Action Man Dossier - vintage Palitoy to Hasbro
The swinging sixties saw the launch of Action Man onto the unsuspecting British public, and soon after the world! Following on from the success of the 12 inch G.I. Joe figures in the U.S. in 1964, Palitoy and Hasbro Inc. released Action Man in 1966 to the U.K. and the "moveable fighting man" remained popular for 18 years when it finally ceased production in 1984. Many shops continued to sell their stock for another 2 years or more however!
So that was the end for Action Man, or so we thought, until 1994 and Action Man was reinvented and re-released in the U.K. and Europe. Initially just repackaged G.I. Joe dolls the popularity of these 4 figures persuaded Hasbro (who now owned Palitoy) to re-launch Action Man and a whole new generation became instant fans. As in the 60's, 70's and 80's, Action Man was the 90's best selling boys toy year after year and even spawned a line of James Bond Action Man figures! With the decline in popularity of army toys however Action Man was rebranded as an extreme sports crimefighting hero and in recent years the toys contained less and less guns and more things like disc throwers.
Action Man as a toy line disappeared from the shelves once again in 2006 to be replaced by a spin off product A.T.O.M. (Alpha Teens On Machines), a smaller scale toy range with a more futuristic theme.
But now Action Man is back in action! See the news page for more information. The new range is hotly tipped to become the hottest toy this Christmas.
Here you will find all sorts of interesting info, images and more from lifelong fans! Our aim is to gather news, vintage videos, rare images and more from around the world.
If you have any images or sounds of Action Man you think maybe of interest to fellow Action Man collectors please contact us and we'll try and add it to the site!
Updates:
20/10/09 - Added unreleased and foreign 2009 Action Man toys .
05/10/09 - Added new 2009 Action Man range .
04/10/09 - Added more items to the 1990s page .
12/09/09 - Added new video of Action Man Shooting Stars parody to the media page.
03/05/09 - Added more 40th Anniversary Action Man sets.
03/04/09 - Added more Action Man books to the 70's page.
09/09/08 - Added new videos of Action Man TV adverts to the media page.
05/09/08 - Added desktop wallpapers page.
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