Heros Sans Frontieres!

[Thundershot]

Hi all,
I'm hoping that I'm not re-running over old ground here, but reading a thread jogged my memory about owning this French Joe leaflet..Im not sure what year its from, as I can't find a copyright date printed any where, but the layout & toy range are similar the first U.K Hasbro era poster/flyer.
(N.B.Apologies for dodgy camera work, as I don't have access to a scanner)

"G.I.Joe Heros Sans Frontieres"

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"La diabolque Commandant Cobra"
Mail away figure,for only 10 points! & No closing date on the offer, to give any clues..

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The Joe's are the same line up as the 1st U.K. Hasbro line-up, except...

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..for the Flying S.H.A.R.C. in place of the Mauler.

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Same bunch of figures too, with the odd change of name...Air-tight is code named "Oxygene" & Quick-Kick's called "Pied Blinde"(?)

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"Cobra Ennemi"
Again, much the same as the U.K. toy line up, with 2 changes,...

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..Figure wise, Tomax & Xamot are available,& again some names have been changed.. 's called "Tonnerre"(was he also called this by Palitoy before?) & the Dreadnoks are known as "Matamore" (Buzzer & Mchette)

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The Vehicle line-up also includes the "Trouble Bubble" ( I prefer this name to the correct boring one )

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Hope some body has found this informative & that I've not re-traced any old ground..

Thanks T'Shot.

[The Baron]

Interesting that this is the same range that was renamed Action Force in the UK. I had assumed that Hasbro released under the title Action Force all across Europe.

[Lady Jaye]

On mainland Europe Action Force with local languages was only seen during Palitoy era. Hasbro era with local languages only under the name of GI Joe.

[Sundance]

yeah, the weapons transport and Night Landing that were available as mail-aways had Action Force on the English instructions and GI Joe on the reverse with the French instructions...

[Thundershot]

Gotta say this is the 1st time I've really studied the poster closely..
More name changes than I first thought..

:snakeeyes: is called CEil de Serpent, Footloose is known as "Speedy", & Shipwreck is "Loup des Mers", picture wise all the vehicles have the Joe badges, the photo's appear to be the same as the U.K. ones, so were the U.K. pictures "doctored" in some to feature A.F. logo's?
If you look closely @ the photo of the Snowcat, on the U.K. poster, it has a Joe badge/sticker under the polar bear badge!

On the front, the Crimson Guards are "Garde Pourple", I only got an F grade in French G.C.S.E @ school, but doesn't that mean Purple Guard? Another interesting point is that all the vehicles are named in english, for example the ":cobra: Flight Pod" yet all of the figures are in french, for instance "Alp" (Alpine) is a "Chasseur Alpin" & Serpent des Neiges (Snow Serpent's) are "Opereations Polaires Cobra".

[The Baron]

Hmmm, that is strange. There are definitely Hasbro-era Action Force comics in Swedish, Norwegian, German and Danish.

http://www.yojoe.com/comics/international/

I wonder why some countries got Action Force and others got GI Joe?

[DAMartin]

Ripper's french name is Machette? That's the same name of the Dreadnok who replaced him in Sigma 6! Coincidence?

[Thundershot]

Makes you wonder don't it...just thinking about the German ATT line, did Palitoy or anyone release any or Joe & co after that (ATT)range was dropped in Germany? Or was it the case of an extended break, with Hasbro re-launching Action Force, with (like here in the U.K.) no reference to the Palitoy era toys & story?

Also, by this date, had German attitudes changed enough to accept realistic weapons & scenes of violence?...I suppose Hasbro didn't have the same trouble that Palitoy had, as didn't look as Nazi like as Palitoys range did.

[Sundance]

that Flight Pod's engines are on upside down...

interestingly, on the first leaflet (the UK version of that one), all the Joe vehicles have 'Action Force' stickers wisible, except the Snowcat - which as you note has a GI Joe sticker on. (Must be a US photo, since Snow Job's sat in the cockpit w/Frostbite)

but on the second flyer (the one with the WHALE, Trouble Bubble, Rattler et al on) none of the vehicles have either Joe or AF stickers. they have the blue-star-on-red-white-and-blue 'flag' stickers, but not the 'banner' which says 'ACTION FORCE', even on the Silver Mirage, Snowcat and AWE Striker which use the same photos. (Snowcat's pic is clearly doctored to remove the offending 'GI Joe' sticker. The Dragonfly and Skystriker have new photos, mind...

[Quickfire]

Shipwreck is "Loup des Mers"

Seeing as Seawolf put at least 50 tonnes of French engineering on the bottom of the South Atlantic in 1982, this inspired moment should perhaps be gladly ascribed to Francophone trauma about all things Anglo-Saxon.