[Opening Screen: you all know the theme song]Written by GL
I don't know about the many of your readers out there but I was, and still am, a big, big fan of Police Academy. It was one of the first shows that managed to make me really laugh - and there were such a variety of really funny characters. Police Academy was one of those shows that followed the formula of Ghostbusters; almost seamless transitions between action figures and live-action movies and animated series. The difference was that the Ghostbusters were popular enough to receive re-vamping. Police Academy, for what it's worth, had a good run through the 80's.
Police Academy, featuring those characters that you love (Hightower, Larvell Jones, Mahoney, etc.) only moved from movies to cartoons in 1988. And, as the fate of all things in the 80's, it lasted only two seasons.
[Cartoon Clips: it's been such a long, long time]It wasn't until a year later, in 1989, that Kenner released action figure toys to match the comedy of the television cartoon. To match the comic nature of the cartoon, the action figures themselves were made pretty comic too - and almost everyone was made in to a figure, including Zed (the schizo fella with that Tasmanian devil like voice, remember?)
[Zed: what ever happened to Bobcat Goldwaithe?]Police Academy had a grand sucess with its movies from 1-6. The series of movies have already had enough sequals and was a ending piece of the 80's. Yet, when the cartoon series debuted, it made kids, like me, squirm and fall over, as if in over-dose to a huge volume of McNuggets. The characters in the cartoon series were all based on the characters from the movies. The action figures were detailed to the likeness of the season lasting Police Academy cartoon series.
A toy line such as Police Academy is bound to be collectible. It has a good range of figures, rarities and has link back to the nostalgia of the 80's movies. 3 series of figures were released, with 2 vehicles, and a Headquarters. There were also lots of wacky items like Handcuffers & Gas Gushers. The line died as the third series came out, which were called 'Special Assignment Rookies.
[The Complete Line: I had some of 'em!]The gems of the this line are the last series figures. But only three really stand out - Snack-Attack house with his Hoagy Blaster was extremely limited, which is to less than 1 per every 5 cases. Another figure is the Mail-Away Captain Harris. Though the figure doesn't resemble the movie character much, it was quite tough to find; since many kids did not mail away for him towards the later end of the toy line. Another tough figure is Stakeout Sweetchuck. The figure itself was mailed to kids after Kenner ran out of Captain Harris figures. Stakeout Sweetchuck was mailed not loose, but carded.
[Captain Harris: PROCTOR! PROC-TOR!]Though their are many unproduced vehicles for the line, the Copper Corner was actually produced in Argentina by Josca! As you may now know, a lot of cool stuff came out and it makes a lot of us wonder what other toys are out there that we originally thought were unproduced.
So, if you're in the mood for a little nostalgia (and being the faithful soul that I am), I sourced out the opening theme for you, dear readers. Remember, live to protect and serve.
