Action Force Enemy Battle Gear

A while back, DragonFortress wrote a great blog post about weapon trees.  While some consider them the scourge of 1993 and 1994, they had a certain charm to them and did allow for figures of the time to include a much larger array of accessories.  In the comments from the article, it was brought up that the first appearance of weapon trees was actually in the European Action Force line.  Palitoy took the idea of Battle Gear and applied it to their toy offerings.  Rather than pack a bubble full of loose accessories, though, Palitoy dropped a few of their weapons onto trees, too.  The presentation of the toy was similar to the way Hasbro approached their weapons supplements.  But, Palitoy offered a far more diverse range of offerings by branding smaller sets of battle gear with the sub set of figures with which the gear was meant to be paired.  While there were several sets of Battle Gear released around 1983/1984, I wanted to look at the Red Shadows set and its connections to both Joe and Star Wars.

At its core, this Enemy Battle Gear set includes just 7 pieces.  I'm not sure of the retail pricing in relation to single carded figures from the same series.  But, each set included far less gear than an American Battle Gear pack.  The pieces, though, are all excellent.  They include a small, clear figure stand, two weapons that were exclusive to Palitoy releases, a Palitoy backpack and two repainted accessories from the 1982 Joe line.  The set is Action Force in a microcosm and perfectly showcases the various inspirations for the Action Force line, its evolution into the European G.I. Joe line and the unique European-ess of the original pieces.

The Red Shadows were the main antagonist in the Action Force mythos.  They have been heavily co-opted into the G.I. Joe story at this point and some of their early European roots have been lost.  While most consider them a pre-cursor or European branch of Cobra, the Red Shadows were designed as a stand alone villain in the same veins as both the aforementioned Cobra as well as the Galactic Empire from Star Wars.  In short, they were a cross over of Nazi era extremism, uniformity and discipline while being just enough super villain to not run afoul of the still festering wounds left on the European continent by World War II.

We'll begin with the two G.I. Joe repaint weapons included in the set.  The first is a black Zap bazooka.  This thick handled version is a thumb breaker for G.I. Joe figures.  But, for the softer plastic hands of Palitoy Action Force figures, this was less of an issue.  The black color is unique to Palitoy releases and was included with the standard Red Shadow army building figure.  Red Shadows were ubiquitous for years.  But, the retconning of Red Shadows into G.I. Joe has driven interest and the Red Shadow figures are now more expensive and harder to find.  Most collectors can identify the black bazooka as a Palitoy release and will charge for it accordingly.  It's not a rare accessory by any means.  But, you'll pay a premium for it relative to its availability.

Rounding out the Hasbro molds is a red version of Short Fuse's mortar and stand.  You will note the mortar is the half-handle version with the thick handle.  This helps identify the timeline of the weapon's release.  I'm not aware of this red mortar being released with any Action Force figure at retail and believe it exclusive to this set.  This makes it much harder to find than the black bazooka.  But, as the red is a vibrant and bright color, there is less desirability here.  The black bazooka looks good with a host of Cobra and Joe figures.  The red mortar is less useful.  But, it still helps to make the weapon more Cobra and take away some of the association with Short Fuse and his signature weapon.

We then move to the red backpack.  Palitoy Action Force figures were based on Kenner's vintage Star Wars line.  They had five points of articulation and softer plastic hands.  Palitoy's designers took more risks with the figure posing and many of the figures had arm and hand positions that were designed for a specific accessory.  In addition to borrowing the Kenner figure design, Action Force also borrowed their design for backpacks.  After the Empire Strikes Back was released, Kenner introduced a mail away offer that included some new, soft plastic backpacks that affixed to figures via flexible plastic bands that closed and attached to the figures by plugging soft knobs into holes on the pack arms.  The same design is seen here with the included bright red backpack.  The pack seems to be an infantry pack with fun detail, but little specific purpose.  (There are other packs in the Action Force line, such as radios and diving gear that are purpose driven.)  The pack will fit on Action Force figures.  But, its use for Hasbro G.I. Joe figure is hit and miss.  This pack will not fit on either a 1983 Cobra Trooper nor any factory customs based on its mold.  It may fit on other figures from the 1982-1984 timeline.  But, the straps are tight and don't have much leeway.  Regardless, it's a fun piece of gear to help round out a diorama.  But, again, it's bright red.  This pack mold certainly appeared with other figures in the Action Force line, but I believe this color is exclusive to the Battle Gear set.

The final two weapons are included in the carded set attached to the weapons tree.  I do not know if this tree was used for all Action Force weapons of these molds.  Or, if this was a new mold created from the originals to quickly and cheaply add some additional gear to this set.  Either way, it includes two black rifles: a STEN gun and an SA-80.  These are noteworthy because they were definitively British weapons of the era.  So, while G.I. Joe focused on the American-ness of its weapons (the M-16, M-60, etc.), Action Force focused on its British roots for the unique gear.  The inclusion of these weapons help to round a Joe armory from the early '80's and provide some nice diversity for the modern collector.

The STEN gun is interesting.  The real weapons are cool and would be a visual treat for Joe figures.  The toy, though, doesn't translate that well.  The side clip is small.  And, the weapon feels like more of a pistol than a famous rifle.  It still looks good with a variety of figures: especially early Joes based on the 1982 sculpts.  But, it's something that I was disappointed with and definitely expected to be more fun than it actually was.  The black version of the weapon was included with at least one Action Force figure that I can find.  It also appeared in other colors in various sub sets of the Palitoy line.

The final weapon in this set is the doozy.  Not because it's any better than the others.  But, because of where else it was used.  The black SA-80 in this set was included with a few Action Force figures, but always in different colors.  I can't find another Action Force figure who has the black version.  (I don't know Action Force off the top of my head like I do Joes, though, so please correct me in the comments if I'm wrong.)  But, there are other colors accompanying carded figures, including a silver version that I think looks better.  But, this black SA-80 was also released with the super rare German YPS Hoth Stormtrooper figure.  Basically, this is a Kenner Snowtrooper (missing some country of origin info and including a specific skirt) that includes the SA-80 instead of the Kenner large blaster rifle.  This little detail makes all the difference.  What was a relatively common Action Force weapon is now highly sought after among Kenner Star Wars collectors.  This gun, alone, can command over $100 to Star Wars fans.

Pricing on this set is troublesome for this reason.  While the SA-80 is super desirable, that is a more recent development.  Many Joe collectors were able to snatch up the huge quantity of overstock carded Action Force figures and gear sets for super cheap prices over the years.  So cheap that many of the sets were opened and incorporated into either Red Shadow or Cobra armies.  Many Joe collectors are not aware of the Star Wars connection and will sell the set to other collectors, ignorant of the single gem inside.  You can still get carded sets in the $70 range.  But, again, finding the right collector might get you one for a fraction of that.  While the SA-80 is cool, it's not cool enough to warrant the price tag.  If you want the rest of the gear, you should be able to get it cheap since it lacks the desirability of the signature piece.  And, you can get better colored SA-80's for the same price as other Action Force gear and that allows you to have the mold in your collection without breaking the bank.

For me, I always love getting Joe gear in different colors.  The black bazooka is one of my favorite international repaints of a Hasbro weapon.  The Palitoy exclusive weapons are also excellent and work surprisingly well with Joe figures.  I have found many of these weapons to be a great accoutremout to the factory custom figures that use so many early 1983 parts as their inspiration.  The unique weapons help to separate these figures from many of their brethren that use similar construction.  (I also like the bazooka and mortar as a call back to the JC Penny three pack of Cobras that included the weapons.  But, the black and red are more Cobra than the weapons that accompanied the Penny's figures.)  There are many other weapons in the Action Force line that cross over to Joes as well.  Without the Star Wars connection, many are available for relatively cheap: especially if you buy a lot of junk Action Force figures.  You might get 15 figures with 5 accessories.  But, that can be worth it when you consider the price you are likely to pay.  I've found parts of this set in American collections, too.  So, keep an eye out when buying up collections that were amassed in the early 2000's as Action Force figures and weapons do appear in these from time to time.