Action Man knockoff 1980s.

Hangdogroad

One Christmas circa mid 80s I got an Action Man figure, only it wasn't quite AM but a very similar, more basic brand.

This figures head was very close to that of AM, down to the hair. He had a black beard.

Think he was supposed to be a spy or commando. He had a blue boiler suit type uniform. Also had a black revolver.

The figure, or maybe the brand was called "Man Alive". On the box there was a small picture of the bearded AM type man with his hands up to his mouth doing a sort of Tarzan type yell. Above this was the Man Alive text.

I think there was also text on the box in German which makes me think it might have been European.

Does this ring a bell with anyone, cant find anything online about it?

easygoing39

Was it "Action Jackson"??

Hangdogroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123734941#Comment_123734941

It Wasnt that, though looking it up there is one figure that looks very like it.

LambshankRedemption

As a kid I had a collection of various knock off Action Men and GI Joes. Mainly because i had two aunts living in the UK where "the Market" a la Del Boy is where you went to get "bargains" aka cheap knock off tat.

To be honest, the ones from the market were not as bad as what you saw Only Fools and Horses take the pee out of. It's also possible the ones I dont remember are the ones that broke after one day.

Now that I think about it, I also had two Ghostbuster action figures which I know now were not official but were very convincing. I also had a number of Transformers which were not official but again very convincing for 4-8 year old me.

I remember an Action Man-esque one I had that was modelled on Rambo.

FrancieBrady

A friend of mine in Cavan got an empty box from Santy one Christmas morning. He says he remembers crying hard because he was expecting an Action Man. His Dad consoled him 'he must have deserted son'. 😮

Roald Dahl

actionmanhq.co.uk would be a good place to look.

They have a forum, running on some very familiar-looking software, which has a section for non-standard Action Man.

Hangdogroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123738115#Comment_123738115

Nice one, will have a look.

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123738115#Comment_123738115

That software is very familiar looking alright. Can't quite place where I know it from. It functions very well though. No bouncing pages, etc. I also noticed their site issues thread has 8 replies.

LambshankRedemption

Not entirely off topic, does anyone remember The Corps? You would get them in Dunnes Stores when Dunnes sold toys, I'd say late 80's early 90s. They were a cheap copy of GI Joe. You'd get about a 4.5 inch soldier, fully poseable, in one of many specialties, and a couple of accessories, usually a rifle, and the back card would give you a brief bio about the soldier you got. I remember I had one who was SAS in a desert camo uniform. They were great because 1, the only people I ever met who had real GI Joe stuff, got them from American cousins, I dont think it ever got sold here(I could be wrong?) and 2, The Corps were comparitively cheap. I dont remember but about £2 for 1 or 3 for a fiver or there abouts? Something a 5 or 6 year old could feasibly save up for on his 50p a week pocket money.

George White

The Corps! were essentially cheapo GI Joe. Still are.

Lanard, the makers still make basically pocket money toys and their constant reuse of their molds make them astonishingly cost effective.

Ironically, the Lanard are now the last gasp of old school action figure companies. I know a friend who's become a collector. They've got the licence for things like Godzilla and Alien. 'The Playmobil of action figures'