Saturday, April 13, 2013

CHiPs Mego Ponch gets a Zombified Pallor !!!

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 .....
 
Got something to add ? All are welcome to leave a comment !

11 comments:

  1. I was never into the show and thus never collected the figures. They do hold some strange nostalgia for me but that is it. I do not want to collect chips on DVD.

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    1. If you didn't get into the show, you probably didn't get the toys, but they are good megos !

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  2. Used to watch the show a lot but never had any toys based off of it however.

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    1. It was fun arresting batman with these guys !

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  3. Oh yeah... he's an original "Dawn" zombie if I've ever seen one. But the details on this are just excellent! So tricked out!

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    1. Zombies are cool ! Mego always did such a great job on thier figures and ponch is a great example.

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  4. oh my God- SO cool! Loved that show...

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    1. Yep, the show was cool, but the toys are gold ! Mego bodies, all kinds of accesories ! Very cool !!

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  5. These were one of the worst series in terms of the greying. You can restore his head back to fleshier tones with a little work. Get the head greased up in Tire Wet spray. Dunk his head in Plastidip until it's totally covered.

    Then let it dry for 24 hours and peel the Plastidip off. Might have to do it a few times, but it will help restore some of the color back into his face.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the tip ! It would be nice to get ol' Ponch back to looking like he used to.

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  6. Hi

    I found your page as I am selling both action figures on ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/381430805413?

    Have a great day!

    PJ

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