Back in the Sixties I loved Action Man. We don't talk about him much on Moonbase as the man of action is rightly celebrated on many other sites.
I also loved Action Man knockoffs and clones and a whole regiment of imposters rubbed shoulders with Palitoy's original including the compact Little Big Man, . I suppose in the UK the most well-known was Tommy Gun, a well developed toy line with loads of accessories. There where many others though and Zodiac stores where a great place to find them.
Like any knockoff industry connected to a huge toy success, the names of the copies reflected the originals as close as possible without falling foul of copyright. So Action Man will have probably become the likes of Combat Man, Man of Action, Action Hero, Fighting Man and so on, although I've made these up and can't remember specific ones.
Did you have any Action Man or GI Joe clones?
I had a couple of Hong Kong (?) knockoffs from the local newsagents in the UK. They came on a card rather than in a box. Can't remember the names or manufacturer but I do remember the plastic was really soft - you could squeeze the head and body a bit. There were all sorts of accessory sets too - weapons, dinghys etc. Anyone know what they were?
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