The original Action Man was based on a real soldier in the British army and came complete with a scar on his cheek.Action Man is the iconic British boy's toy of the 1960s and 70s. He was designed and produced in Coalville, Leics. by Palitoy Ltd. However he was based on a toy, GI Joe, produced by the USA company Hasbro and many of his parts were manufactured in the Far East. He exemplifies the move towards a globally based system of mass production in the 1960s.
As a postscript, although Palitoy ceased production of Action Man in the early 1980s and indeed went out of business in 1986, Hasbro went on to produce Action Man, based on the British idea!
This particular Action Man is the 'Combat Soldier' produced in the late 1960s and based on the British infantry soldier uniform of the time. He comes with a host of accessories including weapons, a knapsack, a sleeping bag and his own dog tags.
Action Man figure made by Palitoy Ltd.
Contributed by Snibston Discovery Park
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1968
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- H:
- 30cm
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Comments
I grew up playing with these (G.I.Joe) and have them today. The same toys, diffrent histories. Copyright 1964 by HASBRO - patent pending, and HASSENFELD BROS. INC patented 1966. Both made in Canada. Uniforms made in Hong Kong and Japan. I was to old to play with talking G.I.Joe, Kung Fu grip, life like hair and Action man. G.I.Joe was a warrior, then space exploration. Action Man in Canada was more of a cold war 007 theme. Spy, Bomb disposal, Jungle expidetion, etc. Economics and the cost of plastic was to much for him and the 30cm. toy became a painted 15cm. toy.
He isn't wearing a British uniform. The basic 60s Action Man came with a very basic American GI uniform, and that's what this one is wearing, without his cap. The basic Action Man, without optional accessories, didn't even have a helmet. All the uniforms were American, and your basic Action Man came as Army, Navy or Air Force, but all were American uniforms. And all the accessories were American too. Only in the late 60s did Palitoy produce a range of uniforms, to be bought as accessories, of different WWII armies. There was a British rival, made by Pedigree and called Tommy Gunn, but he was never as successful as Action Man, and didn't have such a big range of accessories.