Action Man (franchise)

***Action Man*** is an action figure launched in Britain in 1966 by Palitoy as a licensed copy of Hasbro's American "movable fighting man", G.I. Joe. Action Man was originally produced and sold in the United Kingdom and Australia by Palitoy Ltd of Coalville, Leicestershire from 1966 until 1984. Later, it was released the new generation of the Action Man toyline in 1993-2006. At the time, it was released the first animated series in 1995. Five years later, it was released another animated TV series by the same title in 2000. Later, it was released *A.T.O.M. – Alpha Teens on Machines* as a spin-off series in the Action Man franchise.

## Animated series

***Action Man (1995)*** is a animated television series, created by DIC Productions, L.P. and Bohbot Entertainment, which originally aired on the latter's Amazin' Adventures syndicated block. The cartoon is based on the Hasbro toy line of the same name. The show also featured live action segments before and after the main show, which were filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood and Florida. In this series, Action Man's real name is Matthew Exler.
***Action Man (2000)*** is a CGI animated TV series based on the toy line of the same name. The show is not directly related to the 1995 show, however in some details and plot twists demonstrates itself as a prequel. The show's theme song "Amp it up Action Man" was written and performed by Saban Entertainment's Paul Gordon. In this series, Action Man's real name is Alexander "Alex" Mann. He is an extreme sports athlete and is a member of Team Xtreme.
***Action Man: Robot Atak*** is a 2004 direct-to-DVD CGI animated superhero film based on the Hasbro toy line, Action Man. The film was produced by Arcana Digital and directed by John Moffett, Steven Burch and Chris Woods. Released to tie-in with the line of Action Man toys released in 2004, Robot Atak was the first in a series of direct-to-video films and was followed by a sequel in 2005, Action Man: X Missions.
***Action Man: X Missions*** is produced by Reel FX Creative Studios and released commercially to DVD and VHS in 2005. The film continued the story begun in *Robot Atak* and featured the central cast reprising their roles. *X Missions* also re-used several CGI character models from the direct-to-DVD film *G.I. Joe: Valor vs. Venom*, itself also based on a Hasbro toy property. There's also the second part of the X Missions series, ***X Missions - Code Gangrene***, known as the third and final film in the trilogy and is only released in Mexico as a tie-in with an exclusive toyline. Thus, the third film is only available in Spanish.
***A.T.O.M. – Alpha Teens on Machines***, also known as ***Action Man: A.T.O.M.*** in some countries, is a spin-off series in the *Action Man* franchise. The *A.T.O.M. – Alpha Teens on Machines* is an English-language French superhero animated television series produced by SIP Animation in association with Jetix Europe.

## Toyline

*Main article: Action Man Toyline (1966–1984)*

**Action Man** toyline was launched in Britain in 1966 by Palitoy as a licensed copy of Hasbro's American "movable fighting man", G.I. Joe.
The toyline was originally produced and sold in the United Kingdom and Australia by Palitoy Ltd of Coalville, Leicestershire from 1966 until 1984 (Palitoy also offered sub-licences to various toy manufacturers in various markets). The figure and accessories were originally based on the Hasbro (US) 1964 G.I. Joe figure (for 1966–1969 production). Hasbro's G.I. Joe figure was patented in 1966. Even the specific method of attaching the appendages was patented as a "Connection for Use in Toy Figures". The first Action Man figures were Action Soldier, Action Sailor and Action Pilot. All were available in the four original hair colours: Blonde, Auburn, Brown and Black. They were accompanied by outfits depicting United States Forces of World War II and the Korean War. From 1970 to 1984, the basic boxed figures and accompanying uniforms and accessories would reflect the forces of the United Kingdom rather than the USA. Action Man was subsequently reintroduced in 1993, based on the G.I. Joe Hall of Fame figure of that time.

*Main article: Action Man Toyline (1993–2006)*

**Action Man** was a line of action figures produced by Hasbro from 1993–2006 and again in 2009. The line began as a relaunch of the original Palitoy action figure range and eventually grew to become a multimedia franchise consisting of toys, books, video games, two television programs, animated films, and a comic book published by Panini Comics. The toy line centred around the eponymous Action Man, an action hero who continuously fought to foil the evil, world-conquering schemes of his nemesis, Dr. X. Toys were also produced of several supporting characters, who were typically allies of either Action Man or Dr. X.

*Main article: Action Man: 40th Anniversary (Toyline)*

The Hasbro **Action Man: 40th Anniversary** is a reproduction of the early period (1960s to 1970s) British Action Man figure as collectors set that was released in 2006. The updated release has some packaging changes and slight modification to the figures. Four different uniform sets were released in waves.

## Comics

*Main article: Action Man (Panini Comics)*

***Action Man*** was a UK comic book series published by Panini Comics, based on the toy line of the same name. It ran for 138 issues between 1996 and January 18, 2006 before being surpassed by spin-off series Action Man: A.T.O.M.. The comic was originally published every month, but this was later changed to every three weeks. The final editor was Ed Caruana, with previous editors including Rob Jones.

*Main article: Action Man: A.T.O.M. (Panini Comics)*

Panini Comics published a tie-in comic book series titled ***Action Man: A.T.O.M.*** in the United Kingdom from 2006 to 2007. This title replaced their long-running Action Man series, and featured stories by Simon Furman and art by Jack Lawrence.

*Main article: Action Man (IDW Comics)*

The ***Action Man*** story was again rebooted by IDW Publishing in 2016 for a four-issue limited comic book series. The series was published to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Action Man, with the cover of each issue featuring the original Palitoy-era Action Man logo.

## Video games

*Main article: Action Man: Raid on Island X*

***Action Man: Raid on Island X*** was released on Windows in 1999, made by Intelligent Games Ltd and published by Atari Europe S.A.S.U., Hasbro Interactive, Inc., this action game is available for free.

*Main article: Action Man: Operation Extreme*

***Action Man: Operation Extreme*** is a PlayStation video game. The *Action Man: Operation Extreme* was released in November 8 2000. The game featured Action Man, Dr. X, Prof. Gangrene and Maxx.

*Main article: Action Man: Search for Base X*

***Action Man: Search for Base X*** is an action video game developed by Natsume and published by THQ under license from Hasbro Interactive for the Game Boy Color. It was released in North America on February 6, 2001, and is based on the *Action Man TV* series.

*Main article: Action Man: Robot Atak (Video Game)*

***Action Man: Robot Atak*** for the GameBoy Advance was based on the movie of the same name. The player controls Action Man, Red Wolf, Flynt and Congo while they face Dr. X and his X-Robots.