September Interview - actiongary

Thanks to actiongary for taking part in this months interview.

Name ? - Action Gary

Online Name ?- Gary

Location ?  - In front of my computer in the UK (South Yorkshire)

First Vam/Joe/Mam or 1/6 figure - A blonde painted VAM that my dad found on a building site. He was a bit battered and worn and was wearing the remains of a black frogman suit (the action man, not my dad).

What was your favourite figure as a kid, and do you still own him? - Sadly I don't own any of my original action men. I still have a few grubby uniforms and some broken guns. Fortunately I do still have my Cherilea german bike with side car.

Favourite figure now ? - I have three ore four figures that I would say are my favourite, One of my favourites is a black painted head talker that wears his default green commander uniform.

Most desired item ? The german armoured car. I think it was the last VAM vehicle that was made. My german tank commander would look great in one of them.

What will you do with your collection as you get older ? - Not sure, it just sits on my book shelves in my study because thats the only place I can  put them
(I had to put all my books in the attic Smile ).

What does your wife/girlfriend/partner think of your collection/hobby? - She tolerates them (she doesn't have much choice).

Do you set yourself a budget ? - What ever I can afford which doesn't tend to be much. I often but damaged items that don't get too many bids and fix them up.

Worst Vam/Joe/Mam or 1/6 figure ? - The Intruder (or Gorgan or Rom ) What was Palitoy thinking?

Views on 40th reproductions ? - I thought the 40th range was a great idea (and a big gamble by Alan Hall who put a lot of his own money into that venture).
I was able to buy uniforms in mint condition with their original packaging, some of which I thought I could never be able to own.
I remembered when I bought the 40th ceremonial guard. I waited till I was on my own in the house and I opened it. Memories I had forgotten of a christmas long ago came flooding back.

Worst item of the Vam/Joe/Mam or 1/6 range ? - I didn't like the fact that the gripping hands of the Fix eyed action men tended to dry up and become brittle. I wrote to Palitoy when I was about 8 and asked them if the could make the hands with a better type of rubber. About two weeks later I got a envelope with a spare pair of gripping hands in it (no letter just the hands) I was thrilled.


Best thing about collecting Vam/Joe/Mam or 1/6 figures ? Nostalgia - closure on finally owning all the equipment I wanted as a kid.

Do you think your collection will be collectible in the future ? - I think action man holds a sentimental spot for a certain age group that reflects in the high prices. Once that age group starts to 'drop off'
there will be a steady flow of collections flooding back onto ebay (from wives eager to get rid of them). They may still be collectible but perhaps not for the same high prices.

If you did not collect Vam/Joe/Mam what would you collect ? I don't know. I'am not really a collector. I never really decided to collect action man. One day I was idly browsing through ebay and saw an action man in a british tomy uniform. I'll just buy one I thought, for old times sake. 10 years later I have just over 50 of them along with various uniforms and vehicles.

What AM/Joe outfit or set would you like to have seen released? - As a kid I wanted a knight in armour action man.

Do you have a/What is your favourite section of AMMO? - I like the Comic and stories and the random pics section.
Its good to know there are so many 'old men' who are still young at heart and who can still exercise their imaginations through play.

Why do you like AMMO ? - The wide range of topics.

Great interview Gary, thanks for taking the time to do it!

I started off the same as you mate, "I'll just buy one or two for old times sake, nostalgia......"

Famous last words lol.

Very nice interview Gary, an action man knight in armour would have been brilliant and has been the topic of  discussion on the chat for a while, with so much scope to choose from it's a great subject for a bash or two

Good interview Gary and the bug caught me the same, I started picking the odd one up at the car boot sales in the nineties for my son when he was little and ended up with well over 50 now it's a great hobby tho

Ian

Great interview Gary!

"Its good to know there are so many 'old men' who are still young at heart and who can still exercise their imaginations through play."


Very true! Good old VAM keeps our inner child amused and happy.

" The Intruder (or Gorgan or Rom ) What was Palitoy thinking?" As I've said before, in the VAM design team's defence, they didn't really have anything to do with the later, dodgy characters. They just inherited them from a clueless Hasbro!

I've just finished reading your interview actiongary and I really liked reading it, thanks for sharing with us Gary.

great interview ,great read !

Thanks for sharing Gary. You didn't say when it was that your dad found an old Action Man on a building site, as that would give a clue to your age... perhaps that was intentional...

Building up a collection of around 50 is quite an achievement, well done!

Fantastic interview Gary!

Nice one Gary!

Nice little story about writing to Palitoy about the grippers drying up! I had free stuff doing similar, but via 'Rovex Hornby' when i was 11

Fantastic interview Gary!, I really enjoyed he read. I hope you will post some of your comic works soon too , thanks for taking part

Great interview, Gary!!!

I really enjoyed the story about your Christmas memories and the fact that Palitoy sent you a set of replacement hands is fantastic! You hear so many sob stories about companies, it's really nice to hear a good one.

Thanks,
Brian

Nice interview Gary. Thanks for sharing your memories with us!

Thanks for the kind comments everyone,

As I'm sure most of you know that when the eagle eye actionman came out, they used a more durable rubber for their gripping hands.
Who knows, that may have been the result of a small boy writing to palitoy

good interview enjoyed that