When Leicestershire-based Palitoy introduced Action Man – basically a doll for boys – in 1966, it may have seemed revolutionary, but Hasbro had already been very successful in the US with its GI Joe. For the Brits, GI Joe was simply given a new name and remanufactured by Palitoy under licence. Action Man, however, quickly developed its own identity, appearing as a soldier, sailor, pilot or diver and equally happy as a British infantryman, German Stormtrooper or French Resistance fighter!
In the 1969 catalogue, Action Man was issued with his first vehicles: an Armoured Car, Personnel Carrier and Military Jeep. Designed for a hard life, the Jeep was a robust single-piece item in blow-moulded plastic, with wheels, steering wheel and folding windscreen the only separate fittings. It was followed in ’73 by a military ‘Lightweight’ Land Rover, then moulded in hard plastic and with more small components for greater realism, which, of course, made it more fragile.