More Action Force revival news

Last year I posted about both an official and unofficial revival of Action Force, with figures released in homage to my favourite toy line of the 1980s. This week I received three fresh new figures created by Black Major Nation, an independent toy manufacturer named after one of the villains of the original toy line. 

The figures are another version of Red Jackal, a Cobra style trooper in a Red Shadows style uniform and a Cobra Eel Trooper from the classic G.I.Joe line but done in the colour scheme of a Kraken from vintage Action Force.

Red Jackal is basically a repaint of "Destro", one of the key members of Cobra, the terrorist organisation that fought against G.I.Joe. Back in the 1980s, Destro had a repaint and was released as Red Jackal in the UK. This makes the toy very collectible now for American collectors who have all the G.I.Joe figures released in America. 

Unlike the Red Jackal I blogged about last year, this one is a multi-jointed "o-ring" figure, like the original one in the 80s. (It's called an o-ring figure because the legs are attached to the rest of the body using a rubber band inside the figure - that's the O.)

Red Jackal comes with two alternate heads - one would turn him into Red Laser and the other is a Cobra Commander hooded head with an anachronistic AF Enemy logo on his hood.

The Cobra Trooper is OK. It would fit in with some Enemy troops fine. 

The Kraken Eel is, well, crackin'. The colour scheme is perfect. 

I really like this figure although the accessories are a little bit fiddly. They don't fit together very securely and the peg on the back-pack is quite loose in the hole in the figures back where it's meant to attach. As a display piece it's great; as a play figure, bits would quickly get lost. 

Shortly after I blogged about the figures last year I acquired some figures from a different independent manufacturer, Lady Jaye Toys. They released some "Shadow Troopers" in a variety of weird colour schemes. I decided to just get the classic Red Shadows they released in tribute to the original range. 

Again, these are o-ring figures. They come with two different weapons - a reproduction of the bazooka that was shipped with the vintage figures, and a machine gun. 

If I had one criticism of these figures, it's that the heads are two small when compared with the vintage figures. However, they come with optional different heads, including one to create a Black Major if you want one.

I have acquired a few vintage Action Force items recently as well, so will share those on the blog at some point. 

Trying something new - an unboxing video

Watch me unwrap and open a Disney Doorables Death Star on the tube of you! (I was looking for an "ultra rare" figure of Boba Fett.)

Book of the Month: More News As It's Made

Last month I blogged about the small community of Action Force fans keeping the toy line alive with new figures and custom toys. David Gillis is one of the leading Action Force customisers and his creative customs show just what Action Force could have been if commercial pressures hadn't crushed the original toy line into the GI Joe mould. 

David also has a good eye for photos, and this coffee table book of his Action Force photography was on my radar for a while. A 'black Friday' deal finally convinced me to order myself a copy. And I'm very glad I did.

Briefly, the book is gorgeous. Beautifully laid out to show off the photos, with a mix of scenario-building and real-life details for a lot of the photos. David's love for Action Force really shines through each picture and snippet of backstory.

Presented as photos from the files of the Action Force Photogtaphic Unit (AFPU), the book is split into sections for the four elements of Action Force and then a section on the Enemy led by the evil Baron Ironblood. 

Q-force is the naval and aquatic arm of Action Force. 

At one point in tbe book, David describes Q-Force as "underrated", which I would agree with. The figures still pop up regularly 'on card' and seem easier to find than other parts of Action Force, although Space Force runs them close. 

I've included pictures of two custom vehicles because they are both developed from Star Wars "mini-rigs". Around about the time The Empire Strikes Back was released, Kenner produced some small one figure toys that didn't feature in the films. They were in the pocket-money range for kids, unlike other Star Wars vehicles.

I love how David has taken these vehicles and repurposed them for Space Force.

The more popular parts of Action Force were the SAS Force and the infantry Z-Force. I have a feeling neither would be used on toys now - SAS has probably been copyrighted by the Army, and "Z" has become a Russian propaganda symbol used to express support for the invasion of Ukraine. 

But back in the 80s, Z-force were the good guys.

Stories featuring good guys also have to have bad guys and the ultimate bad guy challenging Action Force was Baron Ironblood who commanded an army of brainwashed soldiers known as the Red Shadows. 

David has created some new characters who have also sworn allegiance to the Baron, but most of the Enemy photos feature the original Red Shadows and Muton robots in various scenes. 

Overall, I think this book would be interesting enough for people who don't have a nostalgic connection to Action Force. The photo work is excellent and the write ups add some great little details to the pictures. 

More News As It's Made is available from Total Toy Books.

Keeping Action Force alive

I have to admit that when I was a kid I liked my Star Wars figures, but I loved my Action Force toys. It's an almost forgotten toy-line now but there is a small committed community of collectors and hobbyists keeping it alive.

In fact, there is enough interest in this quirky British toyline that even some big companies are paying a nostalgic nod to it. I blogged almost two years ago about how Reaction had resurrected Red Laser. Since then, they have also released Red Jackal - who was a repaint of the GI Joe character Destro in the original Action Force line in the 1980s. 

Naturally, I acquired a Red Jackal when he came out.

But then recently, I decided to buy two figures made by a guy called Matt who has a charming little sideline in 3D printed figures. He has reproduced a figure called Skeletron, that was the mailaway bonus figure in the final wave of the original Action Force. Kids could save up proofs of purchase and send off for a freebie figure - in this case a robotised skeleton. 

Matt has also created his own "what could have been" figure of a Kraken Kommander. The Krakens were produced in the last wave of Action Force - the story goes they were thawed after being frozen for millennia and then cloned by the evil Baron Ironblood who used them to fight Q-Force, the naval branch of Action Force.

The figures are great quality. I picked a robotic silver Skeletron from the available options. It comes with a bonus replacement head and a gun that looks a bit like an 80s Star Wars weapon. 

Kraken Kommander comes with a couple of accessories too. I love the sculpt of his face. He oozes the supreme self confidence and superiority that the sculpts of the original Kraken figures had.

The arm details are excellent too. Even down to the printed logo and the scales on his forearms.

Both figures come with "file cards" - these replicate the ones that could be cut out from the back of Action Force figures. There isn't room for a filecard on the packaging here so it was a nice touch to include them.

I'm looking forward to digging out my original figures to compare with the new recruits!

You might not be looking for your perfect Pokemon pal...

...but sooner or later they find you.

Everybody, meet Lechonk!

Toys R Us R Back (sort of)

Toys R Us went bust a few years ago now - so long ago the former store was used as a mass vaccination centre (Jabs R Us) during the pandemic. 

But now it's back, resurrected by WH Smith and relaunched with a flurry of branding.

It had a clearly demarcated section in the branch of WH Smith where I first saw the Toys R Us sign.

And the company has gone all in on the branding, bringing Geoffrey the giraffe back to life in a variety of toys and other merch.

I appreciate how WH Smith have leaned into the branding, including this timeline of former iterations of Geoffrey that ends with him arriving in WH Smiths. 

This feels like more than the reappearance of a 'zombie brand'. There's been some investment in the launch.

And in the store where I first saw the Toys R Us comeback, there was even a photo opportunity with Geoffrey.

He looked rather relaxed about his return.

Facing a childhood fear in the Moomin Shop

I had a trip to London last week and it included a brief visit to the Moomin Shop. In among the delightful toys I encountered a literary character that scared me hugely when I read the Moomin books as a kid. 

The entrance has loads of Moomin artwork.

And the shelves inside were laden with delightful toys. 

And some lovely books

At the bottom of the bookshelves is a basket of Grokes. Now the Groke wasn't the character that scared me (when I read Moominland Midwinter). If anything it made me sad. The Groke was always cold and just wanted to be warm, which is why it was drawn to bonfires and would sit on them - which put them out. 

(Years ago I did a 'Which Moomin character are you?' quiz and apparently I am a Groke.)

No, the characters that terrified me were...

... the Hattifatteners. 

I was talking to my Mum about them later and realised the Hattifatteners were the first characters that scared me. I'd read the Narnia books and wasn't particularly scared by the White Witch and I can't remember ever being scared of any other book characters.

But the Hattifatteners were creepy and weird. They were quiet and could give electric shocks. They had their own mysterious purposes and seemed dangerous somehow, because they were indifferent about harming other creatures. 

I had a faint 'brrr' shudder of revulsion when I saw the cuddly Hattifattener. I wasn't expecting that reaction. Some childhood scars stay tender. 

And, yes, I bought a Groke. I could just about squeeze it into my case

The unexpected return of Red Laser

My latest action figure acquisition is a brand new G.I. Joe figure issued in the Super 7 Reaction range of... Red Laser. 

But this is no ordinary member of Cobra, the villainous terrorist organisation locked in conflict with the G.I. Joe heroes. Because Red Laser was never a member of Cobra. 

Red Laser first appeared as a character in the British Action Force toyline produced by Palitoy from 1982 to 1985. He was the technical genius working for the evil Baron Ironblood who, in the British storyline, functioned as the overall commander of the forces known only as the Enemy. 

Baron Ironblood gets name-checked in the data file on the back of the card...

So what is going here? Why has this character been released as a G.I. Joe figure some 40 years later?

Well, back in the early 80s, Palitoy became a subsidiary of Hasbro. In addition to figures, vehicles and playsets designed in the UK, it also had access to Hasbro's production lines in other parts of the world. 

Several G.I Joe vehicles and accessories ended up in different livery as Action Force vehicles. Some swapped sides - the Cobra FANG helicopter became an SAS attack helicopter, for example. Other vehicles received a slight tweak. 

And some of those vehicles came with fully articulated figures. Most Action Force figures came with straight arms and legs. G.I. Joe figures had knee and elbow joints along with twisting waists. The Action Force articulated figures were some of those G.I. Joe figures produced in different coloured plastic. 

As you can imagine, when people started collecting G.I. Joe figures, American collectors were suddenly very interested in these weird yet familiar looking characters that had been sold in the UK and Europe. Red Laser, in particular, was a red version of the Cobra Commander figure. Original Red Laser figures are now quite pricey!

The original Action Force figures and vehicles that Palitoy developed were unceremoniously dumped in 1985 with "Action Force" becoming the European name for G.I. Joe and the full range of G.I. Joe characters replacing the British-designed figures. The Enemy was replaced by Cobra and Baron Ironblood disappeared - although there was a story in the Action Force comic strip that Ironblood reinvented himself as Cobra Commander.

Hasbro has given a couple of nods to the original British toy line in recent years but this is the first time any of those characters have been released outside conventions and other exclusives.

The Super 7 toy company produces a number of "retro style" action figures under its Reaction brand. Recently Super 7 have been licensing toy lines from several different places. I'm not sure what their relationship is with Hasbro but they have acquired the rights to create some retro looking figures based on established G.I. Joe characters.

And, technically, Hasbro own the rights to all the old Action Force characters as well. In a delicious recreating of the past, Super 7 has used a different colour plastic in its mould for their Cobra Commander figure!

And in a twist, this time Red Laser is as straight-armed and straight-legged as many of the original Action Force figures he fought alongside and against. 

And who knows? Maybe Red Laser's unexpected return could even herald the return of the evil Baron Ironblood himself one day!