SAS 1- Special Air Service: "Who Dares Wins"

On 5 May 1980, 5 days into the siege of the Iranian Embassy in London, the whole world sat up and were awed by a new kind of response to terrorism: the storming of the embassy by the SAS in full view of television cameras.

Operation Nimrod was regarded as a success and became a textbook assault that has been studied ever since by special force teams around the world.

These Action Man figures were produced by Palitoy soon after and were extremely popular. These were meant as toys for boys just like barbie is for girls. They have since become collectible figures, unlike the current trend where collectible figures are produced just for collectors (not that I'm complaining coz now there's a whole world of collectibles out there, unlike before).

From 1978 to 1984 (Hasbro's GI Joe line ended in 1976), Palitoy introduced the "Eagle Eyes" figure with "Dynamic Physique" (much like the recent Bruce Lee figure with the moving eyes) and these were used with great effect for the SAS figures. I was totally bowled over by this figure when I first saw it and it was definitely one of the reasons I got into 12" figures. It can't be compared to the ultra-detailed collectible figures of today (pictures to follow shortly) but keeping in mind that this was just meant to be a toy then, it certainly was something to behold.


SAS 2 and SAS 3 (more vintage)