JJ Armes meet Kojak
Both these guys were based on real people, Kojak was an amalgam of several people who worked on a real life case but Armes was a real life detective with prosthetic hands. I’m not sure about the van being real however, just in my dreams sadly…
More JJ Armes:
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I have fond memories of owning both these in the 70s, in the UK. My Kojak was different to this one, I think – it came in a card / blister pack with fewer accessories – a hat, a gun, a lollipop and a cigar, and some spectacles, I think. The face looks the same – vivid red lips. There was a little hole for the lollipop or cigar. One other thing I remember is that the shirt and tie were actually a little bib underneath the suit jacket. It was a very involved figure, lots of cool little details.
I knew who Kojak was, of course, but I had no idea what was going on with JJ Armes. I doubt anyone in the UK had ever heard of him, but figures like this would occasionally make their way over here. Actually I'm now wondering if I picked up Armes on a trip to Germany, where my uncle was stationed at a US army base (filled with desirable comics and the exotic candy advertised within, as well as a gift shop). Anyway, I had no contextual knowledge of the great investigator, so as far as I was concerned this was just an action figure that had mechanical hands (and interchangeable hands) for some reason. Brilliant! Why not?