Action figure:Sir Stuart Silver Knight and Valor the Armored Horse

Hasbro's G.I. Joe figures, introduced in 1964, proved that boys could be encouraged to play with manly looking "dolls" if they were called action figures. A number of toy companies manufactured their own line of figures to compete with the military figures from Pawtucket. Louis Marx & Company, a dominant American toy maker since the 1920s, tried going head-to-head with G.I. Joe when it introduced a 12-inch figure of a World War II-era soldier called Stony Smith in 1965. When G.I. Joe defeated Stony in the marketing wars, Marx came out with its Vikings and Noble Knight figures. The line included Sir Stuart, the Silver Knight; and Sir Gordon, the Gold Knight. Each had his colorful suit of armor, extra helmets, weapons galore, and a horse in full armor too. Marx also offered a castle with a drawbridge for the knights.