1983: ACTION MAN TOY ADVERT

From 1983: a Palitoy ACTION MAN promotion, as published in EAGLE.

I was never much of an AM fan (indeed, I never owned one) but this must have marked the dying days of the big-doll-for-boys.  He was being out-maneuvered on the toy shop front line by two other Palitoy products: STAR WARS and Action Man spin-off ACTION FORCE.  The line was shuttered the following year as part of a General Mills (yup, the food people also did toys) restructure which saw Palitoy as surplus to requirements.

It's interesting to note that the 'space' and SAS figures are front-and-centre, reflecting the ongoing interest in science fiction as the Star Age continued and the popularity of the SAS in British pop culture (see also: ace action movie WHO DARES WINS) following the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege in West London.

SAS FORCE, along with traditional land army Z-FORCE, were also the major players in ACTION FORCE, particularly in the pages of BATTLE ACTION FORCE.  The more 'out there' Q-FORCE and obligatory SPACE FORCE were only drafted in when Palitoy's marketing and sales departments had some products to shift.

1984: ACTION MAN STICKER ALBUM House Ad (BATTLE ACTION FORCE and EAGLE)

From 1984: An IPC House Ad for impending freebie ACTION MAN STICKER ALBUM (plus starter stickers), the tried-and-tested giveaway in the following week's EAGLE and BATTLE ACTION FORCE.

By the time the album came out, my loyalties were aligned to ACTION FORCE (the man's successor) so this seemed something of a throwback.  I never collected the stickers... and I've never met anyone else who did. 

1980: ACTION MAN ADVERT featuring ROM THE SPACE KNIGHT (Palitoy)

Here's an August 1980 ACTION MAN advert (reprinted from BATTLE ACTION) promoting erstwhile Space Knight ROM's inclusion in the UK equivalent of the G.I. JOE toy line.

But... good luck spotting him.  The purpose of the advert was - beyond flogging the toys - to promote a drawing competition to design a suitably bizarre alien creature (note: they have to be a "space enemy", no friendly monsters here!) for the suddenly space-bound Action Man (this was post-STAR WARS... and sales of the old soldier were falling fast) to have a close encounter with.  So, it makes sense that Ron Smith's extra-terrestrial beastie should be centre stage.  But Rom, despite being "our only hope", is barely visible (someone - probably belatedly - obviously spotted this and added his name to his back pack). 

I imagine Action Man manufacturer Palitoy did a deal with Parker Brothers to import a warehouse full of unsold Rom toys and - rather than sell them as a standalone item - bundled him into the Action Man line to hastily bolster its SF credentials.

All this was happening whilst Marvel UK was merrily reprinting the US ROM strips (in FORCES IN COMBAT, FUTURE TENSE and - latterly - STAR WARS) with a completely different continuity.  Copies of the original US books were also appearing in British newsagents, as part of the monthly consignment of imported US Marvels.