Action Man is an action figure brand launched in the United Kingdom in 1966 by Palitoy as a licensed copy of Hasbro's American "movable fighting man", G.I. Joe.
Action Man was originally produced and sold in the United Kingdom and Australia by Palitoy Ltd of Coalville, Leicestershire from 1966 until 1984. Palitoy offered sub-licences to toy manufacturers in other markets.
The figure and accessories were originally based on the Hasbro (US) 1964 G.I. Joe figure, for 1966–1969 production. Hasbro's G.I. Joe figure was patented in 1966. with Sam Speers credited as inventor of same. Even the specific method of attaching the appendages was patented as a "Connection for Use in Toy Figures". 28 Oct. 1969). The first Action Man figures were Action Soldier, Action Sailor and Action Pilot. All were available in the four original hair colours: Blonde, Auburn, Brown and Black. They were accompanied by outfits depicting the United States Armed Forces of World War II and the Korean War. From 1970 to 1984, the basic boxed figures and accompanying uniforms and accessories reflected the forces of the United Kingdom rather than the United States. Action Man was reintroduced in 1993, based on the G.I. Joe Hall of Fame figure of that time.
History
Beginnings and success From 1964, Palitoy, a British subsidiary of General Mills, was the UK licensee for Hasbro Industries. Palitoy developed from a plastics firm, established by Alfred Edward Pallett in 1909 and became one of Britain's leading toy manufacturers, until its closure in 1984.
In 1964, Sales Director Hal Belton returned from the United States with a new toy called G.I. Joe as a present for his grandson. When he realised that it was well received by his grandson he "borrowed" the toy and presented it to the General Manager Miles Fletcher. Miles and his Production Director Brian Wybrow made contact with Hasbro at the New York toy fair the next year. Samples were acquired from Hasbro and marketing research was carried out – Palitoy employees were given samples to take home for their children to test. The controversy at the time was "should boys be playing with a doll". Palitoy (as Hasbro before) ignored these concerns and the word "doll" was banned when discussing the new toy.
A name was needed and Gee Advertising was commissioned to come up with some ideas. A list was passed around the company (as remembered by Stuart Moore, designer of the successful Tiny Tears) for people to cast their preference. One name remembered was "Ace 21" because the mannequin had 21 separate components. Both Peter Watson, of Gees, and Les Cooke, Palitoy Brand Manager (later to become managing director), claim authorship of the name Action Man, but it was Sales Manager Harry Trowell who suggested the name to Miles Fletcher over lunch at the local pub, the Fox and Goose. Eventually after lengthy negotiation a licensing deal to produce the toy using Hasbro tooling and Far East sourcing was agreed in late 1965, just prior to the launch at the British Toy Fair in January 1966.
In the early years, Action Man competed with the entirely British Tommy Gunn by Pedigree Toys who were the producers of the Sindy doll. The Tommy Gunn figure copied aspects of Hasbro's G.I. Joe, released two years earlier in the United States. Regardless, Tommy Gunn was generally regarded as a higher quality in terms of equipment and accuracy of accessories, especially since the Action Man of the 1960s was little more than a re-packaged G.I. Joe. He was ultimately unable to compete with Action Man and was discontinued in 1968. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, many other companies produced competition for Action Man, but all were of the cheap blow-moulded variety, which produces thin-walled components lacking the articulation and sturdiness of the Palitoy components, which utilised more costly Injection and Rotational moulding processes.
Action Man was developed with primarily British themes from 1970 onwards: military, adventurers, and sportsman, as Palitoy wanted to distinguish their product line from the U.S. counterpart. (Bill) William A.G. Pugh was the head of Action Man's product development at Palitoy, and can be credited with the development of innovations to the product line which included the flocked hair and gripping hands, which crossed over to the G.I. Joe line. Hasbro realised adding a new feature to the manikin helped to maintain sales and developed the Eagle Eyes feature, invented by James A. King, a Hasbro engineer, which was adopted by Palitoy for Action Man,Michlig, J. (1998) "G.I. Joe; The Complete Story of America's Favorite Man of Action", Section 12, pp. 178–187 and by extension to that of other Hasbro licensees.
One series that truly set Palitoy's line apart from Hasbro's was the "Ceremonials". Although Hasbro had a set of Cadet ceremonial outfits, they did not match the scope and range of the British versions, which also included a horse of the Life Guards with full ceremonial regalia as an optional set.Hall, A. (1999) "Action Man – the ultimate collectors guide" Vol. 2, p. 5 The non-military was also covered with adventurous elements such as mountain rescue, Arctic exploration, scuba and deep sea diving. One outfit was only available through the Action Man stars scheme; the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (and accompanying mastiff dog). In the G.I. Joe lineup, this outfit was sold with figure in a variety of configurations through Hasbro Canada.
Hasbro relaunch
The military style Action Man toys made a brief resurgence in the early 1990s, but between 1995 and 2006 Hasbro used the name without any military theme as a modern adventurer complete with arch-enemies Dr. X and Professor Gangrene. Marketing changed from producing a basic figure with the option to buy several different outfits to each product being its own stand-alone figure, with included accessories such as an outfit and equipment for a given "mission". This specialisation together with improved production techniques led to figures with built-in abilities, such as karate moves or a working blowpipe.
A tie-in Action Man animated series was produced but was only available on video in the UK, because of broadcast rules about advertising to children: a toy could follow a TV production but not the other way around.Ian Harrison Action Man – The Official Dossier
A 3 3/4 inch sized Action Man was sold in 2004 as part of a G.I. Joe 'Night Force' set sold exclusively at the Toys 'R' Us chain of stores in the United States.
Collectors' version
In 2006 Hasbro licensed reproductions of a variety of the original boxed Action Man figures, under the 40th Anniversary "Nostalgic Collection" banner, in a packaging format similar to Hasbro's G.I. Joe "40th Anniversary" collection.
Subsequent revivals At the 2011 New York Comic Con, Hasbro distributed a catalogue titled 'UNIT E' featuring comic strips based on several Hasbro properties, some of which were defunct. Among the latter toy ranges was a new iteration of Action Man, dubbed 'The Action Man'. However, the comic was produced as a "brain storming" concept, and the comic's introduction specifically noted that none of the concepts within the book were guaranteed to ever see production or release.
The Action Man character was again rebooted by IDW Publishing in 2016 for a four-issue limited comic book series. The series was published to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Action Man, with the cover of each issue featuring the original Palitoy-era Action Man logo.
Appearance: 1966–1984 Figure construction
The original 1964 Action Man had a moulded vinyl painted head (which sometimes shrank and became harder, as with Hasbro's figures), with a livid scar on the cheek registered as a trademark, identical to G.I. Joe. Talking Commander figures often have the soft vinyl painted head also used for talking G.I. Joe figures. Action Man figures of the seventies tend to have a pinker colouration than G.I. Joe; the feet are of the smaller original G.I. Joe variety. They were held together by elastic with crimped metal eyelets through which rivets passed, for the legs, and metal hooks retaining the neck post and shoulders.
Pre-1970 bodies used the painted-rivets similar to G.I. Joe, 1970–1977 bodies have chromed rivets which were not used on the Hasbro U.S. version. Especially noticeable with 1970 is that on figures, the limb sections tend to be slightly smaller than the G.I. Joe counterpart, hence Action Man is slightly shorter in height, very similar to the "Masterpiece Edition" G.I. Joe. The pelvis, also smaller, has an extra ridge on each side immediately above the buttocks, which also distinguishes it from the U.S. version, trademarkings aside. The Canadian G.I. Joe body uses this pelvis. Bodies from 1978 on are all-plastic construction, with a flexible rubber connection for the neck post (this is subject to deterioration).
Gripping Hands The initial releases had hands that were virtually identical to those of G.I. Joe. The hands were always an element of frustration, as observed by (Bill) William A.G. Pugh during setups for the annual toy fairs;Harrison, I. (2003) Action Man – The Official Dossier () he found it was hard to get them to really hold any of the accessories securely. Being of hard vinyl construction, glue had to be used to secure the accessories. As a result, gripping hands were the next feature to be introduced in 1973; the hard moulded hands of the original were replaced by a flexible vinyl. These hands were invented by Bill PughAssigned a U.S. patent Patent#3,955,312 "Gripping Hand For Dolls" on 11 May 1976. and designed and sculpted by Chief Designer, Bob Brechin, using his left hand as a model.Bob Brechin, Palitoy Chief Designer, 1967–1984
A modified, simpler version was used by Hasbro for G.I. Joe in 1974.Michlig, J. (1998) G.I. Joe: The Complete Story of America's Favorite Man of Action, Section 12, p. 179 A thimble was provided with each boxed figure to protect the fingers when changing its outfit. The early (pre 1978) vinyl is prone to breakdown as with the G I Joe version; the deterioration of 73–77 flex hands includes hardening of the outer layers, cracks, discolouration, fingers breaking off and sometimes shrivelling.
Flocked hair and Eagle Eyes The first innovation for Action Man was a form of flocking giving the effect of a short "fuzzy" hairstyle in 1970, very similar to the hair flocking used on early "Ken" dolls produced by Mattel. Bill Pugh contacted the company he saw on a TV programme producing bottles covered with a flocked fibre.Michlig, J. (1998) G.I. Joe: The Complete Story of America's Favorite Man of Action, Section 11, p. 164 Dracon Limited, whose promotional items included a flocked car, provided the basis for the electrostatic process that would give Action Man his new look.Michlig, J. (1998) G.I. Joe: The Complete Story of America's Favorite Man of Action, Section 11, pp. 162–167
With the introduction of the soft flock-haired head, all figures came with blue eyes unlike the painted heads and G.I. Joe Adventurers that still had brown eyes in some instances. This flocking innovation crossed back over the Atlantic and was introduced for G.I. Joe within the year. The equipment for Hasbro's G.I. Joe was assembled and tested in the UK before being crated and shipped to Hong Kong for mass production. Hong Kong was also the location of Palitoy's production. G.I. Joe's "sea adventurer" was a bearded redhead, never used in the UK market.
The Action Man Sailor now dressed for the Royal Navy sported a similarly produced beard in blonde or brown only. Unlike G.I. Joe, Action Man was truly ubiquitous; he had only one face, regardless of euro-centric nationality, whereas G.I. Joe had two ethnic variants, commonly referred to as "Foreign Heads"; one European, one Japanese. Palitoy did not market the brown-skinned figure sold as African American in the pre-1970s G.I. Joe lineup.