Action Force and Action Man in 1983 Argos Catalog

I’m a catalog nut, and particularly enjoy diorama setups from the golden age ads of the 1980s. I pored over the Sears, Wards and JC Penney catalogs enough to call them up from memory. As such, I’ve been on the lookout for ads that I haven’t seen before.

UK department store Argos is of course unknown to me, but I imagine its aisles looked much like US retailers in the 80s. The catalogs sure had similar setups to what I’ve seen in the US. Action Force and Action Man are also unique to American eyes, being populated with both unique figures and vehicles as well as repainted Joe rides. Gotta love those Red Shadows!

Scan via RetroMash.

2 comments

  • Casdon assault course? That looks cool and never heard of it. Often thought Hasbro missed out not making a GI Joe obstacle course, especially after adding Sgt. Slaughter to the line.

  • Great find Rob, thanks for sharing. I vaguely remember seeing this ad back in the day – wish I’d picked up that assault course!

    Argos is a catalogue store, so unlike a department store the display area is typcially very small. Customers choose what they want from the catalogue and the goods are brought out from a storeroom at the back. I don’t recall ever seeing Action Force on display front of store.

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