Ever since I first saw Action Man fly as a child, it has been one of my absolute favourite special shape hot air balloons. Its size, detail and sheer presence make it one of the most impressive balloons ever built, and it has rightly earned legendary status among balloonists and spectators. After some challenges in recent years, we were determined to see whether we could get Action Man looking his very best once again. On a warm June evening at Ashton Court, it was time to find out…
Action Man was built by Cameron Balloons in 1997 to promote the popular Action Man toy range and was operated commercially for Hasbro for three years. Virgin Airship & Balloon Company were the operators of the balloon, who also had the Cadburys caramel bunny and Sonic the Hedgehog amongst their vast fleet of special shapes and round balloons. At a whopping 358kg, it remains one of the largest and most complex special shapes ever built.
Read the full story about how Action Man was created on “Action Man Balloon - A Gripping Hand-Made Tale!” It’s a very interesting read, including Mark’s original design drawings and how it was transformed from a design on paper to aerodynamically function as a hot air balloon and provide enough lift to fly.
Growing up and being interested in balloons and special shapes for as long as I can remember, Action Man was a balloon I always wanted to see. That dream came true when I watched it fly at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta in 2012 as a 12 year old, completely in awe of its size and intricacy. It really is incredible how balloons as detailed as this can be sewn together on a sewing machine. From then on, Action Man has always been one of my favourite shapes.
A couple of years after this while visiting my grandad in Ashton, we spent an afternoon together looking at his old slides from the 80s and 90s of past balloon fiestas. Living so close, they would often fly right over his house. He had slides going way back to 1983 and, you guessed it, the late 90s, where Action Man made an appearance which he clearly remembered. We projected them up onto a screen and I took pictures of them with my camera which actually worked pretty well. He’s probably partly responsible for why I’ve always been so interested in ballooning and special shapes; we were always chatting about them.
 |  |
My grandad's images from the 1998 Bristol Balloon Fiesta
Let’s go back a few years to August 2023 when Action Man joined our collection. At this time I had 7 shapes. I bought the balloon during a visit to the Northampton Balloon Fiesta from Gaby and Karle Grünauer, and we brought it back to Bristol very late at night on the Sunday (thanks Dan!) It was an exciting time, as that year I also managed to acquire Snow White and Sonic, meaning the collection was growing rapidly with some incredibly popular balloons joining. Sadly I never got to tell my grandad that I managed to get Action Man, as he passed away earlier that year, but I’m sure he’d have been really excited for me.
We managed a test inflation followed by a public inflation of Action Man in the weeks following at Ashton Court and the balloon inflated very well. It was lucky to have two weekends back-to-back with virtually no wind on the surface; something extremely rare in this country. The stars had aligned! At time of buying the balloon, it had not been inflated since the first Midlands Air Festival in 2018, so the condition was a bit of an unknown at first.
 Ashton Court, Bristol - September 2023 |  Icons of the Sky, Longleat - September 2024 |
During the 2024 season, we took Action Man to Midlands for two inflations, followed by a stand up at Bath Hot Air Balloon Club’s Snake Meadows, the Bristol Balloon Fiesta for a challenging inflation in far from ideal conditions, and Icons of the Sky at Longleat. I wanted younger balloon fans to have the opportunity to see a true special shape like Action Man up close, just as I did when I was their age. In 2025 we were invited to attend the famous Vredefeesten peace festival in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium and they wanted Action Man to take part in the “old timer” special shape display. The inflation attempt last September didn’t go quite as planned with the back part of the balloon not filling out properly, but the front of the body (head and arms) still looked as impressive as ever. It was really disappointing for me, but we tried our best with the limited time we had.
The problem we had is that all the air was escaping through the orange parachute pack, which holds most of the heat, due to the porosity of that part of the balloon. You can see on some pictures that the bottom parts of the envelope are bright orange, but the parachute pack is a discoloured lighter orange due to all the heat. The heat from the burner should travel upwards, reach the top of the envelope, and then be distributed into the smoke canisters, legs and feet, but this wasn't happening.
After the last inflation it seemed people thought Action Man’s glory days were behind him, and part of me knew they might be right. I was determined to prove people wrong and confident that, with the right weather conditions and equipment, we could bring his superpowers back and turn back the years…
At the start of the 2026 season, one of my main aims was to get him out of the bag and see if we could finally achieve a proper inflation. The perfect weather window to bring Action Man back to life arrived and on Sunday 14th June and our team got all 358kg of him down to Ashton Court. We advertised it to our followers, which read:
“Join us at Ashton Court tomorrow (Sunday 14th June) for an evening inflation of one of the largest special shape balloons around - Action Man!
Since joining MJ Ballooning in late 2023, static displays have become increasingly challenging as the fabric is getting older. As a team, we’ll be doing everything we can to get him looking his very best, but depending on how things go, we regret that tomorrow could be one of his final public appearances.
Hot inflation will be approximately 7pm - make sure you’re there by then. If you follow the path from the mansion house car park, keep walking and you’ll see us setting up in front of you.
This is a rare opportunity to see one of the true greats of the special shape world come to life. And perhaps, although we sincerely hope not, to say goodbye to Action Man.
We hope to see you there“
Our post reached 180,000 users on Facebook and the news also made the BBC website. We arrived mid afternoon to begin set up of the basket, tether lines and the envelope. This included sealing both Velcro rip panels, one in the parachute pack and one in the head, and ensuring the four rip locks were tied in place. It took us about 1hr 15 until we were ready for fans on to begin work on the balloon ahead of the evening inflation and the public arriving. We used a fine chalk powder on the inside, which sticks to the pores in the fabric and temporarily strengthens it, and is fine to do on a non-airworthy envelope. This is a slow process, and we wouldn’t know if our efforts had worked until hot inflation later. We focussed our efforts on the parachute pack. Once we cut the fans, the air in this part was staying in and not falling flat onto the floor like it usually does, so I was pretty sure it would stand up okay and feeling good with an hour to go.
 |   |
Our pilot for the day was Craig Thompson, who has been our pilot for Action Man since I got the balloon. After a year of inflations during 2024 we both knew the balloon inside out, so we work very well together. 6:30pm arrived and it was finally time - fans on! We had two powerful fans instead of usually just one, which definitely helped. My plan was to open one of the deflation Velcros in the leg to blow some cold air into his boots, but it all inflated so well we didn’t need to. The key is to pull the legs down so they’re at a 90 degree angle to the basket. Walking around ahead of Craig standing him up, we both agreed that we’d never seen it cold inflated so well. Usually, the boots struggle to inflate at all at this stage, especially the one underneath, plus the smoke cannisters, but this time all parts were filled with air.
As Action Man stands up, the arm and hand that are on the underside always take a few minutes to inflate. You can tell a successful inflation if the legs are off the ground - this was our aim. One boot was in the correct position already but one needed a bit of help. I rushed over with a few of the team to open the Velcro in the leg and get the fan on it, and within a minute we watched it move and sit in its correct position. It looked very hopeful!
 |  |
I moved back to get some pictures and WOW... it looked incredible! In all my years of watching Action Man, I had never seen him looking so good with my own eyes, not even when I watched him fly nearly 15 years ago. A few more minutes passed, and the legs shifted upwards even more, which was fantastic. Everyone loved seeing him back at Ashton Court, the home of Bristol hot air ballooning, and it was a special moment for us and the team. It’s my favourite of all the balloons we have, and it would have been sad if this was his last appearance. Craig also has very fond memories helping to crew on Action Man in the late 90s as a teenager. I still can’t quite believe that I can call this incredible balloon mine. It really is one of our very best and is a real showstopper even after all these years.
It ended up being a late night as we had to put the balloon back into its storage lockup, which wasn't an easy task even with 10 people helping. Eventually we managed it and he was safely back and ready for his next adventure, wherever that may be!
Image credit: Bristol Drones
Thank you to everyone who came to watch and said hello after, thanking us for bringing the balloon and letting everyone know it was happening. It was lovely to chat with you all.
So, there we have it. This is not the end. Action Man lives on!! You can see him in 2027 when he turns 30… I think he deserves a few special outings next year to celebrate, what do you think?
Thanks for reading as always. 2026 is turning into quite a year for us with our shapes - long may it continue!
See you on the field soon - Matt
