Blood for the Baron!

If Pallitoy had kept going and kept making AF after Series II (instead of ditching the seperate units and the makeover into faux Joe VS Cobra) how do you think the line might've developed?

i think they'd've ended up adding greater articulation to their own figures, instead of just having the redeco'd Joe figures.

i also think we'd've got more redeco'd figures and vehicles...

maybe Ironblood and the Shadows would've gained a naval contingent with a redone hyrdrofoil and Eels.

i think Z-Force would've got the Dragonfly, Tomahawk and Ferret.

The Striker could've ended up in SAS.

Crimson Guards could've been Red Shadow elites.

The Trouble Bubble as a new RS craft.

Killer Whale, Wet Suit, Deep Six and Torpedo in Q-Force

HAVOC and STUN in the shads.

Skystriker and Rattler in Space Force...

WHAT do YOU think?

I'd say you are pretty much right. The Killer Whale may have wound up in Z Force tho. My Wetsuit figure hangs with Q-Force. Beachhead, Lowlight and Snake eyes (V1) hang with the SAS. Sci-Fi (V3, with Countdown's Helmet) is Space Force for me. I haven't any Space force figures and someone's gotta fly that Satellite defence. Also the Joe Starfighter is pressed into Space Force service.

Rest of the guys hang with Z-force. Infantry and wotnot.

I'd reckon that the Joe's would have been repainted more frequently if they had kept AF going. Does anyone know why Palitoy decided to use AF figures directly from the Joe line in the end? I mean the likes of Recondo, Scarlett etc.

There could have been some really neat stuff delivered, though I don't think would be to happy about going from the RS to a trouble bubble. I would also have hoped that they would give the STUN a wide berth.

I guess Space Force was introduced to counter the Tie Fighter spin off RS rather than create the more expected Air Force, so this as a seperate team could well have been introduced.


A similar ideal exists in the world of GI Joe, whereby some collectors have always questioned bringing out new characters rather than just keeping the same character but updating his costume. For example Deep Six was updated but Blowtorch and Short Fuse were not.

As far as Palitoy were concerned, Hasbro took over and an obvious way to cut costs was the result. Hasbro are the masters at cutting costs and corners

Dave Tree has written a fantastic behind-the-scenes account of what happened to Action Force for us, I have posted it here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3144

I suspect we would have seen more UK patented designs had the range expanded.

Golden Puma wrote:A similar ideal exists in the world of GI Joe, whereby some collectors have always questioned bringing out new characters rather than just keeping the same character but updating his costume. For example Deep Six was updated but Blowtorch and Short Fuse were not.

I never understood the desire to revamp figures. I always prefer to have new characters. So far the only updated figures I have are Roadblock V1 and V2, Baroness V6, Crimson Guard V3, Sgt Slaughter V3, Spirit V2, Mutt V2, Lowlight V2 and Hawk V2. I really just hate having duplicate characters. With the Marauders I wound up with 2 job lots that gave half the collection. So plan to complete it. My Son thinks they are cool

Baron, is that history of Palitoy going to be on the new website?

The Baron wrote:Dave Tree has written a fantastic behind-the-scenes account of what happened to Action Force for us, I have posted it here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3144

I suspect we would have seen more UK patented designs had the range expanded.

Thanks Baron

Golden Puma wrote: As far as Palitoy were concerned, Hasbro took over and an obvious way to cut costs was the result. Hasbro are the masters at cutting costs and corners

Not exactly the case, have a read, it may help in understanding how the line developed and also in guessing in what may have come next.

One thing everyone needs to take on board is that almost every action figure was a repaint from the first series.

There were a couple of new head and torso sculpts (Red Shadow, Red Wolf, Space Security, Z-Force Infantryman) but aside from Kraken, Skeletron, Space Engineer and SAS Attack Trooper, pretty much everything is a repaint from series one parts, so it would stand to reason that further combinations - or resculpts of exisitng parts would continue for rank and file.
With The Enemy experimenting with Kraken clones and Skeletron, there could have been further newly sculpted monsters to add to the Barons crazy forces.

In terms of of vehicles, Joe repaints would probably carry on for those suitable at the time, Flying Submarine for Q-Force, Hovercraft for SAS, Night Attack Jeep for Z-Force (with Airborne in Z Force colours?), but also the innovative Palitoy designed products would continue too. The Roboskull and Sealion are two of my favourite vehicles, one just really 'out there' and just looks frikkin evil, the other beautifully designed with a lot of features and play value. They were really beginning to show that they could take vehicles to another level and what could have been next on the agenda could have been equally innovative.

Dave.

I never liked the Roboskull, was just too plain whacky for my liking. Kraken so-so (at least it looked cool), Skeletron is well into the WTF range. The Sealion was just a masterpiece however. Once I have my SAS and Z's sorted I'll move onto Q Force. I have Dolphin and one chariot but no Sealion yet. That will be top of my list.

As far as jeeps go, I could see the NAJ as an SAS vehicle (Panther Mk2) and VAMP in Z camo colours. Cool.

Chopper wrote: Baron, is that history of Palitoy going to be on the new website?

I think it might need some pics to help break it up, even I get a headache looking at it

Chopper wrote:I never liked the Roboskull, was just too plain whacky for my liking. Kraken so-so (at least it looked cool), Skeletron is well into the WTF range. The Sealion was just a masterpiece however. Once I have my SAS and Z's sorted I'll move onto Q Force. I have Dolphin and one chariot but no Sealion yet. That will be top of my list.

As far as jeeps go, I could see the NAJ as an SAS vehicle (Panther Mk2) and VAMP in Z camo colours. Cool.

I was thinking the NAJ for the Z's as it follows the Dart and different enough from the Jeep, BUT how mean would a SAS NAJ look towing a MMS with a Wolverine following behind? Rocket City!!!

and what do you mean teh Roboskull is too wacky?

Who wouldn't want a giant red skull that can fly and has machine guns sticking out the eyes?