Palitoy developed from a plastics firm, established by Alfred Edward Pallett in 1909 and became one of Britain's leading toy manufacturers, until its closure in 1984.

A list was passed around the company (as remembered by Stuart Moore, designer of the successful Tiny Tears) for people to cast their preference.

[citation needed] In the early years, Action Man competed with the entirely British Tommy Gunn by Pedigree Toys who were the producers of the Sindy doll.

Regardless, Tommy Gunn was generally regarded as a higher quality in terms of equipment and accuracy of accessories, especially since the Action Man of the 1960s was little more than a re-packaged G.I.

[citation needed] Action Man was developed with primarily British themes from 1970 onwards: military, adventurers, and sportsman, as Palitoy wanted to distinguish their product line from the U.S. counterpart.

One outfit was only available through the Action Man stars scheme; the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (and accompanying mastiff dog).

[citation needed] A tie-in Action Man animated series was produced but was only available on video in the UK, because of broadcast rules about advertising to children: a toy could follow a TV production but not the other way around.

[8] The original 1964 Action Man had a moulded vinyl painted head (which sometimes shrank and became harder, as with Hasbro's figures), with a livid scar on the cheek registered as a trademark, identical to G.I.

The hands were always an element of frustration, as observed by (Bill) William A.G. Pugh during setups for the annual toy fairs;[9] he found it was hard to get them to really hold any of the accessories securely.

The early (pre 1978) vinyl is prone to breakdown as with the G I Joe version; the deterioration of 73–77 flex hands includes hardening of the outer layers, cracks, discolouration, fingers breaking off and sometimes shrivelling.

[13] Dracon Limited, whose promotional items included a flocked car, provided the basis for the electrostatic process that would give Action Man his new look.

[15] The next major shift in marketing of the doll occurred with the introduction of an improved head with "Eagle Eyes" in 1976, which had been invented by George W. Ptaszek and James A.

For Action Man, the head was only available in brown and blonde hair and only blue eyes, with bearded versions of each, GI Joe also had red flocking.

From 1970 on, Palitoy devised their own design, made of hard plastic with "bullet holes" passing through the logo, and cast in grey or green, which was used until the 1980s.

[citation needed] All original Action Man uniforms were tagged inside the neck collar; the early issue even had the bullet holes of the box logo.

"Tom Stone" was a repackaged African-ethnic Hasbro Muscle Body Action Adventurer, Palitoy never produced any of the ethnic figures in the line themselves.

Both Bullet Man and Tom Stone utilized the body Hasbro patented: "Posable figure having one piece connector for torso, legs".

Prototype tooling using the hot-runner system was organised by Alec Langton to prove the manufacturing and design, as well as provide sales samples and product for toy fairs.

A construction based on snap-together components (known as the "skeleton") covered by an outer moulding (the "muscles") was devised for the arms and legs which were assembled by hand (no jigs and fixtures needed).

The assembled limbs were held in a two-part torso ("clam shell" design) which was sonic welded together (the only mechanical process involved).

A new marketing feature was required and in 1980 a notch was added to the neck (like an Adam's Apple) to allow the head to be held back in a "sharpshooter" pose.

The Dynamic Physique Talker introduced in 1978 had only five commands: "Enemy Tanks Approaching", "Give Me Some Cover", "Send Out The Patrol", "What's the password" and "Advance in Single File".

Action Man "Soldier" figure appeared in 1966 using the Hasbro GI Joe box graphics and US army outfit.

One Space Ranger produced by Palitoy was only sold in the European market under the "Group Action Joe" licensee as Captain Cosmos.

Joe, during the 1960s, Action Man had a wooden footlocker (Kit locker box) with a plastic tray insert to store his accessories in.

These sets included an "intelligence manual" that covered all the available offerings in the lineup, and pages on light and heavy weapons, officer rank insignia, and morse code.

The standard boxed soldier from 1973 onwards was outfitted with the then current "NATO" pullover, khaki lightweight trousers, short boots, scarf, black beret, and SLR rifle typical of the British Army barracks wear of the time.

[24] With 1960s and early 1970s variations, often they were die-cast instead of plastic, the uniforms themselves were of heavy cotton and chevrons were typically embroidered and sewn on, rather than paper decals.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, his dog, and various outfits were available over the life of the program, which continued till the end of Action Man's production in 1984.

Among the larger accessories produced for Action Man were versions, not to true 1/6 scale, of current British Army equipment: the Scorpion tank which is the exception in being very true to scale, Spartan armoured personnel carrier, Ferret armoured car, the 105 mm Light Gun, Airportable Land Rover and trailer.