Rescue of the Lost Squadron

Before Action Man branched off and created their very own unique and outstanding uniforms, they borrowed very much from their close yankee cousin, G.I. Joe which debuted in 1964 with the first Action Soldier!

The Action Man Ski Patrol set (mentioned in my previous post - link here) was originally a G.I. Joe Ski Patrol set which was first released in 1965. Yup, some of you weren't even born yet! In 1999, Hasbro introduced their G.I. Joe Timeless Collection series to mark the 35th year Anniversary of G.I. Joe and reproduced some of their finer pieces for collectors.

Rescue of the Lost Squadron was such a piece. First released in 1969, it describes how in 1942, a five-man rescue team from a small Army weather station was called upon to rescue 25 Army Air Corps crewman whose plane had been forced down on the Greenland Icecap by severe Arctic weather conditions after Base Command had made little progress in rescuing these men from behind an iceberg-lined glacial barrier. With minimal preparations and equipped with skis, sled and sled dogs, they scaled the treacherous cliff of Greenland's mammoth Icecap and successfully rescued the 25 airmen, with no loss of life or even a serious injury, becoming the largest successful rescue mission in Air Force history.


Out-of-the-box and still displayable with nice arctic background shots

Snow shoes, which I had forgotten to include in the previous post

White M1 helmet with Polar Bear insignia, binoculars and 4 grenades

M1 rifle and pick axe

One of the beauties of this set has to be the 1/6 scale sled dogs. Purebred sled dog breeds range from the well-known Siberian Husky and Alaskan Malamute to rarer breeds such as the Mackenzie River Husky or the Canadian Eskimo Dog (Canadian Inuit Dog).

The 3 dogs come with harnesses for pulling the sled

Such grit and determination as they push on through the tough arctic conditions

The sled for putting all their gear as well as to act as a stretcher for the injured, if any

Storage cases/containers bearing the G.I. Joe 35th Anniversary logo

The trooper is wearing pretty much the same as the one posted in the previous post i.e. snow white parka and pants, goggles, gloves, belt with ammo pouches, canteen with cover, back pack, rope and boots

The trooper has his 35th Anniversary dog tag, regular dog tag and chain

It's quite hard to keep white uniforms in pristine condition as they tend to turn yellow with age and spots show up as well, even if they are kept in the box

Other G.I. Joe 35th Anniversary collections posted earlier:

35th Anniversary pack showcasing 1964 G.I. Joe and 1999 Land Warrior Joe (link here)

Deep Sea Diver - Danger of the Depths (link here)