In the early 70's, Mego was cranking out action figure awesomeness by the truckload. When they were tasked to introduce the TV show characters of CHiPs to kids all over the world, they did not disappoint. The main character, Officer Francis (Frank) "Ponch" Poncherello was one of the line's best !
The card art front to back, is really well done. Nice clips from the show, displays well. I do remember being disappointed that the rest of the toy offerings were not on the back. No Internet back then to check the manufacturer's website .......
Ponch is ready for action ! Mego certainly packs the accessories and decals with this figure. The sunglasses are kinda weird looking on him. They don't quite fit well, but the rest are top notch !
Really cool accessories ! The belt has a loop to hold the baton and a holster for his pistol. The helmet is perfect for the figure. The sunglasses are cool but do not fit well. Removable boots, pants, shirt and a bunch of decals round out the accessory selection.
Oh, he also comes with a watch.
In his spare time, Ponch makes a good watch model !!
The Ponch figure has a tendency to get a zombified look. His face gets a grey pallor and his eyes yellow. Its a bit creepy but not too bad. His real life counterpart; Erik Estrada, looks fantastic for his age, so a little greying of his action figure is nothing.
I watched the show as a kid and really liked it. I'm sure I didn't get all of it, Ponch's skirt chasing and the like went straight over my head I'm sure. The action and "cop" adventure is what drew me in. Once I got some action figures, I was all in. Mego figures are awesome in their own right, but having police figures with batons and guns are incredible ! The trio of Police action arrested Kirk, Batman and their 8 inch counterparts at every turn. My horde of Megos gave the police force a plethora of perps to arrest.
I had all three figures and the van. Still wish I got the motorcycle. I even had the 3 3/4 figures but they were not that good. Mego's version of Ponch is greatness though, zombie and all .....
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