star Trek Aliens line (info courtesy of Lenn Starr)
1st issue US card (all characters copyright of Apjac Prod and 20th Cent. Fox)
2nd issue US card ( astrerix on Ursus (black face) all other copyright of only 20th Cent. Fox)
3rd issue US card ( Ursus and Urko switch names, asterix on Ursus (helmet head))
Mailer box
US window boxed
Palitoy card (UK)
Cipsa boxed (Mexico) packaged as “Bill”
Alan Verdon in an Astronaut window box. One theory is that neither Verdon nor Burke actually came in these boxes. However, they do pop up a good deal in the secondary market.
First Version Mego carded Alan Verdon courtesy of Mike J.
Second Version Mego carded Alan Verdon courtesy of Mike J
Planet of the Apes Alan Verdon on UK Palitoy Card
Alan Verdon was released on a second issue Palitoy card as seen in this picture courtesy of collector Scott Miller.
Cipsa, who had the rights to the Mego Planet of the Apes line in Mexico, released a variant of Alan Verdon called Bill. Most gather that he is based on the astronaut from the short-lived Planet of the Apes animated series.
All Cipsa characters came in this large window less box which seems similiar to the packaging for the Gabriel Lone Ranger line.
Verdon wears the same moccasins as Cornelius/Galen, Peter Burke, Starsky from Starsky and Hutch and some figures in the Western line. They come in various shades of brown and burgundy tones. They have been factory reproduced by Classic TV Toys, EMCE Toys and Tim Mee. The CTVT reproductions are a darker brown than originals and are a little shorter with a slightly different overall shape. They are marked CTV on the inside. The EMCE reproductions fall well into the range of color shades you find originals in and the material used to make them is spot on, however, they are taller than originals. You can also notice that the original mocs were poured from the side (the minor flashing is evident) but the new EMCE versions are poured from the back. The other thing that makes the EMCE version spotable is there is a stamp on the inside of each moc. On the one I examined, one moc had the number 1 stamped in it, the other had a 4. To make matters a little more confusing, Tim Mee reproduced the Mego western line back during the Mego era using the same molds. So there are vintage mocs out there that are identical to Mego in almost all respects. Color, material, molds, etc… The Tim Mee mocs are just a touch thinner, making them a little more flexible than originals. The big difference is that the Tim Mee’s are marked made in Hong Kong on the bottom, while the original Mego’s are unmarked.