Uniform help

Finding VAM in the states is virtually impossible. I was able to get one VAM talker from a US seller,
a few years ago. But the rest of what I have is from the UK. A few years ago, before shipping costs
became outrageous. I have an Action Man Mike Powers (since I've been out of the hobby for a few
years I'm not exactly sure where I've stored him) but I came up with the four VAM's I have. Since
I don't know a lot about VAM, I'm hoping you chaps can help me out. This particular figure has a
kit that I bought a few years ago. I think it may be a later issue, since the fabric is sort of thin and
the webbing is made of a pliable plastic. Not really rubber, but very pliable. Since he has been in
storage a pouch on his right side has broken loose, and I think his head is about to fall off (I've done
a repair on a loose muscle body before) but I'm wondering...

Is this a complete kit, or a mixture? It appears the FLN rifle is later issue, the pegs that hold the
plastic strap are broken off.

I would greatly appreciate any insight. I don't know a lot about VAM, so I'm hoping you can help
me out. The uniform also came with three grenades, which are at his feet. And the boots are high
above the laces and marked Hong Kong. In Joe circles, boots that are high above the laces are a
sign of knockoffs.

As far as I can tell, his hands are original. If so, Palitoy made better hands than Hasbro. I don't
think there is an example of Hasbro's "kung fu grip" that is still in at least decent shape. These
hands are still in very good shape.

Daryl

Hey Daryl, nice figure. I must point out that I think (I am not 100%) that he is a mix of quarter master kits. They were single items that could be brought off a card. As I said, I could be wrong. The thinner uniforms are indeed a sign of later issue as is the plastic webbing. I am not 100% sure about the boots as again some later parts were made in Hong Kong.
His hands are indeed the re-designed am grippers that were made for the Eagle Eyes figure, and yeah they are different from the Joe version.
The head is an easy-ish repair but fiddly. Ideally what you want is some 2mm bungie cord, Pop his head off the body then remove the inner post from the body. Cut out the old plastic/rubber cord out. Then you can then loop the cord around the inner peg in the chest and then up through the inner head post. Adjust to ideal tightness. Do not open the vam body unless it's a talker with screws in his back, as getting these guys to glue back together is near impossible . I hope you find this helpful?

Hello Daryl,

The figure is what we call a "blue pant" body.
As Blondeactionman said he is either a talker (screws in the back) or not.
Look if he as an Adam's apple.  If he hasn't he is from 1979-1980.  If he has an Adam's apple, he is from 1981-1984.  If he has an Adam's apple, he has what we call a "sharpshooter head".

Indeed these hands are the longest lasting hands produced.

Fixing the head is one of the easiest fix in the hobby.
Have a look here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2W2XL2gCqg

As far as the outfit is concerned, it is an attempt for a British Infantryman Last Issue :(http://www.actionmanhq.co.uk/figures/british-infantryman-modern/index.php) or a
Royal Marines Combat Last issue : (http://www.actionmanhq.co.uk/figures/royal-marines/index.php).

Look if he is tagged Palitoy Action Man in the collar.
Yours doesn't seem to have gold buttons on the pockets (jacket and trousers) so they aren't Royal Marines.
Yours doesn't seem to have pockets on trousers and not enough on jacket so they aren't probably British Infantryman.
If no tag, no pockets, no buttons, I think of another brand.

The webbing seems to be the proper one.
Grenades and SLR look good to me as far as I can see.  (Last Issue SLR had very large pins to attach strap and are thus less broken than second issue ones).

I don't remember a quartermaster card with this uniform, but I'm not going to bet on that.

Wow! Didier, you really know your Action Man history! And you clearly explain what to look for to help identify figures and accessories! Thank you for sharing your expertise!

Hey Dal,

Thanks! He is in good condition. I know about re-attaching heads with elastic, I've done so with
a Joe muscle body. And yes, it is a fiddly fix. This is not a talker body.

The boots go above the laces, and at the very top of the boots it says Hong Kong.

I bought this uniform set complete from a UK seller some  years back. From what you are telling
me is that this is not a complete kit, but separate carded items? That someone has picked up
the separate components and put together their own uniform set?

Daryl

Hi Didier,

The outfit doesn't have any buttons. The snaps have been re-sewn. But their is a Palitoy tag in the shirt.
The shirt has two pocket flaps, none on the pants.

I once read about the sharpshooter heads. This figure doesn't have an Adam's Apple, but it does have a
tab at the top front of the neckpost to hold the head up for a prone position. He is not a talker body.

And upon closer inspection, this head has already been re-attached with elastic. It's just a bit loose.

The rifle has what looks like the rings for an elastic strap that have broken off. The spots are small.
I know the later weapons had a plastic strap that hooked on to large tabs.

But I'm guessing that this was not a complete set, but put together with carded items to make a set?

Daryl

TNshooter wrote:

Hey Dal,

Thanks! He is in good condition. I know about re-attaching heads with elastic, I've done so with
a Joe muscle body. And yes, it is a fiddly fix. This is not a talker body.

The boots go above the laces, and at the very top of the boots it says Hong Kong.

I bought this uniform set complete from a UK seller some  years back. From what you are telling
me is that this is not a complete kit, but separate carded items? That someone has picked up
the separate components and put together their own uniform set?

Daryl

I think D is correct in that is probably an infantry man, like he said, if it was a royal marine he would have the brass buttons on the jacket and the pockets on the trousers. I am pretty sure you could get a quarter master set that could be made up of these items, so I can't really say in all honesty now if it's a full or carded set. As for the boots having Hong Kong above the laces, I am completely stumped, I have never seen any! They do say you learn something new every day . Sorry I can't be of anymore help.

TNshooter wrote:

The boots go above the laces, and at the very top of the boots it says Hong Kong.

I have never seen Action Man boots with an "Hong Kong" tag at the top of the boots.
I don't even remember right now if any Action Man boots are tagged "Hong Kong" underneath.
You probably have knock off boots.

TNshooter wrote:

This figure doesn't have an Adam's Apple, but it does have a tab at the top front of the neckpost to hold the head up for a prone position.

That sounds like a sharpshooter figure.  I'll do pics so we understand each other.  1 pic is worth 100 words.

TNshooter wrote:

The rifle has what looks like the rings for an elastic strap that have broken off.

With an elastic strap, that is obviously a first issue SLR so your figure is a custom equipped with items out of a sparebox.
This is in no way pejorative, some customs are just brilliants.

Blondeactionman wrote:

I am pretty sure you could get a quarter master

This is correct : I have checked in Alan Hall's volume 2 page 105.
On top of the (crap) picture, there is a carded outfit from the "Equipment centre" cards that is called "Jungle Camouflage Jacket and Trousers".
It looks (as far as one can see) a possible match with your uniform.

My picture isn't great.
From what I can see in the book directly, it really looks like a thin tissue camo like yours.



1979-1980 Blue Pant on the left
1981-1984 Sharpshooter Blue Pant on the right. It is what I call an Adam's apple.

Thank you Dal, for your input.

Didier,

I'm sure you are right on the boots. In the GI Joe world, it is said that any boots that go above
the laces are knock-offs.

This photo shows where the Hong Kong label is (in a red circle) on the boot, and where Joe
boots end above the laces on the right.






The second photo shows where the rifle straps should be attached. I have a later version rifle with the
plastic strap, so I know that those tabs when broken off would leave a larger spot. These spots would
seem to indicate the rifle had a ring for an elastic strap.



From your photo (thank you by the way!) shows that my figure does have the Adam's Apple. It has
the tab at the top front of the neckpost. Upon further inspection, I can see that the head has already
been repaired with elastic, but whoever did it, didn't get it tight enough. Figure and uniform were
purchased separately and not from the same seller.

The helmet has a couple of small melt marks, a chin strap that is green and pretty well dry rotted,
but it has no markings. Do the Palitoy helmets have company markings?

Back in the early 1990's, Cotswold was selling an equipment set that they said were believed to be
Action man items. I got one. It has brown and white rifles (you have called them SLR's, I was under
the impression they were called FLN's) that have tabs that hold the plastic strap. The paint work on
them is pretty sloppy. I don't know if they were that way from the factory, or if someone at Cotswold
decided to make unpainted rifles look more like the original. It's almost as if a four-year-old painted
them.

Since the plastic webgear is basically breaking down, I'm thinking of getting him a regular belt.

Thank you so much Didier! I greatly appreciate your knowledge of Vintage Action man. I have one
or two more uniform sets I have picked up that I will post later, with the same question. Complete
set or kitbash? I have one or two uniforms I got from ebay sellers in the UK.

I guess it seems this figure was put together from parts. That's okay, now I know!

Thanks again mates!

Daryl

About your SLR, it is always difficult to tell from a broken piece, but it looks to me it had a plastic strap, but the fragile issue.
The third one from the top on Rob Wisdom's picture below :


About the other SLR you mention, badly painted, I would need to see it, but the painting on Pedigree Tommy Gunn SLR is different and "thicker" than Action Man's ones.

The one above is Tommy Gunn, the one below is Action Man :
(as far as I remember picture is from Signalman)

In this picture, only the one below is genuine Pedigree Tommy Gunn :

Thanks Didier!

The tabs for the plastic strap are smaller than I remembered. I checked mine and it
seems to be Action Man due to the close up photo of the detail of the rifle.
As well as the next uniform I plan to ask about. It still has the actual front peg.

I need to dig and find the bag of parts I got from Cotswold, in order to photograph
them to show you what they look like. They sold them saying they were "believed"
to be Action Man. They were found in a warehouse.

No comment on the boots, so I'm thinking they are definitely knock-offs.

But I'm curious about the helmet? There are no markings on it. Vintage Joe helmets
said Hasbro inside. Did Palitoy not have their name in the helmets?

Thanks!!!

Daryl

I stumbled upon a three part series on youtube, marked as a documentary of Action Man.

The third part of the series shows this uniform for a few seconds, as a late issue, and called
it a second version of...it was kind of spoken fast, but it sounded like a wolverine (?) uniform.
But it showed exactly this set, clothing, web gear and rifle, but not the helmet. It instead had
a blue beret.

But otherwise it was the complete set I have pictured. Although the image didn't show the boots.

From that film it would seem that other than the headgear, what I have is a complete uniform.

Although the web gear I have is basically in tatters. The image they showed had the web gear
intact. But the few seconds that showed it, I immediately recognized it as the uniform I have.

Daryl