Action Man is a line of

action figures An action figure is a poseable character (arts), character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game, television program, or sport; fictional or historical. These fig ...

produced by

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

from 1993 to 2006 and again in 2009. The line began as a relaunch of the original Palitoy action figure range and eventually grew to become a multimedia franchise consisting of toys, books, video games, two television programs, animated films, and a

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

published by

Panini Comics Panini Comics is an Italian comic book publisher. A division of Panini Group, which also produces collectible stickers, it is headquartered in Modena, Italy. The company publishes comic books in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Hungary ...

. The toy line centred around the eponymous 'Action Man', an action hero who continuously fought to foil the evil, world-conquering schemes of his nemesis, Dr. X. Toys were also produced of several supporting characters, who were typically allies of either Action Man or Dr. X.

History

Beginnings and success

Following the end of the

Action Force Action Force is a brand of European action figures released in the 1980s that was based on the ''Action Man'' toyline. It was also used to introduce ''G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' toys to European markets. Several publishing companies have ...

toyline, Action Man was rebranded and relaunched by

in 1993. The initial releases were repackaged

G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), A ...

Hall of Fame figures, originally released in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and modelled on the 3" GI Joe line-up. This was followed by a 30th anniversary edition modelled after the original 1966 Palitoy release, albeit using the GI Joe "Hall of Fame" body, that lacked the articulation, scale and proportions of the original figure and accessories. A variety of body types were subsequently offered across different price ranges. This new version of the Action Man figure moved away from the more militaristic theme of the original Palitoy range in favour of an "extreme sports" theme, and introduced a terrorist antagonist in the form of Dr. X. Branded toys, books, stationery and other items were also subsequently marketed, while

began publishing a tie-in comic book series in 1996. Two animated television series were also produced to tie in with the toy line, with the first running for twenty-six episodes between 1995 and 1996. The second show ran for two seasons and twenty-six episodes from 2000 to 2001 and depicted a new incarnation of Action Man. '' Action Man: Robot Atak'', the first in a trilogy of direct-to-DVD animated films, was released in 2004, but this film trilogy did not share continuity with either of the Action Man TV series.

30th Anniversary and special editions

In addition to the three 30th anniversary sets, a number of special edition figures were released, one of which was the 1996 reproduction football player, in a numbered box. As with others from 1996, this was the extremely limited articulation Hasbro Hall of Fame body, with a flocked hair head sculpt. This item would never have been intended as a toy, but merely a collectable. From 1997 to 2000,

Action Man Action Man is an action figure launched in Britain 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 ...

was also released in the

uniform A uniform is a variety of costume worn by members of an organization while usually participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency serv ...

s and costumes from six

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

movies. These included '' Thunderball'', '' You Only Live Twice'', '' The Spy Who Loved Me'', ''

GoldenEye ''GoldenEye'' is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 agent James Bond (lit ...

'', ''

Tomorrow Never Dies ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' is a 1997 spy film, the eighteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode from a screenplay ...

'', and ''

The World Is Not Enough ''The World Is Not Enough'' is a 1999 spy film, the nineteenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 agent Jam ...

''. In 2006, after the main toy line had ended, a number of Action Man: 40th Anniversary sets were released.

Cancellation and ''A.T.O.M.'' launch

The Action Man toy line ended in early 2006 and was replaced with Hasbro's '' A.T.O.M.'' series, a spin-off toy line of smaller action figures based on an animated TV show of the same name. This new series was thus rebranded as ''Action Man: A.T.O.M.'' in certain regions, including the United Kingdom. Panini Comics also launched a new tie-in comic book series, following the cancellation of their long-running Action Man title.

Subsequent revivals

In 2009, Hasbro briefly released a new wave of Action Man toys exclusively to

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

stores. During the 2011

New York Comic Con The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to comics, Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, Film, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. With an attendance of 200,00 ...

, Hasbro distributed a catalogue announcing upcoming toy lines, including a new incarnation of Action Man dubbed "The Action Man". The catalogue offered only a new illustration of Action Man alongside a new logo, with no indication of when this new toy line was intended for release. In June 2016, IDW began publishing a new limited series of Action Man comic books, simply titled ''Action Man'', to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the original Palitoy action figure.

Appearance

As with the original Action Man releases of 1966, the first re-releases of Action Man in the 90s were simply re-packaged

figures, namely Duke, Cobra Commander, Stalker and Snake Eyes, in boxes that resembled the standard G.I. Joe: Hall of Fame blue packaging. Shortly thereafter Hasbro International developed packaging unique to the Action Man line, featuring bright orange coloration and a new Action Man logo. The 1990s 12" Action Man was closer in construction to the poor quality imitations of the original line, featuring very limited articulation and equipment not to scale. These figures were essentially G.I. Joe Hall of Fame bodies with a different set of head moulds, some of which had "fuzzy" hair. Some later examples improved on the articulation, though this was dependent 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 had rubber legs, no waist, elbow or wrist pivot, and a head that only looks left/right. Even the more articulated versions did not compare to the range of motion offered by their

Palitoy Palitoy was a British toy company. It manufactured some of the most popular toys in Britain, some original items and others under licence. Its products included Action Man, Action Girl, Action Force, Tiny Tears, Pippa (doll), Pippa, Tressy, Mainli ...

predecessors. For example, the knee/ankle joints only pivot up/down, do not rotate, and the waist does not allow for rotation to the extent possible with earlier figures. The feet on all body variants were not to scale with the body, making the figures 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 were similar to Barbie's " 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.

Vehicles and accessories

A number of vehicles were offered for the 12" figure line, with bold graphics and the signature orange background coloration. Included were the Super Bike, Mission Raft, 4×4 Jeep, Silver Speeder, Racing Car and others. A variety of accessories and uniform sets were also offered at this time. As with the boxed figures, the first releases were repackaged G.I. Joe Hall of Fame sets, with similarly designed packaging, subsequently replaced with the new orange graphics and new Action Man logo.

Characters

Many recurring heroes and villains have featured in the toy line, TV series and comic book. The most notable are listed below.

Action Force

* Action Man - the eponymous protagonist of the franchise and leader of the

, typically referred to exclusively by the 'Action Man' moniker. * Red Wolf - Action Man's Native American teammate. Two types of action figure were released. * Flynt -

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

teammate. Two styles of action figure were released.

Council of Doom

Dr. X is a

mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as "mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insanity, insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabas ...

who is the arch-enemy of Action Man within the Action Man canon, introduced in the mid-late 1990s. Despite being constantly defeated and often humiliated by Action Man, Dr. X remains bent on world domination and is prepared to kill anyone who stands in his way. Dr. X recruited many villainous allies into his schemes across the history of the franchise, such as Professor Gangrene (1997, 2000, 2002, 2003), MAXX (or 'the man with no name') (1999), Tempest (2001), Asazi (from the 2000 animated series), Anti-Freeze (2003), and No-Face (2004). Dr. X and his allies were at times collectively referred to as the 'Council of Doom' in the Panini Comics series. Several variations of Dr. X action figures were released, often with unique accessories or gimmicks: in 1994, a rotary, firing shield; in 1995, a laser eye & exposed brain; in 1996, a bio-stomach (toxic gut); in 1997, a firing hand; in 1998, a chopper motorbike; in 1999, a laughter button; in 2000, a robotic arm; in 2001, a bronze arm with a ball and chain; in 2002, a firing missile arm; in 2003, a titanium arm; in 2005 a new body and an accompanying

komodo dragon The Komodo dragon (''Varanus komodoensis''), also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large reptile of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Komodo (island), Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Dasami, and Gili ...

named Dragon X.

Video games

Several Action Man video games were released over the franchise's history, including ''Action Man: Destruction X'' (

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

/ PC, 2000), ''Action Man: Raid on Island X'' (PC, 1999), ''Action Man: Jungle Storm'' (PC, 2000), '' Action Man: Operation Extreme'' (PlayStation/PC, 2000), ''Action Man: Arctic Adventure'' (PC, 2002), and '' Action Man: Search for Base X'' ( GBC, 2001), as well as the movie tie-in game '' Action Man: Robot Atak'' ( GBA, 2004).

Comics

Panini series

published an Action Man comic book between 1996 and 2006, which ran for 138 issues before it was replaced by Panini's short-lived '' Action Man: A.T.O.M.'' comic. The title was published every three weeks. Following the 2002 cancellation of the Action Man TV series, the comic would be the only source of official ongoing story line for Action Man, aside from a trilogy of direct-to-DVD films. The final editor was Ed Caruana, who would go on to edit Panini's A.T.O.M. series. Panini Comics also own the

Marvel UK Marvel UK was an imprint (trade name), imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint United States of America, US-produced stories for the United Kingdom, British weekly comic market. Marvel UK later produced original material by British cr ...

licence, with Marvel UK having previously published an

comic during the 1980s.

IDW series

The Action Man character was again rebooted by

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

in 2016 for a four-issue limited comic book series. This rebooted version of the character was placed within the shared continuity of IDW's Hasbro Comic Book Universe, later appearing in the crossover storylines ''

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

'' and '' First Strike'' alongside several other Hasbro characters. A one-shot issue titled ''Action Man: Revolution'' was released in conjunction with the former storyline in October the same year. IDW also released a trade paperback collecting all five Action Man issues in 2017. Unlike the previous Panini Comics series, this series did not tie-in with any toy lines.

Potential film

In 2012, film studio Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films signed a deal to work on a cinematic feature-length live-action film adaptation of Action Man with

Hasbro Studios Allspark, formerly known as Hasbro Studios, LLC, was an American production and distribution company owned by toy and multimedia company Hasbro and based in Burbank, California that was in operation from 2009 to 2019. Originally just a televis ...

and its subsidiary company

Allspark Pictures Allspark, formerly known as Hasbro Studios, LLC, was an American production and distribution company owned by toy and multimedia company Hasbro and based in Burbank, California that was in operation from 2009 to 2019. Originally just a televis ...

, along with other Hasbro properties such as the

board games A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

(with

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

) and

Hungry Hungry Hippos Hungry Hungry Hippos (or Hungry Hippos in some UK editions) is a tabletop game made for 2–4 players, produced by Hasbro, under the brand of its subsidiary, Milton Bradley. The idea for the game was published in 1967 by toy inventor Fred Kroll ...

. The expectation was that work on the first film, "Monopoly", would start in 2013. In 2018,

Paramount Players Paramount Players is an American film production label of Paramount Pictures, focusing on "contemporary properties" while working with other Paramount Global brands. The name alludes to the company's earliest origins as Famous Players Film Comp ...

said

James Bobin James Bobin is a British filmmaker. He worked as a director and writer on ''Da Ali G Show'' and helped create the characters of Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Borat, and Brüno (character), Brüno. With Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, he co-created ' ...

will direct the film from Simon Farnaby's script.

References

External links

ActionManHQ
* King, K. (2000) ''Action Man - the real story 1966–1996'' () * Le Vexier, E.; Gavigniaux, H. ''trans''. (2004) ''Action Joe - The Story of the French GI Joe'' ()

* ttps://archive.today/20121208123320/http://actionfigures.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=actionfigures&zu=http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/8383/gm.htm Geyperman- page on the Hasbro-authorized Spanish version.
UK based collecting club for 12" dolls

AMCC - Action man & 1:6th collecting forum, based in the UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Action Man: 1993-2006 Action figures Playscale figures Hasbro products Products introduced in 1993 Action Man