NO MAN LEFT BEHIND!
Following the successful launch of Action Force in 1982, Palitoy soon got to work to develop a scenario back-story for the toy line to clearly create the boundaries of the good guys and the bad. The second series launch in the summer of 1983 brought a new terrorist movement to the imagination; the Red Shadows. Led by the maniacal Baron Ironblood, they were intent on one thing, total world domination. The United Nations scrambled global combat units to counter this threat consisting of four teams, the SAS, the Z Force heavy brigade, Q Force for nautical operations and Space Force for the eyes and ears above planet Earth. However, unknown to most collectors for almost 25 years, there was a fifth UN team that never saw a full toy release and whose active service exploits were never covered by the comics.
For the past 30 months I have been in pursuit of information relating to the later days of the Palitoy toy company. This journey started with Star Wars toys, but along the way a few other boys toys have wormed their way into the research. In the summer of 2008 I was pointed toward an avenue that would provide an insight into Action Force that had never been seen before by its collectors. After some exchanges of e-mails and the promise of sharing my research notes, I was given access to what can be best described as the leftovers from the offices of Palitoy at the point of collapse in 1986. A visit to the premises led me to a very large basement vault full of racking and cardboard boxes full of toys.
It would be important to highlight at this stage that the toys featured in this article do not belong to a collector and will neither be available for sale as they are owned by the UK state museum. Their purpose is to enable everyone to enjoy their collections, explore the cultures that created them and to inspire those who shape contemporary design. For those completists out there, please take this on the chin and just enjoy the knowledge. During my first visit I soon spotted an Action Force figure i had never seen before, this particular box contained some pre-production parts and some vac-moulds, which led me to believe it was a pre-production piece. The figure was within a bag and labelled 'Special weapons F, Scientist (Boffin)'. I soon joined BFTB and my thoughts were confirmed when no other member had heard or come across the figure before.
Boffin
