The GI Joe cartoon was a Marvel/Sunbow cartoon series that began in 1983 with GI Joe: A Real American Hero, a five part special. It was followed by another five parter: The Revenge of Cobra (GI Joe II) in 1984 and then became a regular series in 1985. It continued to air until 1995 on the USA network. The show is about a military special forces group saving the world from a terrorist group called Cobra.

Unfortunately, too little is known about the UK Action Force version of the cartoon for us to detail its history here.

The Action Force range was born in 1982 as a product of the combination of the ideas behind Palitoy's (a major UK toy company) two major product lines, the 12" tall Action Man Range, and the 3¾" Star Wars figures. Action Man sales were dropping and the massive success of the Star Wars line prompted Palitoy to produce a new range of small Action Men. This new range was called 'Action Force'.

The initial range included twelve figures, later followed by four more, the majority of which were based on existing military figures, some contemporary (for example there were British Paratrooper and Royal Marine figures), some historical (for example WWII Desert Rat and American Paratrooper figures), and the others were new inventions (for example Desert and Arctic Troopers). They also produced four vehicles and a cardboard base playset. A number of prototype figures also seem to exist from this period.

There was a second release in 1983, which introduced the 'Action Force' team concept, consisting of four separate groups: Z Force - Ground Combat; SAS Force - Special Operations; Q Force - Maritime Operations; and Space Force - Space Operations. An enemy was also introduced in the shape of the Red Shadows. The majority of the figures used some components from the original range, and some others were licensed from the US toy company Hasbro, where they were made as part of the GI Joe range of figures. The new vehicles similarly were a combination of modifications of the original range, and licensed versions of the American range. The main difference between the UK and US figures was that the UK figures had only five points of articulation (each arm, each leg and head), while the American figures also had jointed knees and elbows.

The range was further expanded in 1984 with the addition of new figures and vehicles for each range, again with a mixture, this time of new British designs and licensed American designs.

In 1985 the range realigned with a new unified team called simply 'Action Force' and a new enemy 'Cobra'. The new figures were all of American origin, although some UK vehicles did make it into this range. 'Cobra' was the enemy of the US GI Joe range, and this marked the beginning of a convergence of the two ranges.

Later on in the 1980s, Hasbro took over all rights and simply repackaged the US toys initially as 'Action Force', later as GI Joe - The Action Force' and finally as 'GI Joe'. The older Palitoy figures were repackaged and sold off as unbranded bargain four-packs.

The jointed Hasbro figures are still made today, although the range is now called GI Joe vs. Cobra, and all figures released come in packs of two (one G.I. and one Cobra). These figures are modern remakes of the older figures, and come with magnetic noise feature weapons.

Hasbro also make modern vehicles with activators for the magnetic weapons.

GI Joe is still watched and collected worldwide, and with new figures and cartoons coming out often, it seems to have a safe future.