Happy Days

Mego Fonzie was the only figure that sold in the line according to Mego brass

Fonzie


The Mego Happy Days line is one of the better television toy collections. Although there are some likeness problems, particularily with the dour Richie Cunningham, the collection is far better than Mattell’s Welcome Back Kotter Series, for example, if only because of the superior Mego possability and 8 inch scale. The Fonzie doll, with his jointed thumbs and “thumbs up” action through the mechanism in his back is one of Mego’s better efforts, and was a popular toy in his time.

Happy Days was the number family sitcom at the time, it was a logical choice for Mego to produce figures of these fabulous fifties characters, but to hear Neal Kublan explain it, the line only had one real bright spot for Mego. “Happy Days the first year was really
a bomb, but then Fonzie emerged” he adds “I don’t know how many pieces of the other characters we sold but the Fonzie doll sold like crazy for a year.”

The detailing of the high school letter sweaters on Richie and Potsie is particularily nice. This line was rounded out with a Fonzie’s Garage playset and Fonzie’s Motorcycle.

The line debuted in 1977 and continued in 78. Note that Richie and Ralph are wearing white tennis shoes with dark side stripes. They would ship with standard Mego dress shoes.

Two more figures and a 12″ Fonzie were planned for 1978 but eventually dropped.

 

Happy Days 1977 Mego catalog debut

 

Fonzie

FONZIE

 

pants

The Fonz wears bluejeans that have been reproduced by Classic TV Toys. The repro’s are taller in the waist, longer in the leg, and lower in the crotch. They also have a lighter thread than the dark blue mego used.

 

 

shirt

Fonz wears a white shirt under his jacket. The shirt has a collar and opens in the back for the thumbs up action. It closes with a snap at the back of the neck. This shirt has been reproduced by CTVT. The repro is more bright white, doesn’t have the collar, and doesn’t open in the back and no snap. There is a rough slit cut in the back for the thumbs up action level to stick through on the CTVT shirt.

 

Jacket

 

jacket

The Fonz has to have his black leather jacket. This jacket has been reproduced by CTVT. The collar on the reproduction is taller, and the jacket is shorter at the waist. The cloth at the waist of the reproduction is not as wide as the original and the opening at the front of the jacket doesn’t taper down from the collar like the original does.

 

 

boots

Fonz wears boots that can also be found on the Duke boys, Huggy Bear from Starsky and Hutch and sometimes on Hutch himself. These boots have been reproduced by CTVT. The reproductions, while the same height are thicker with a wider foot opening. They have a rough texture to them as well. They are unmarked.

 

 

MEGO FONZIE

FONZIE MEGO THUMBS UP ACTION

Fonzie came on his own card that supported his unique body type and
allowed kids to try his thumbs up motion. He also came boxed briefly
and was sold as a stand-alone piece. This particular card came from
the UK and has a distributor name on it (Wiggins Teape Toy Distributors)
Italian Harbert Cards are known to exist as well.

Outside of the United States, Fonzie was marketed on his own in Canada (Parkdaly Novelty), the UK (Wiggins Teape) and in Italy (Harbert). There are no other known foreign releases for the Fonz.

Mego had planned to create a 12″ version of the Fonz and even sculpted the head, the figure was scrapped for reasons unknown.

Mego Fonzie on a UK version of his card

ayyyyyyy!

 

Fonzie was sold by himself in Italy. The character being Italian-American probably didn’t hurt his popularity in Italy.

 

 

 

 

Italian Fonzie Ad from Harbert

Fonzie Prototype in Alden’s catalog.

Mego struggled to get Fonzie’s look right and also originally had him slated as a 12″ doll, as evidenced by this catalog shot from Aldens showing a doll with not only a giant head but a completely different look.
 
Richie

Richie Cunningham Happy Days Mego doll

 

pants

Richie wears an off-white pair of pants that are unique to the character and have not been factory reproduced. The Classic TV Toys reproduction of Richie sports blue pants.

 

 

shirt

Richie’s shirt has been factory reproduced by CTVT. The reproduction snaps from the opposite side and the pattern of the stripes are different, although the color scheme is the same.

 

Sweater

 

sweater

Richie wears a letterman sweater that is different from Potsie’s letterman jacket. This sweater has been reproduced by CTVT. The reproduction is shorter at the waist and the “J” on the front of the sweater is screened on, while the original has a raised vinyl letter. CTVT also added a screened “Jefferson High” on the back of the sweater that didn’t exist on the original version.

 

 

shoes

Both Doctor Mego and CTVT have made black shoes. Doc Mego’s are a little bigger in appearance. They are marked DM on the inside. Classic TV Toys version are more narrow and tend to look a little rough with occasional flashing evident. CTVT’s are unmarked.

 

 
Potsie

Happy Days Potsie Mego Doll

 

pants

Potsie sports blue pants that are unique to the character. Made of a heavy cloth, but not jean type material, these pants are a solid blue. They have been reproduced by CTVT, but the repro’s are a little more jean like. You can see some slight white through the blue here and there creating a more jean type feel on the reproductions.

 

 

shirt

Potsie’s shirt has been factory reproduced by CTVT. The reproduction is more yellow than the original, but otherwise pretty accurate. Another difference is the thread color. The original is more tan/off-white, while the repro thread is yellow.

 

Jacket

 

jacket

Potsie wears a letterman jacket that is different from Richie’s letterman sweater. This jacket has been reproduced by CTVT. Although similar, the blue strips on the waist and cuffs of the repro are darker blue and thinner. CTVT omitted the “J” on the front of the jacket and added the screened “Jefferson High” on the back that the original does not have.

 

 

shoes

Both DM and CTVT have made brown shoes. Doc Mego’s are a little bigger in appearance, and lighter in color. They are marked DM on the inside. Classic TV Toys version are closer in color, although a touch more red. They are more narrow and tend to look a little rough with occasional flashing evident. CTVT’s are unmarked.

 

 

Ralph Malph Happy Days Mego doll

 

 

pants

Ralph wears a pair of blue pants, but unlike Potsie’s, these are made of a stretchy material. These pants have been reproduced by Classic TV Toys. The repro’s are a touch darker blue and have a bit of a texture of tiny squares in them. They also fit more snug.

 

 

shirt

Ralph wears a white shirt that opens in the front but does not have snaps to secure it. The original is very transparent and the body can be clearly seen through the material. This shirt has been reproduced by CTVT, but the reproduction is a much heavier material and is not transparent at all.

 

Sweater

 

sweater

Being the stylin’ dude he is, Ralph wears a hip sweater vest. The yellow sweater vest has some orangish color highlights that run horizontally, and randomly throughout the material. This vest has been reproduced by CTVT. The reproduction has brown highlights instead of orange, and there is more of a pattern to them. A series of dashes in a very organized pattern, unlike the highlights on the original.

 

 

shoes

Both Doctor Mego and CTVT have made black shoes. Doc Mego’s are a little bigger in appearance. They are marked DM on the inside. Classic TV Toys version are more narrow and tend to look a little rough with occasional flashing evident. CTVT’s are unmarked.

 

 
Fonzie’s Jalopy

Fonzie Mego Jalopy

Fonzie’s Jalopy or Hot Rod was sold seperatly or it was sold as part of
the Garage playset. Later Mego pitched it as “Greased Lightning” for the proposed but never produced 8″ line for the hit film Grease.

Back to the Mego Museum Happy Days Page

Fonzie Motorcycle

FONZIE MEGO CATALOG 1978Fonzie Mego Bike

FONZIE BIKE MEGO BOX

The Fonzie Motor Cycle would later make an appearance as the CHiPs Cycle but the twist out action would be removed by this point.

Fonzie’s Garage


Mego Fonzie's Garage Playset
 

The Garage Playset included Fonzie’s Hotrod and is
tough to find. The backdrops for the garage are actual photographs
of a garage(!)

Mego fonzie hotrod


You can see Fonzie's Hotrod in there
 

A tight little package.

@Wiggins Happy Days 1978

 

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