Z Force:

Captain


Infantryman


Radio Operator


Sapper


S.A.S.:

Squad Leader


Pilot


Frogman


Commando


Q Force:

Aqua Trooper


Deep Sea Defender


Sonar Officer


Space Force:

Captain


Pilot


Patroller


Security Trooper:


The Enemy:

Baron Ironblood


Black Major
[/url]

Muton


Red Shadow


Mail away exclusive: Action Force Commander (both versions)



Cheers
T'shot

I don't know why these action force guys have such appeal to me. I had gi joes and they had more articulation than these but I find these really neat. I guess it is because they combine the articulation and feel of star wars vintage stuff to the look of the gi joes.

Personally I think Action Force was Palitoy at their best, they'd learnt so much from marketing Star Wars & combined it with their years of experience with Action-man.

Technically the 1984 series was something like 98% repaints & mixing parts introduced the previous year yet still looked fresh & original




Palitoy also licensed many of the vehicles from Hasbro's G.I.Joe line, re-coloured, to extend the range & keep development costs down... the cockpits for those vehicles required the Joe style body articulation to work correctly, which is why we got the re-coloured figures.

Missed the second update here. Very nice stuff. So originally action force was just a 5 point of action figure like star wars vintage but then later they are direct copies of the Gi Joes I see. Kind of an evolution of action figures when you see the older next to the later releases.

Cheers

Which reminds me...

Here's the last of the Palitoy produced Action Force series, six single carded figures were released & fresh mail away exclusive Enemy character was made available.

S.A.S. Attack Trooper:


Q Force Sea Skimmer:


Z Force Minesweeper:


Z Force Medic:


Space Force Engineer:


This guy's a fantastic featuring an opening visor & two interchangeable hand attachments, one of which (when not in use) can be stowed on the back.


 

The Enemy delved even further into the realms of science fiction with this genetically engineered sea creature..
The Kraken:


Skeletron:

A bio-mechanically engineered creation of Baron Ironblood,  replaced the Commander as the mail away exclusive figure.

Sadly Palitoys parent company, General Mills, reorganised their global interests resulting in the closing of Palitoys design department..

1985 was the year when Action Force truly became the European G.I.Joe the entire figure range being  exactly the same as the U.S series except for the Action Force packaging.

Still Palitoy ended on a high... 1984 was the year we got these beauties:

Triad Fighter:


There's even foot pegs & a special socket to plug the Engineers life-line into..


Sealion:




Roboskull:



Z Force got the Joe APC, for which, Palitoy re-designed both the turret & interior:




   
Cheers
T'shot

Also from 1984 are some Hasbro vehicles (& figures) Joe fans will recognise...

S.A.S. got the Wolverine with driver (Code name:Hunter) & a repainted Cobra F.A.N.G called Hawk with pilot (Code name:Blades) :




The Enemy got their own versions of the H.I.S.S. (The Hyena) & Escape Armour to play with:




For the longest time I thought that the S.A.S. Silent Attack, a charming little canoe/figure combo, was a Hasbro product but it's %100 Palitoy:


It's clearly inspired by the kayak's used by the S.B.S. :


It's a crying shame Action Force ended when it did.

They have some very cool items in the line, I have a few vehicle's that I am using for star wars customs. And of course I am still hunting for the SA-80 to go with my YPS Snowtrooper.

Hi there,

Until Star Wars collectors latched on to the YPS Snowtrooper connection, the Enemy Battle Gear pack's were a nice & easy pick up for A.F. collectors.



It's not unheard of for some folks opening mint carded packs just to sell the rifle at extortionate rates on ebay

The Q Force Battle Gear featured the Red version of the rifle:

Exclusive Kraken Bio-Armour produced for 2011's Roll Out Roll Call convention..




Check out the fans fantastic reception:

Such a cool range of figures and accessories. As you say, Palitoy reached a kind of perfection with Star Wars and Action Man before it. The Roboskull vehicle is just awesome

Here are some Danish ads,

1988. Check out that cool diorama!




Sticker album.




And check out the old style Palitoy logo as seen on this 1967 Action man ad..

Glad this got bumped because I missed it somehow. Great pics as usual. Must say I agree with those comments on that wierd huge kraken thing. It is just to bulky and odd for the line from the looks of it.

1983 S.A.S Boat Patrol..


1984 S.A.S Silent Attack:


1983 Rote Schatten:


This was one of the figures produced for West Germany where
all of the "Enemy" Skull & Cross Bones insignia had to be removed from the toys for (obvious) historical & legal reasons. One of many changes for that market also included...& hardcore Star wars collectors may already be aware of this... certain figures being supplied with 4-Lom's "Stun Gun" instead of their usual rifles & Tommy Guns.

How long has it taken you to acquire your action force collection? I have been looking on eBay and some of the figures you show either don't come about often or are incomplete when they do. I don't check it daily but every once in a while just to see. I haven't jumped into the line yet, but am heavily thinking on doing so.

Hi,
I've been collecting A.F (& G.I.Joe) for around a decade or so now... I've still a couple of item's to find.

Have you tried U.K. ebay?

The figures were very popular (the series only ended because General Mills closed down Pailtoy's design department due to international cost cutting measures not poor sales ) and remain easy to find at toy fairs & flea markets. The challenge is finding the accessories.. fortunately, as there isn't much of a collectors market (yet), there's no worries about fake or reproduction weapons

Enemy Escape Armour



Baron Ironblood, with smuggler blaster.. some carded Baron Ironblood have been found with this weapon, it can't be a simple packing error as this figure/accessory combo was pictured in a Palitoy promo poster:



P.S.
Hello Stan Fernando.

Stef had a baron ironblood carded with that blaster, but I think he sold it. We had a similar armor piece in the gi Joe line but it was gray I think. Looks cool in red also.

S.A.S Panther jeep with driver (Code Name: Stalker)

Spot the difference...

Top one has a greenish sas sticker behind seat and greenish looking hubcaps. Bottom pic has yellow sas sticker, stripes under that sticker, and more yellow looking hubcaps.

Cool variations. The top one has yellow window/roll bar frame thing, bottom is grey.

Hi folks,

A quick tour around a vintage AF backing card:  
Muton's probably the easiest M.O.C. AF figure to find, tho (now-a-days) something of a cult figure it was a real peg warmer during the 80's & still inexpensive to buy..


Just as with Tri-Logo Star Wars, Palitoy produced AF packaging in many bilingual combinations.. this example being English/Italian  


Cross sell for 1984..


Mail Away exclusive figure offer..


File card..
*

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Bob Brechin a few years back, at a collectors collection, who very kindly signed this for me.


Mr Brechin, a real gentleman, worked within the Palitoy company for many years (in their design dept') & was lead designer for the Action Force range... he's the guy who created the Roboskull & sculpted Action-man's (G.I.Joe) gripping hands.

Cheers
T'shot



* No Muton or packaging was harmed in this photo shoot

Great post. It must make Muton a deadly adversary as he can operate on land, sea, air and even in space!

The Escape Armour with Red Shadow figure looks amazing! Do you have that one?

Also like the look of the Space Force line up. And brilliant you got to meet Bob Brechin

Space Force do have a great retro Sci-Fi vibe

Sky Raider, Commander of Space Force, demonstrates the Space Force Battle Gear pack:




Apart from the obvious heavy reliance on G.I.Joe accessories these set Battle Gear packs all include one of Palitoys' Star Wars style figure stands..