Third generation (1985)
In 1985, Palitoy ceded control of the European market to Hasbro following the death of Alfred Pallett, one of Palitoy's owners, and the winding up of operations at their Leicester factory. Hasbro purchased the Palitoy factory, copyrights, and moulds and began to package G.I. Joe figures under the Action Force brand. In characterization terms, this move marked the end of the subgrouping of the Action Force team, and a new unified Action Force (or AF) also faced a new enemy in the name of Cobra.[4]
The 1985 range were composed mostly from the 1983/84 US GI Joe range which included Swivel Arm reissues of the 1982 figures with some vehicles carried over from the 1983-84 Action Force range two of which Sealion and the Triad Fighter were re-released but Dolphin and Moondancer who as a result of the change to repackaged GI Joe became repainted versions of the GI Joe figures Zap and Short-Fuze.
The parallel comic book storylines also maintained continuity with a number of plot lines that blended elements of the second range of figures with the third, featuring the new characters as an international elite anti-terrorist unit of a wider Action Force. The Force was still backed up by the Z Force, SAS, other units fighting Cobra, the Red Shadows and even a re-animated Adolf Hitler and the Nazis (despite being ostensibly set in the present day). The characters created by Battle Action Force were altered in the European market to have mixed nationalities in contrast to the US-centric G.I. Joe characters. Over time, however, the range evolved into an unreconstructed G.I. Joe force and its enemy Cobra.[4]
The G.I. Joe animated series was re-titled and re-dubbed for release in the UK. Any mention of G.I. Joe was replaced with Action Force, however, the G.I. Joe logo remained on vehicles and equipment shown in the cartoon.
