Action Force Red Shadows

A look at some of the UK Action Force toys of the 80s and a brief history of the evolution from Action Force to G.I. Joe.

[@BlowersJason]

Nice video, I got a bunch of Red Shadows I bought recently. Action Force is one of my favourite toy line. I live in Canada, and am more into collecting Action Force figures than the G.I. Joe's. cheers.

[@georgeaitken2719]

Got the complete set of these including the roboskull

[@mattleuty5285]

Hello Geaorge

[@TheLizardmonkey]

Anyway, nice video but you need to get a Roboskull - the one insanely cool vehicle the UK got and US didn't! ;)

[@peppermintspacecapsule9898]

Cheap plastic? That's weird, 39 years later and all my Palitoy ACTION FORCE figures are still intact, (they're indestructible!), but most of my JOES are in bits, sadly. Yes, the SHADOWTRAK was a Palitoy original, developed from one of the "goodie" vehicles, the AF5. The original AF5 had loads of accessories, including pop-out wings, and an inflatable ring for bathtime play! It was also developed into the COSMIC CRUISER too. 👍

[@liveanadventure429]

I’ve just started to collect the action force, but I only want to collect the early action force, from 82-84 not the gi joe looking ones

[@peppermintspacecapsule9898]

@@liveanadventure429 - Hello, Richard! There's a great resource site called *Blood for the Baron* dot com that you might like to check out! They've archived every action figure and vehicle/playset that Palitoy released in the original Action Force line. All of the first wave figures from late 1981 / early '82 which were literally "Action Man in Miniature" are covered in depth. Onwards then to 1983, when new individual characters and teams were introduced. Although some of the vehicles had been designed alongside the original figures, Palitoy also imported a few vehicles from Hasbro, and these were more suited to bendier figures, so a small handful of GI Joes were given new identities and colourways, and were packed-in with a few of the playsets. The range expanded even further in 1984, but by 1985, Alfred Pallet had died and Palitoy was sold to one of Hasbro's sister-companies. The 1985 range consisted entirely of GI Joes, and the original Action Force figures went out of production. By 1986, Palitoy's Action Force was gone, and in 1987, Hasbro's Action Force debuted across the UK and Europe instead, eventually switching to the name GI Joe in 1991... but *all* of the Palitoy originals from late '81 to '85 are covered on the site. Enjoy! 👍

[@liveanadventure429]

@@peppermintspacecapsule9898 cheers I’ll check it out, I really like the look of the original action force figures, I’m not too keen on the gi joe looking figures, I’ve got 3 so far but the 3rd hasn’t arrived, that’s the commando figure, I’ve also got the W force sonar

[@liveanadventure429]

@@peppermintspacecapsule9898 sorry that should be the q force sonar guy and baron iron blood, all 3 are complete and in very good condition, from looking at eBay there’s quite a few I have seen at car-boots and jumble sales, my cousin was given a couple in a bundle of old 80s toys from a neighbour back in the early 90s I think my favourite figures I’ve seen, I love the space pilot and space force commander, I love the medic and minesweeper, I like mission pilot and the Arctic assault figure too

[@peppermintspacecapsule9898]

@@liveanadventure429 - It looks like you're off to a fine start! I bought my Space Commander in the UK, but he had "WATT" across his chest and I didn't know what it meant. Years later, I found out that the WATT, TSATT, ATT etc. etc. figures were intended for the German market. Guess I got lucky! With the figures you've got, you might notice that Palitoy saved a lot of money by reusing heads, torsos, limbs, and various colourways to mix-&-match parts in order to create new characters. The early figures used the same facial sculpt too, because the 1982 wave (before individual characters were introduced) were all supposed to be Action Man in different incarnations. The minesweeper is a highly sought after figure. He's a Palitoy sculpt, but his detector came from GI Joe! Anyway, welcome to the fun! "Blood for the Baron!" and "Full Force!"

[@lostonwallace1396]

I've just gotten into the Red Shadow stuff. I really enjoy these figures, but I wish that they had made more. I have Baron Ironblood, Red Jackal, Kraken, Skeletron, Roboskull Pilot, Red Vulture troopers, Muton, and Black Major. I think I'm only missing the Red Laser figure. I also have some modern black major Red Shadow figures, the Shadowtrak, and even an unopened Muton figure, but I don't have the Roboskull, which looks amazing!

[@1022wil]

yeah i would like to get some of these UK figures but these days they ain't cheap. they would be a nice add on to my gi joe collection.. kids over there must have been lovin these Action Force figures just like we did for the joe's... nice review and subbed too

[@TheLizardmonkey]

Palitoy were manufacturing in the UK. The factory was a wonderland with an art department all it's own, hence different sticker/decal designs. Sadly, Palitoy shut completely in 1988.

[@devtank]

Pre-computers and internet, the Red Shadows and Action Force were my world. In the current state of world politics, I think the Red Shadows could make a very real comeback from the swamps of south America! Dun dun Duuuuun!

[@badhead]

I really liked the cocmic strip where the red shadows and the cobras had a war and destro kept changing sides

[@markorollo.]

had star wars and these when i was a kid

[@andymort4857]

Your Hyena's cannons stay up -- very jealous!

[@doreenbrown5210]

I like the red shadows very expensive to buy. I doubt they will have any story's about them since baron iron blood became cobra commander and red jackal became destro maybe they'll do a prequel gijoe with action force before he becomes cobra commander.

[@liammoss4040]

"Brief history of the evolution from Action Force to G.I. Joe" whooo boy that's a story.

[@1022wil]

are there more youtubers out that do reviews on the Action Force toy line i want to know more about them ?

[@1022wil]

and also other foreign versions like the Chinese,India,Brazilian and so on it seems many country had there own gi joe versions too

[@JurassicRod]

Hey, sorry I didn't reply sooner but I can't access this channel anymore since google took over so I had to make a new one. Actionjackman has some good videos on Action Force. Looking back on this video, I wish I'd had a better camera at the time!

[@1022wil]

that's cool here in the U.S.A the Action Force toy line are hard to find

[@hanzohattori2492]

@@1022wil that's because they were never OFFICALY available in the u.s.....Hasbro and palitoy had an agreement that they wouldn't sell in each other's markets so here in Europe gi Joe were hard to find back in the day were as action force were easy to get.

[@aggiehoskinssilviamctaggar2180]

Can you do the Action Force SAS next

[@CosmoShidan]

The vehicle with the foldout chair looks like a boat. So, can it float?

[@georgeaitken2719]

The shadowtrak couldn’t float the water would get in through the metal rods that held the wheels on

[@TheLizardmonkey]

PALITOY!!!