The big Mego discovery of the year hands down goes to the recent find of an original Bill Maxwell sample figure from Mego. While other characters such as Ralph and Pam have been uncovered in small numbers, the figure of Bill (played by Robert Culp) has been largely feard lost. Now, MegoMuseum has an indepth look at the first reported Bill Maxwell figure.
The hair appears to be handpainted and while photographs white it is actually gray. What's interesting is that if you look in the Mego 1982 catalog, both the 8" & the 3-3/4" Bill figures are shown with brown hair. But the actual production 3-3/4" Bill was produced with gray hair. Maybe this explains the gray hair on this figure. .
Bill sans his jacket, much like Fonzie or Frankenstein (or most characters with a jacket), he has no sleeves.The material of all the clothing (jacket, shirt and pants) is very similar to the material used for Mego Frankensteins pants. The collar, waistband and cuffs of the jacket are a thicker ribbed material. The shirt is sleeveless & is sewn to the pants. All the stitching is factory machine sewn. The back of the shirt has 2 sets of the square plastic snaps, one at the neck, one at the waist.
Bill from the back, his pants and shirt are a one piece.
Bill sports Duke boots and a Chips watch. The body is a standard Type 2 Mego body with black lower torso.
A closeup of the head, a good likeness of actor Robert Culp.
Shot of the Bill figure from the 1983 Mego Catalog..
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