Action Force and the A-Team in 1984 Argos Catalog

Here’s another example of Action Force in an Argos catalog, although this time sharing a page with the A-Team and Masters of the Universe. He-Man and company appear to be a couple years behind their US release schedule.

So my question to UK readers this time: were Hannibal, B.A., Murdock and Face as popular overseas as they were here in the US? Did 80s action shows translate well internationally? I know at least Knight Rider did, as we have Norm McDonald’s airtight research (Germans Love David Hasselhoff) to prove it.

3 comments

  • Yes, the A-Team were HUGE here in the UK as a TV show. Started out at 9pm on a Friday night before being moved to Saturday tea time by ITV to dent Doctor Who’s viewing figures. But the feeling was at the time it was too violent to be aimed at an audience that was at toy buying age: the toys did poorly from memory.

    Isn’t there an Amy A Allen from the larger 5 inch figures?

    The smaller 3 3/4 ones had very generic bodies that looked little like the costumes worn on the show, now obvious as a GI Joe rip off, and there were some odd vehicle choices.

    As for other 80s action shows….Yes we got Knight Rider. Airwolf ran Saturday afternoon on ITV for a good couple of years, I think we had the entire run and a 90s repeat run too 🙂 Blue Thunder and Manimal aired on the BBC, both briefly! ITV had Streethawk, again briefly. I can remember seeing one episode on in day time during a school holiday.

  • There’s that cool obstacle course playset again!

  • When I was in Barcelona in 1993, the A-Team was still shown in prime time during the week.

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