>>9989155The Action Force / GI Joe situation is actually not as simple as "Action force is for countries that don't want an American product." Time for a bit of a history slice:
In the 1960s, UK toy company Palitoy licensed the molds for the 12" GI Joe action figures from Hasbro. Because of differences between the US and UK militaries, Action Man focused on being authentic to the UK military, so while essentially being the same toy line as GI Joe, it was a localized incarnation intended for the UK market.
In the 1980s, following the successful relaunch of GI Joe in the 3.75" scale, Palitoy once again licensed the GI Joe molds from Hasbro, and in keeping with the idea of the new toys focusing on a range of characters, Action Man became "Action Force." Action Force was not just a rebranding of GI Joe in the early 80s. It had its own roster of characters and unique mythology, including its own enemy force called The Red Shadows. Even though it was mostly repurposed GI Joe molds, they did have a few unique creations of their own. It was a distinct brand from GI Joe for several years.
Due to various mergers, acquisitions and beans being counted, eventually they dropped the original Action Force mythos and characters, and Action Force became just the name slapped on the UK distribution of the same GI Joe toys that were in America. This was also around the time that the UK got the GI Joe cartoon, rebranded as Action Force but otherwise identical aside from a few minor ADR edits in a few episodes.
Action Force was not about removing the Americanness of GI Joe. It was originally the British equivalent of GI Joe, before just becoming the British distribution label for the American GI Joe toys. And now you know.