Action Man first saw the light of day in January 1966 when Palitoy Ltd, of
Coalville, Leicester, unveiled their 12" Action figure. It had been a close
run thing. Pedigree Toys, the long standing doll manufacturer in the UK,
had been working hard to produce a "British" version of the GI Joe figure
that had been popular in the USA since 1964. Pedigree's "Tommy Gunn" was
a well articulated figure with a range of amazingly well detailed accessories.
Seemingly, Pedigree couldn't match the speed at which Palitoy hurtled across
the Atlantic to grab the license from Hasbro. The result was that both figures
hit the starting line at around the same time. To be fair to both the
competitors, it was a terrific gamble, in the mid 1960's, to introduce what
was essentially a doll in soldier clothing. The decade of the 1960's was
noted for a great deal of liberation but the notion of boys playing with
dolls was still a strange one to a great many people. Pedigree were already
into a market leader with their Sindy Doll for girls, competing with Barbie
for the hearts and minds of British girls so the thought of competing in
a risky market may have influenced the backing that they received. To the
detriment of the British toy industry, Tommy Gunn was shelved soon after
the start. One can only guess at what would have happened if the two figures
had been allowed to develop in competition. Maybe, the gear would have been
even more detailed than ever. It seems that Tommy Gunn had access to source
material from the Ministry of Defence as his kit was always the most detailed
and accurate)
The initial range of figures and outfits were similar but Palitoy imported a great many of Hasbro's growing collection of accessories and Tommy Gunn dropped far behind. As a result of this, Tommy Gunn now commands high prices in the UK collectors market in view of the scarcity of both figures and outfits. Action Man now had an open field to diversify in any way that Palitoy chose. Over the next few years (1968-1980), Action Man won award after award for innovation and playability. He gained a voice (as the Talking Commander) and responded to the demands of children. The range of outfits varied from the military styles of soldier, sailor and airman to adventurers and space outfits. The jewels in the crown of the Action Man outfits were undoubtedly the detailed representations of some of the dress uniforms of contemporary regiments of the British Army. Action Man appeared in the uniform of the Grenadier Guards, 17th/21st Lancers (complete with horse) and the Household Cavalry (both Horse Guards and The Blues And Royals). He was even persuaded to wear a kilt and sporran as a private in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. These dress uniforms are now prized collectors items. At one stage, regiments of the British army were reputedly queueing outside Palitoy's door to have their own uniforms modelled. Indeed, there were certainly samples of some of the military finery at the factory that had been modelled by staff at Palitoy for the uniform designers.
The basic, 21 joint, articulated figure underwent several stages of development, mirroring that of GI Joe in the USA. When first issued, Action Man had hands that looked really useful but turned out to be only marginally so. They were moulded in a shape that was supposed to accommodate the holding of weapons. In actual fact, they wouldn't grip anything unless you were prepared to wrap an elastic band around them. In the early 1970's, the hands changed from a hard hand to a soft, gripping hand in response to a meeting of the franchised developers from countries that produced their own action figure. Along with these developments, Action Man grew hair (as opposed to the painted hair of the 1960's) and developed "Eagle Eyes" that moved from side to side via a lever on the back of the head. The ultimate figure of the early 1980's had redesigned thighs that enabled him to sit properly, Eagle Eyes, gripping hands, real hair and a fully plastic jointed body with a stud at the neck to enable him to push his head backwards to fire a weapon from the prone position.
Most folks look at Action Man and have no idea that there are deep. fundamental differences in design between early and late figures. If you were to stand the two together, the differences would be apparent within seconds. The later figures have slightly larger heads (to accomodate the Eagle Eyes) with hair and possess gripping hands. Later figures wear blue trunks where the early figures are bare (or have flesh coloured undies)
Of course, there were many adaptations along the way. The range included the "Black" soldier; Tom Stone, the alien; Captain Zargon and a host of talking figures. From the beginnig, small talk boxes inside the "Commander" figures were urging Action Men to take note of enemy tanks approaching and march in single file. The commanders were dressed in their own distinct uniform and can command high prices today if they are in working order.
In 1984, Action Man was finding it hard going against the influx of Star Wars toys and computer games so he wandered off into the wilderness to find himself. He returned in 1993, a changed man.