If you were a kid in the late 1970's to late 1980's, you played with little green army men. Frankly, they probably pre-date the '70's and were available much later than the '80's. The figures feature recognizable poses that haven't changed in decades and were a staple of grocery stores, discount outlets and other terrible retail options that existed before the large corporate conglomerates put them all out of business. They are the lens through which many kids were introduced to the military and combat play. You can convincingly argue that the 1982 Joe line was nothing more than a drastic update on the cheap plastic army guys every kid had. But, it brought pose-ability, removable weapons and vehicles to the fold.
Starting in 1983, though, Joe moved beyond these humble roots and made the line memorable with the addition of visually striking characters that made the line more than just a bunch of green toys sitting in a shoebox. For the next dozen years, the Joe line evolved and really embraced the notion that it was a super hero trope set on a military base. As the line died in 1994, though, Hasbro took one final stab at the line's most basic toy roots. It released a set of 5 figures based on the 12 inch Joe figures from the 1960's. The 30th Anniversary figures brought an out of place visual to a line with standard articulation. The result is a set of figures that collectors mostly ignore while, simultaneously, praising them for their design, realism and overall quality. The five figures in the 30th Anniversary line are the: Action Marine, Sailor, Pilot, Astronaut (only available in the boxed set) and the subject of this profile, the Soldier.
The Action Soldier is, arguably, the most basic figure in the set. He's uninspiring and relatively bland. But, that's exactly what he's supposed to be. And, for that reason, the figure really works as a nameless Grunt who served in the U.S. military at some point after World War II but before Vietnam. He has the standard green uniform. His helmet hearkens back to the early days of the "modern" army. He has some basic straps and pouches. But, they aren't overdone. He's even got two grenades on his torso. He might be the most perfect representation of a basic soldier in the entire vintage Joe line. But, that's part of the reason why he hasn't caught on in the collecting world. The Joe line is about the characters: especially for the good guys. And, having someone with no characterization leads to a figure that doesn't have a lot of uses.
In the late 1990's, I got on an Action Series figure kick. They were cheap and pretty easy to acquire. So, in short order, I bought a bunch of boxed figures (loose figures were pretty much impossible to find) and opened them up. Once in hand, the Action Series figures were about everything I expected them to be. They looked great, had cool gear and fit rather well with my later run Joe figures that were my obsession at the time. I bought extras and...just flamed out. The figures quickly lost their cachet. I'm not really sure why. To this day, I have the boxes from those early figures...most with the accessories still packed inside. I even have several boxed figures sitting in a closet in the basement. I planned to open them. But, never got around to it and, still, don't really have any reason to add to my current, small army.
And, this is where I get stuck. Visually, these figures are great. Having some basic soldiers around your base to do the dirty work seems like a great idea. But, once in hand, the figures just seem...off. If you've been around the community a long time, you might remember an early dio-story called Warfare. The creator used the Action Series figures rather effectively. But, IIRC, he still only had two or three of them. There simply wasn't much need for more. And, I think that's the main reason why I haven't been keen to army build any more of them. Aesthetically, they are out of place among the strong characters of the Joe line. More importantly, though, there's just better options. I'd rather have four Law figures guarding the jail in my HQ than 4 Action Soldier...even if the Soldiers make a lot more sense.
In looking through my photos over the past two+ decades, I don't use the Action Soldier all that often. A few of them got sliced to ribbons by Overkill back in 2003. And, I've used them as background fodder in many Joseph Colton photos. But, beyond that, they're not all that common of an appearance. I've tried in many instances to incorporate them into various scenes. I just find them hard to do so. Were they more in scale with the 1982/1983 figures, I think it would be easier. Stylistically, they match up well with the 1993 and 1994 series of figures. But, color-wise and design-wise, they are a mismatch for those more updated figure sculpts. So, you're left with a figure stuck in between the two extremes of Joe release years. That doesn't diminish the quality of the figure. But, it's proven a hindrance for me to actually use him in any meaningful setting.
The Action Soldier was released two ways: as an individually boxed figure and as an included member in the 5 figure boxed set. The main differences are that the boxed figures include brown accessories and the boxed set figures feature black accessories. The filecards from each set have different pictures on them. And, finally, there are variants in the way the serial numbers are painted on the figure's feet. (For my eyes, it was really tough to make out the number on the yellow painted number against the green background. The black background with green numbers was better.) I'm not clear if the serial number paint variants were tied to the gift set or the individually boxed figures. But, it's something to be looked for. I do find it amazing that this set, commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the entire G.I. Joe brand is, itself, now 30 years old. Somehow, the figures in this set don't seem anywhere near as old as 1960's era G.I. Joes did back in 1994. But, that's just a function of my age and I'm sure those 12" collectors who went bonkers over this set back then, when they were in their 40's, aren't thrilled to be reminded of how much more time has passed.
Around 1998 or so, a bizarre series of keychain figures appeared at various retailers around the country. These used the 1994 Action Series figure molds and were fully articulated. They didn't include any accessories. But, did have a loop to which the keychain could be attached. The single figures were pretty cheap upon their release. And, they were colored just like the original Hasbro figures. However, there is also a boxed set of 4 keychain figures that feature some exclusive colors. The Pilot is blue and yellow. The Marine features a tan base with black cammo. And, the Soldier is done in a very dark green with a new paint mask on his helmet with the letters MP on it. It's a nice repaint of the soldier. It's just too bad it's in a poor quality keychain set. The keychains were pretty common and cheap for a long time. But, it's been over 25 years since they debuted (however, they did pop up at different times and in different stores in later years) so I'm no longer sure if they are findable.
Hasbro did a top notch job on the Action Soldier. While somewhat mundane, the figure still features an quality aesthetic that has been lost in the post vintage Joe releases. He features at least 6 colors to break up the base green of his body. The belt and boots are slightly different hues. And, little things like his canteen cap and the golden "H" on his belt buckle also get unique paint details. (The "H" is a great callback to the 1982 series.) Precision paint masks like these were mostly absent from the basic 1994 line. So, the premium price tag did come with more amenities than just an expanded accessory complement. Hasbro put a lot of effort into this guy. And, that quality remains today.
One of the fun things about these these anniversary figures being individually numbered is that it gives some sense of production numbers. We know that, in general, production for 1994 figures was way lower than previous years. And, some of the late run figures (notably, the second series Star Brigade) saw incredibly truncated runs as the line was cancelled out from under them. In my small collection, I have numbers ranging from 20,000 something all the way up to 122,000 something. I do wonder if key numbers were pulled back and given to Hasbro people and VIPs at the time. But, if there's more than 100K of each of these figures, it could be that the cheap prices are just a function of the fact that Hasbro produced a boat-load of them and the massive overproduction still hasn't worked itself through the collecting world. Hasbro put a lot of faith in adult collectors of the day buying these figures up for nostalgic reasons. And, to be fair, a lot of older collectors who grew up in the '60's and early '70's did just that. But, as these weren't really something they loved, these figures were also part of the mass liquidations you'd see from older 12" collectors during the late 1990's through the early 2010's Guys had to reduce the size of their collections and stuff that wasn't meaningful to them got dumped...often for pennies on the dollar.
As mentioned above, the Action Soldier has variants in the colors of his accessories. But, both release mechanisms included the same actual gear pieces. The Soldier includes a green backpack that is defined by the shovel descending from the bottom. Both variants included the same color pack. But, the Action Marine included the same pack in a different shade of green. So, you will see the packs confused from time to time. But, the green that more closely matches the Soldier's base color is the correct pack for him. The Soldier then includes a rifle, pistol (originally from the 1988 Shockwave), knife and a wall set along with the standard missile firing accessory that was mandatory on all late releases. This gear can be black or brown. The wall is in three pieces and includes a mount for the Soldier's rifle. It's a great little accessory and one that's incredibly useful in setting up displays and staging photos. You'll see a black wall in various photos throughout this site as a testament to its utility.
The extra gear was the hook to get people to pay more for the figures back in 1994. The suggested retail price on this figures was a whopping $7.99! Nearly triple the Battle Corps figures of the era. But, these were marketed as premium pieces for adult collectors. So, the collecting tax we pay today for collecting themed releases has origins at least 30 years ago. You could find the figures for cheaper at Wal Mart, especially as they aged on the shelves. I'm not sure if the deluxe gear was worth the substantial price increase. But, Hasbro put a lot of effort into the figures in an attempt to see if adult collectors could breathe a final bit of life into the 3 3/4" inch line at retail. Sadly, like the other gimmicks of the era, though, it failed and the Joe line was pretty much dead after the July 4th holiday in 1994.
While each Action Soldier is individually numbered, the reality is that they were never hard to find. For the first decade of so of the online collector market, you could buy all the boxed Action Soldiers you wanted for about the same price as you would have paid at retail for the figure in 1994. Even after that, boxed figures were available for about $10 well into the early 2020's. Now, they're still only about $20 figures if they are still boxed. Dealers only ask about $25 in the supply starved market. So, despite the quality and usefulness of the figure, no one really wants it. So, this is still a figure that can be used to build up armies. But, collectors have been saying that for decades, now and no one has really done it. I myself burned out after about three of them back in the days when I bought anything and everything. The Action Soldier is just one of those figures who had great quality but can never quite break through the collecting zeitgeist to fulfill his potential.
