King Kong- '33, '76, '05?

33 is probably the better film, but the nostalgia of my own youth must give the nod to the Dude...76 for the win

 

Who knows (I certainly don't - having no training in paleontology)... I would think that to bet for millions of years of survival, there are smarter ways a herd-type animal would manage attacks from T-Rexes and the likes... Like "sacrificing" behind the weaker among them, and quietly go look out for greener pastures... Or circling to protect the young ones and using their tail; apparently a fantastic weapon no smart (again) predator ought to have taken too lightly...

 

I'm with you on that one. I can still recall seeing the 76 version on an enormous movie screen. I was 6 years old at the time. I agree that the 33 version is technically the better film; I'm not much of a fan of the 05 version.

Do any of you other 70s kids remember a game or a model or a toy based on the 76 version? I have a memory of something that is so fleeting that I can't remember what it is! But I vaguely recall the outer packaging had the same artwork as the movie poster.

 

I think "Son of Kong" is pretty bad - I'd definitely prefer the 1976 and 2005 films to it:

http://www.dvdmg.com/sonofkong.shtml

 

I had some 1976 Kong merch - lunch box, spiral notebooks. I think I liked the idea of 1976 Kong more than the movie itself!

 

Now that you mention it, I think I might have had the lunchbox as well.

 

I knew the '05 version would get trashed here. I think it's extremely well done even with the bloat. This is what Peter Jackson excels at.

 

The only thing that I had was some of the trading cards and the poster. I don't remember any toys.

I think pretty much every show or movie in the 70s had to come up with a lunchbox.

 

I don't mind all of them. If one of them is on TV on a Friday night I'd happily watch it. If I had to choose though it would be the 76 version. It was the first one I watched as a kid, I love the music in it and Jessica Lange was smokin hot.

 

I had no idea these were released

 

I think I had those cards - I might still have some!

99% sure there weren't any toys - if they'd put out toys, I would've gotten them!

 

Huh - I guess there were some Kong "toys", though I don't really view models as "toys" since you can't play with them.

As far as I know, there weren't any Kong action figures...

 

I don't think action figures really took off until after Star Wars. Everything I can remember before then was the 12" GI Joe or Six Million Dollar man size.

 

You've forgotten the Mego line of action figures! Those were 8" toys - they had 'em for superheroes, Planet of the Apes, Universal monsters, lots of stuff.

And there were other action figures in the "Star Wars" size-range pre-"Star Wars", too - or at least pre-"Star Wars"-toys release. The first "Star Wars" figures didn't hit shelves until early 1978, but I had some superhero action figures of the same size/style that came out in 1977. I got a bunch for Christmas that year - along with the "Early Bird" package for 4 "Star Wars" figures since Kenner hadn't actually made any of them yet!

Oh, and the "Micronauts" were the same size/style as "Star Wars" figures but predated them. There are tons of action figures pre-"Star Wars" - you've subscribed to the notion that George Lucas invented everything!

 

No, it's just early in the morning here.

You are correct. I vaguely remember Apes figures and had some of the Micronauts figures. I also had a complete set of Star Wars figures that were unfortunately stolen around 1992.

 

Here's a bunch of Kong toys. They're all pretty primitive.

http://megomuseum.com/kingkong/

 

Ouch! I still have some of my 70s-vintage "Star Wars" figures, though I quit buying them after 1978 or so - I "aged out" at that point.

My stepmother threw out a lot of my "Star Wars" stuff - playsets mostly - and I'm still kinda pissed about that! Not that they'd be worth much - it's not like I kept the stuff mint...

 

My dad did this to mine and my brothers Star Wars figures and vehicles aswell. I went looking for them in their garage about 20 years ago and he said he threw them away...

 

I sold off most of the remaining sets after the figures were stolen and got decent money for them even though they were well played with. I had kept the boxes, but most of them were in pretty rough shape.

I did keep this one:

 

I had that! That would've been one of the last toys I owned.

I can't remember precisely when I stopped buying toys as a kid. In my mind, Christmas 1978 was my last stand - I know I got the Death Star at that time.

But in retrospect, I think I was still buying into 1979. I remember sending off proof of purchase seals to get the Boba Fett figure, and that was mid-1979, IIRC.

I can't recall if the playset shown above was out by Christmas 1978 or not. I DID get this one, though:



It's notable mainly because it included the first "Snaggletooth" figure and the folks at Kenner got it wrong - he was too tall and his outfit was the wrong color.

I still have the 1978 Snaggletooth figure - I should probably just sell it already!

 

I had the Snaggletooth figures. Both the blue one and the correct red one......

 

It is and it was sadly a quick cash in by RKO without the prep time and detail that went into "King Kong". It's more like a B movie in ALL aspects that just happens to share the "Kong" name and concept. Still, OBrien's work is stellar.

 

I found this from the Butch and Sundance (!) toy line - look familiar?

 

What? No saloon girls....?