HISTORY of ACTION MAN 

Please draw any perceived inaccuracies to my attention. I am in no way pretending to be an expert on the subject. Also please note that this history is incomplete at the moment.

1964 - GI Joe is introduced in the USA.

1966 - Following GI Joe's huge popularity in the USA he is introduced in the UK as Action Man (by Palitoy).
           An Action Soldier, Sailor and Pilot are available with some accesorry kits.
           These are essentially identical  to their American counterparts.

1968 - The Talking Action Commander is introduced. He gives eight random commands.
           An Action Man Sportsman is also introduced. Kits include Footballers, Cricketer and an Olympian.
           The Sports range lasts for five years.

1970 - Action Man gets realistic flocked hair and now beards in brown and blonde.
           Adventurers with beards are introduced as boxed figures.

1973 - Gripping hands are introduced.
           These hands are quite fragile and a thimble is provided to go over the hands whilst dressing the figure..

1976 - Eagle Eyes are introduced in blue only.
           Atomic Man, Tom Stone (a black commando), Bullet Man and the Intruder are introduced. 

1979 - A new body type - the first since Action Man's inception. A more muscular sculpt with blue underpants.
           New stronger gripping hands also introduced.
           Action Man now comes with a sharpshooter head position allowing shooting poses to be more realistic.
           Talking Space Commander introduced giving six random commands.
           Talking Commander now gives five random commands.

1980 - Captain Zargon the Space Pirate and ROM the Robot introduced.

1984 - Action Man is discontinued.

1993 - 12 Action Man figures are introduced to the non-USA market.
           Their subsequent popularity ensures that Action Man returns in 1994.

More information on the Action Man range from 1994 onwards can be found at www.actionman.com

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