Action Man
Action Man was a popular British toy produced by Palitoy.
Action Man was a doll marketed as "moveable fighting man"; and as with Hasbro's G.I. Joe in the U.S., (of which it was licensed copy) no mention was ever made of the figure being a doll, since it was deemed unseemly for boys to be playing with dolls in the 1960's. Palitoy was a British toy company the company grew out of a plastics firm established by Alfred Edward Pallett in 1909 and went on to become one of Britain's leading toy manufacturers until its ultimate closure in 1984. It became the UK licensee for Hasbro Industries of the U.S. soon after G I Joe was launched there.
Action Man was originally produced and sold in the United Kingdom and Australia by Palitoy Ltd of Coalville, Leicestershire from 1966 until 1984 (Palitoy also offered sub-licenses to various toy manufacturers in various markets).
The first Action Man figures were Action Soldier, Action Sailor and Action Pilot.
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The 90s 12" Action Man was closer in construction to the poor quality imitations of the original line; very limited articulation, with equipment not to scale. The hands could not really grasp any of the accessories. These figures were essentially G.I. Joe Hall of Fame bodies with a different set of head molds, some of which had "fuzzy" hair. Later examples improved on the articulation, depending on the price point. The figures were marked "Hasbro International 1993" across the buttocks. Some came with blue shorts, reminiscent of the late 70s-80s body. The articulation of neck, waist, arms and legs varied as mentioned. Some, like Tiger Strike have rubber legs, no waist, elbow or wrist pivot, and a head that only looks left/right. Even the more articulated versions cannot compare to the range of motion offered by their early predecessors; for example, the knee/ankle joints only pivot up/down; they do not rotate, and the waist does not allow for rotate and "lean" to the extent possible with earlier figures. The feet on all body variants are like Barbie; not to scale with the body. Unfortunately, these bodies are also grossly overweight in comparison, and as a result of this and the small feet, they are much more difficult to pose freestanding.The more articulated bodies were also of a harder plastic, rather than the softer vinyl/rubber used for basic figure limbs, that was similar to Barbies' "Ken". Basic figures were available in a variety of configurations such as Tiger Strike and Sport Extreme, as well as deluxe sets such as Sky Dive, CrimeBuster and Raid and Roller Extreme. The more expensive sets contained the more articulated figures.
