ACTION FORCE 1983-1984 (second SERIES)
Z FORCE GAUCHO
Codename: Gaucho
Personal Name: Rico Gonzales
Primary Military Speciality: Mechanic
Secondary Military Speciality: Heavy Engineering
Birthplace: Mexico City, Mexico
Stongest soldier in Action Force. Former circus strongman conscripted into Mexican Army for basic training. Transferred to Action Force after two years in the Engineers. Spends all his spare time body building. Brilliant mechanic, especially with engines
“Gaucho can mend anything, and because of his strength, he never needs power tools.”
Gaucho is one of the rarest figures to try and add to your collection. He only came with the Action Force Command Centre along with another rare figure called Jammer (a repaint of the G.I. Joe figure Stalker). The G.I. Joe fans out there will recognise that he is a repaint of the G.I. Joe figure Gung-Ho. He did not come with any accessories. The peak on Gaucho’s hat is often damaged and he can be hard to find with his tattoo in good condition.
The translation of Gaucho is a “South American cowboy from the Pampas”. The Pampas are in Argentina despite Gaucho being Mexican! In Argentina and Uruguay today it indicates a skilled horseman “Gaucho” can refer to any “country person, experienced in traditional livestock farming.” It is strange that the name has not been explained at all in his background.
The SAS Force Hunter character was also from Mexico City.
My YouTube review of Gaucho can be found here.
IMAGES
Ready for battle!
Body Mould
The Z Force Gaucho figure has a peaked hat that is often found to be damaged. He has a large moustache on his face with very clear and dark eyes and eyebrows. He wears a jacket that exposes a large tattoo on his chest. He has a watch on his right arm. On hisleft leg he has an ammo pouch an a knife on his boot. He has a red belt with black clasp. His right arm is the same as Gung-Ho’s.
ACCESSORIES
Gaucho did not come with any accessories. He was later released in the U.S. as a convention exclusive and came with Gung-Ho’s accessories in a different colour (shown below).
INSTRUCTIONS AND CHARACTER INFORMATION
Gaucho did not have a datafile but his character information (and Jammer’s) could be found on the Z Force Command Centre instructions.
PACKAGING
The Z Force Gaucho figure came exclusively boxed with the Action Force Command Centre. The Action Force figure Jammer also came with the Command Centre.
File Card
Information about the figure could be found on the back of the figures file card (the Datafile information). Each figure also had an individual medal number for the mail order offer. Gaucho did not have a medal number or file card.
VARIANTS
Version one of Gaucho had an orange-red vest and wrist band. Version two had a dark red vest and wrist band.
VERSION 1
VERSION 2
Gaucho was a repaint of the G.I. Joe Gung-Ho figure. Gung-Ho was released in the Action Force third series in 1985.
Below is a picture of Gung-Ho and Gaucho next to each other front and back.
G.I. JOE U.S. RELEASE
The G.I. Joe Gung-Ho figure was first released in the U.S. in 1983.
DATAFILE
Datafiles could be found in the Battle Action Force comics. They contained lots of information about the characters and had some great artwork.
Gaucho did not have his own Datafile. His character information could be found on the instructions to the Command Centre. I have added the Command Centre Datafile as this is the set he came with.
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