The Red Shadows formed the bad guys, intent on world domination, led by the ruthless Baron Ironblood. Palitoy struck a deal with IPC Media to incorporate Action Force stories into its weekly Battle comic. Palitoy's external relationship with Hasbro through Action Man allowed them to include some of Hasbro's new product into the range, re-branded and re-coloured. This allowed the range to expand considerably for 1983 and saved Palitoy expensive design and development costs.