Action Man 50th Photos (Don't get too excited chaps)

I am of the opinion uniform fabrics and accessories are better than the original or 40th. The labels are better. The hands are hard grippers and look amazing when holding weapons. I thought when I had to pose them the out performed any of my minty originals and I was pulling unsupported poses at will.

Look at the hands in this pic - the 40th are not as natural. Look at the tanks - the silver looks like metal. The wetsuit has what looks like an anodised black zip tag.

I'm a fan, it's new and therefore different from what we know - too much for some and not enough for others.

Definitely Joe's grippers.

As I said Rob, it does look good!

Quote :

It is somewhat amusing that the 50th anniversary (British) Action Man Ski patrol uses a 10th Mountain Division Patch!



-Nate

As I said I wanted to own one as its part of the story now but I'm not a fan! I don't want hands that look a bit real as its a toy and not what I had as a child, how can someone reminisce about their childhood with something that isn't like what they had as a child!

Glidah Drivah wrote:

It is somewhat amusing that the 50th anniversary (British) Action Man Ski patrol uses a 10th Mountain Division Patch!

Especially as the original used the 'Bear' patch from the United States Army Alaska.

Talked to Rob about it on HQ, he said it's to distinguish from Vintage and 40th.

I like it, better than the Alaska Command patch in fact. I may have to try and find one.

Thanks for the photos Rob, beautifully done!!!

I have to say that the more I see of these figures, the more I like them! With all the reproductions and the like that have been produced over the years, I appreciate the differences and the newer approach they have taken with 50th Action Man. I like some of the improvements that have been made in materials, the woven patches, the more realistic hands. I think they are nice, but not so far that we have lost the "feel" of the original figures.

We will always have vintage Action Man and G. I. Joe and the 30th, 35th, 40th, Timeless, Masterpiece, etc. Each one has something unique to offer.

It's all good.

Thanks again,
Brian

gibri wrote:

Thanks for the photos Rob, beautifully done!!!

I have to say that the more I see of these figures, the more I like them! With all the reproductions and the like that have been produced over the years, I appreciate the differences and the newer approach they have taken with 50th Action Man. I like some of the improvements that have been made in materials, the woven patches, the more realistic hands. I think they are nice, but not so far that we have lost the "feel" of the original figures.

We will always have vintage Action Man and G. I. Joe and the 30th, 35th, 40th, Timeless, Masterpiece, etc. Each one has something unique to offer.

It's all good.

Thanks again,
Brian

Thanks Brian for complement, and I share your view. We will always have our vintage, remember this is all bonus-time and rather than threaten our beloved, it will enhance :-)

Will the uniform sets be available without the figures?

Over on HQ I'm pretty sure I read that Rob was pushing for uniform cards.

Some fatherly advice to our newest recruit.

Great photo Rob!

Totally agree with rossini on this one.Seems like some people are trying to push and talk up this 50th effort perhaps to create interest. I would be suprised if the finish on the NEW 50th AM accs wasnt better than the vintage or 40th.By changing hands over and whatever else has been done it still is nowhere near as good as vintage and should never be compared to or against the true vintage one and only Action man.

This is why we can't have nice things. Seriously, no way will these be perfect and there have been issues with each set of repros, but holy crap some of the vitriol here is clearly unwarranted. You'd think Hasbro was rounding up all the VAM and burning them in a kiln or something.

I don't believe any malice is meant here, its just people opinions, and like all things, you cannot please everyone.

No, no malice, I agree.

Just to put things into some form of context, I thought it would be an idea to treat the quality issues of Action Man figures from an even playing surface. My personal findings (and there may be more) on the problems over the years. I suspect we all know this but I'll list them to recap:

Painted Head:

Slack elastic, cracked limbs, mis-paired forearms, hands and feet, eyebrow rub, some feet too big for boots.

Flock hair / gripping hands:

internal blue staining to heads, hands going hard and disintegrating, slack elastic, some loss of hair, eyebrow rub, mis-paired limbs.

Eagle Eyes:

Heads fall off, bodies cant be tightened and squeak, restricted movement, eyes out of alignment head clearly darker than rest of body and mould lines on hands)

40th

Copy of original, loss of hair, melting plastics, cracked limbs, dye transfer...etc

50th

One missing manual in a box (replaced by A&S), One report of an over-tightened thigh pin (would be/has been  replaced at request). Lips and scars paint colour different.

My point is every Action Man has historically had its problems. On balance its seems we forgive and gloss over the vintage much more than more recent editions if it suits our own arguments which is not helpful or positive.

I'm more subjective and optimistic. The balance of probability is the new range might turn out to have its own unique issues too, let's hope not so many as our beloved VAM.

I personally find it unsettling when people on some of the social media post a few pics of their new Action Man (posted because they are pleased with it and are sharing their joy/experience). Ill considered comments can flow and are pretty inappropriate based only on that its not someone else's cup of tea. It wouldn't happen in person, so perhaps we should think twice about flaming someone else's happiness. 'Trolling' is the exception, thankfully, and I have witnessed some people's initial poor opinion turn around full circle and are now championing them at every opportunity such is the appeal. Change is often a hard process for us to handle when we are all firmly settled in our collecting bubbles. I've witnessed it with so many products. I remember my educated tech-business friend telling me the iPad would not take off and Apple had nothing special to offer. He has a couple in his house now, and iPhones for all four members of his family.

I think we grew up in gentler, less caustic times, and I rather like the former way of kindness and support being more powerful influencer than anything else.

I like the 1966-1969 figures best, but I wouldn't pursue a position of open criticism of others preferences. Every time people post, they are generously taking the time to show us what they have done, bought or made, to make us happy too, and share a moment.

We are all family, and we have an extension to it now, which I hope we can all contribute ideas and wishes to, to steer our Action Man to be what we want it to be. We all have different ideas in our heads so its always a challenge, and we didn't ever get asked our opinions in the past so its a good than the the new guardians of the brand are opening channels and have already adopted suggestions. They are on our side, more than just business, I know it's also a labour of love.

So more daring missions leading to documentaries, more new content, more appearances on TV, better websites, a yearly conference supported by Pailtoy staff, and more support and focus on our hobbies should make our Christmas and new year full of pleasure and hope for the most positive of futures. :-)

P.S. Don't forget to watch the BBC One Show tonight!

Rob

Good points Rob .

Surely the point of the 50th range is to (hopefully) introduce the figure we know and love to a future generation? and who knows if the 50th range is a success then maybe (and again hopefully) the range may branch out into uniforms, equipment sets and vehicles??? I know a lot of folks are not keen n the 40th, but for me I love the uniforms and kit. I have been able to buy an LRDG, as finding a vintage one is far too costly and time consuming to track down!

It is my opinion, that the 50th should be given a fair crack of the whip and don't shoot it down before it has a chance to grow

I fully respect vintage collectors and I admire their dedication, but sadly, I have been priced out of so many sets I would like to complete. So if 40th and 50th can help me find sets I wanted, then it has to be a good thing? again, just my opinion

Rob / Dal

Thank you for adding these comments, the one reason I joined this forum was because it was not like the rest!
we are all able to share our collections and thoughts regardless if its VAM / MAM 1/6th it just does not matter what we collect

I would hate to see our forum go like the rest and have fellow collectors not wanting to post there figures in case of any ridicule and unwanted comments

Lets just have a happy forum regardless of what type of Action Man is being collected, if comments are un-just we have moderators on here that can remove them

I for one like VAM / 40th and the new 50th, but respect all other types of collections

Thank you
PJ

action bob wrote:

Rob / Dal

Thank you for adding these comments, the one reason I joined this forum was because it was not like the rest!
we are all able to share our collections and thoughts regardless if its VAM / MAM 1/6th it just does not matter what we collect

I would hate to see our forum go like the rest and have fellow collectors not wanting to post there figures in case of any ridicule and unwanted comments

Lets just have a happy forum regardless of what type of Action Man is being collected, if comments are un-just we have moderators on here that can remove them

I for one like VAM / 40th and the new 50th, but respect all other types of collections

Thank you
PJ

No worrys P.J, in your post you have completely summed up what AMMO is all about! Its right there in our banner, vam to mam and all things 1/6!

Blondeactionman wrote:

I fully respect vintage collectors and I admire their dedication, but sadly, I have been priced out of so many sets I would like to complete. So if 40th and 50th can help me find sets I wanted, then it has to be a good thing? again, just my opinion

And mine, everyone knows my collection is made up mostly of old worn out VAM mostly in 40th kit. I like to save them and rebuild them. The 40th stuff is cheap enough (well was!) I did have a lot of highly detailed Dragon/BBI figures but they have gone now as they didn't do it for me (still love to see them though!) and I wanted to "save " more vintage figures
I didn't have a good experience with my first 50th but I want the British Tommy uniform (and maybe Scuba) so will try again. Fingers crossed.

I hope so too Brian!

Your collection is marvelous mate, and made all the more special knowing that you saved them from going off to a landfill or worse

they don't make them like they used to.... the laws have changed and they can't legally make proper plastic anymore

Joes could be thrown from rooftops some chutes opened others went down like like flaming candles they got back up and were ready for action and could be mowed down with BB guns and still come back for more

these new guys just shatter with the impact of a real Kid playing with it er well a real kid of the sixties and seventies that is

Sorry, I don't buy that. While I don't have any 50th guys yet and my 40th AM experience is limited, I have tons of repro Joes and they can take an absolute beating. I've put some of those Walmart AT figures through far worse than any normal conditions a kid would have put them in during the 70s and have had no real issues. Certainly there's a dud here or there that doesn't hold up for one reason or another, but those tend to be the exception, not the rule. Which is exactly how it was with the vintage figures as well. I think a lot of times people just assume something isn't up to par because they haven't handled it or handle it in such a fashion that no child ever would and then draw conclusions based on that flawed premise.

Personally, and this is not to knock anyone here or this forum (which is fantastic) I find that this happens over and over again. Anytime something new comes out, be it from the GI Joe Club, Hasbro or some other party, it gets dumped on. And often not for the very valid reasons. I've critiqued some of the things I've seen from the 50th and I think they are legitimate gripes. I'm still going to check one out and see for myself how much I enjoy it, but in general I find that the Joe/AM community is quick to bag on something new. Whether that's from years of not being listened to or being dismissed by the higher ups at toy companies or just some sort of jaded nature that comes with age or the hobby, I don't know. But what I find amusing is that often these attitudes change over time.

As an example, when the 40th first hit, there was a pretty big wave of negativity. But once the 40th had the plug pulled, suddenly everyone was talking about how great it was and a shame that it had been killed. Except of course for the new batch of "I told ya so" people, many of whom in fact didn't tell us anything but simply enjoy victory dancing in graveyards.

The point is, there are things to gripe about. The head sculpt looks a bit off this time around, some things may be assembled slightly differently, the packaging is completely different, but there's no denying that some real EFFORT has been put into these. They've cobbled together figures that hit what is generally considered the "best" of the AM range (your mileage may vary but flocked heads and grippers are preferred to the masses) and they've tweaked a few things to try and improve them. The outfits are clearly well made and nicely done, even if not exactly to the specs of some of the vintage models.

I just think many people are quick to dismiss new things because they're new and then that gets passed around, almost as if it were the gospel, until many folks don't even try these new things out. And then the new things aren't successful because of it and people like Hasbro are even less likely to continue to try and cater to this market.

By all means, if they're shoveling garbage at us we should call a spade a spade, but when they're actually trying to put out a quality product, perhaps it shouldn't be shredded just on the premise alone.

A great post and many great points made. I also am guilty of not liking the sculpt, but the 40th are different from the original as the 50th is different from them both, so for collectors and on the upside at least they can be identified easily . I think if we want to see more progression in this new range.

BTW, really pleased your still enjoying AMMO!