scar on the cheek registered as a trademark, identical to G.I. Joe. Talking Commander figures often have the soft vinyl painted head also used for talking G.I. Joe figures. Action Man figures of the seventies tend to have a pinker colouration than G.I. Joe.; the feet are of the smaller original G.I. Joe variety. They were held together by elastic with crimped metal eyelets through which rivets passed, for the legs, and metal hooks retaining the neck post and shoulders. Pre-1970 bodies used the painted-rivets similar to G.I. Joe, 1970–1977 bodies have chromed rivets which were not used on the Hasbro U.S. version. Especially noticeable with 1970 is that on figures, the limb sections tend to be slightly smaller than the G.I. Joe counterpart, hence Action Man is slightly shorter in height, very similar to the "Masterpiece Edition" G.I. Joe. The pelvis, also smaller, has an extra ridge on each side immediately above the buttocks, which also distinguishes it from the U.S. version, trademarkings aside. The Canadian G.I. Joe body uses this pelvis. Bodies from 1978 on are all-plastic construction, with a flexible rubber connection for the neck post (this is subject to deterioration). Gripping Hands The initial releases had hands that were virtually identical to those of G.I. Joe. The hands were always an element of frustration, as observed by (Bill) William A.G. Pugh during setups for the annual toy fairs; he found it was hard to get them to really hold any of the accessories securely. Being of hard vinyl construction, glue had to be used to secure the accessories. As a result, gripping hands were the next feature to be introduced in 1973; the hard moulded hands of the original were replaced by a flexible vinyl. These hands were invented by Bill Pugh and designed and sculpted by Chief Designer, Bob Brechin, using his left hand as a model. A modified (simpler) version was used by Hasbro for G.I. Joe in 1974. A thimble was provided with each boxed figure to protect the fingers when changing its outfit. The early (pre 1978) vinyl is prone to breakdown as with the G I Joe version; the deterioration of 73–77 flex hands includes hardening of the outer layers, cracks, discolouration, fingers breaking off and sometimes shrivelling. Flocked hair and Eagle Eyes The second innovation for Action Man was a form of flocking giving the effect of a short "fuzzy"