How Action Man got his famous gripping hands

People at Action Man conventions often want to shake the left hand of Bob Brechin.

Bob worked as chief designer for toy manufacturer Palitoy from the 1960s until the 1980s and played a pivotal role in the creation of Action Man, which celebrated its 60th birthday on Friday.

"We were at the toy fair, putting an Action Man on the display, and [my boss] couldn't get his rifle in his hand, it kept falling out," he said.

Bob said he returned to the factory, then based in Coalville, Leicestershire, and sculpted the figure's famous "gripping hand" based on his left fist.

When asked about the tale behind Action Man's left hand, Bob said: "Well, it's a long story.

"Bill Pugh, my boss, seemed to see things. We were at the toy fair, putting an Action Man on the display, and Bill couldn't get his rifle in his hand, it kept falling out.

"Brian Turney, who was the display manager, just said 'we'll just stick a bit of glue in there and it'll stay'.

"And Bill, you can see him thinking 'No, he needs a gripping hand'.

"So when we came back to Coalville, I sculpted the gripping hand based on my left hand."

Bob said he still goes to Action Man conventions "showing my face and wave my gripping hand" and said other collectors "want to shake my left hand".

He said: "I joined [Palatoy] in 1967. That was the year after Action Man was launched, but it was basically launched as GI Joe in Palitoy packaging.

"So when I joined I started helping the company turn it into a British icon basically."

Initial ideas for Action Man included a red devil parachutist, mountaineer and sports themed figures like a footballer, cricketer and Olympic athlete.

"We tried that, but the kids liked the military in the end," Bob said.

He then had to go over to a Land Rover plant in Solihull near Birmingham, in order to design a vehicle to fit Action Man.

Stuart Warburton, from the Coalville Heritage Society, said Palitoy was once called "a gold mine on top of a coal mine", which is a phrase he felt summed up the now defunct company.

"It employed at the height about one and a half thousand people, more than the pits did.

"We always think of Coalville as being coal mining, obviously, but Palitoy was a major employer.

"And when we've interviewed a lot of the employees and you can count on one hand the staff who wouldn't return. Everybody loved it here. It was a family almost."

Stuart said he had his first Action Man in 1966, but it was technically called GI Joe back then, created by US-based company Hasbro.

As well as Action Man, the factory also manufactured Star Wars figures, Tiny Tears, Care Bears and Play-Doh, Stuart added.

Most manufacturing, including that of Action Man, ended at Palitoy in the mid 1980s, although the site in Coalville did remain open until 1994 when it was finally closed by owner Hasbro.

Last year, Bob auctioned off a collection reflecting his decades of work, featuring items and prototypes from his personal archive.

A new street in Coalville was also named Action Man Road in 2021 to commemorate the figure's legacy in the town.

Additional reporting by BBC Radio Leicester's Ady Dayman

Follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.