ACTION TRANSFERS RANGES

Many different ranges of transfer sets were produced. This page lists those ranges where representative examples still exist. Clicking on the small image icons below will direct you to pages dedicated to specific ranges. Additionally, you may be interested in a number of small Feature Articles on various aspects of set production.

Letraset Action Transfers Letraset ACTION TRANSFERS were originally published in the late 1960s but survived production through to the mid-70s. There were at least four different series of these sets distinguished by the colour of the header or border on the front cover (red, yellow, blue and orange). The first two series included 12 different titles in each of 12 different themes. Although the titles differed in each series, the themes remained the same. The 12 themes were: 'Animals Of The World', 'Combat Through The Ages', 'Entertainment', 'Explorers', 'Historic Scenes', 'Hunting', 'Invasion', 'Outlaws Through The Ages', 'Space Adventure', 'Sports', 'War In The Air' and 'World At Work'.
Letraset Super Action Transfers Letraset SUPER ACTION TRANSFERS were also originally published in the late 1960s, surviving production through to the mid-70s. There were at least four different series of these sets again distinguished by the colour of the header/border on the front cover (red, yellow, blue and orange). The style and quality of the transfers declined in the later sets.

Unlike the smaller Action Transfer sets, there were no recurring themes - just individual set titles. There were six titles in each of the first three series (red, yellow and blue) and at least four titles in the fourth series (orange).

Letraset Mini Action Transfers Letraset MINI ACTION TRANSFERS were published in the mid-1970s. The format of these sets was a major (if short-lived) change for Letraset as they featured no iconic cover image - rather they displayed the interior scene as-was along with the transfer sheets inserted. Despite featuring exciting backgrounds and transfers, the scene-creating options were limited due to the size of the sets and the fact that many of the transfers were designed for a specific location on the background scene, rather than to reside wherever the owner saw fit.
Waddington Panoramas Published by games & hobby manufacturer John Waddington but featuring transfer sheets produced by Letraset, WADDINGTON PANORAMAS were some of the earliest sets ever to be produced, originating in the mid-1960s. The sets feature the largest backgrounds of all (3ft when opened-out) which, coinciding with the smallest scale transfers of all, allowed them to live up to their 'panoramic' billing. Based on their popularity, Waddington branched out into licensed TV tie-in subjects such as 'Thunderbirds', 'Captain Scarlet' and 'Joe 90'.
Patterson Blick Instant Picture Books PATTERSON BLICK INSTANT PICTURE BOOKS were published from the late-1960s to the early-1970s and included transfer sheets produced by Letraset. The books, intended as a combined fun/educational range, were written by Dennis Knight - who also provided many interior illustrations. Over 30 different titles were published before production ceased in the mid-1970s. Knight subsequently acquired the rights to the range and, with new covers, re-published the items himself under the banner 'Dennis Knight Activity Books' until the end of the 1970s.
Patterson Blick 3-D Peep Shows PATTERSON BLICK 3D PEEP SHOWS were briefly published in the early 1970s by Patterson Blick, the firm responsible for the earlier Instant Picture Book range. This new twist included the traditional transfer sheet and background scene with the addition of an innovative 3-D 'peep-show' scene to be folded out and constructed into a 'viewing-box'. A very limited range with only four titles but an interesting addition to the available sets.
Dennis Knight Activity Books DENNIS KNIGHT ACTIVITY BOOKS were repackaged versions of the older PATTERSON BLICK INSTANT PICTURE BOOKS with a slightly expanded range. The original books' author and artist (Dennis Knight) picked up the rights to produce the sets when Patterson Blick decided to moth-ball the series in the mid-1970s. The books were obviously a passion for Knight who wanted children to learn about history, science and wildlife through fun activities.
Letraset Super Action Heroes Letraset SUPER ACTION HEROES were published in the mid-1970s and involved a major change of subject matter, being licensed tie-ins to popular 1970s Comics and Television icons. The sets featured a change of artistic style, becoming more cartoon-like but still retaining an impressive and dynamic feel. Icons represented in this range include 'Star Trek', 'Space:1999', 'Doctor Who', 'Wonder Woman', 'Batman', 'Superman', 'Tarzan', 'Kung Fu', 'The New Avengers', 'The Sweeney', 'The Professionals' and 'Kojak'.
Letraset Action Adventure Letraset ACTION ADVENTURE sets were published in the late 1970s. The range featured twelve exciting, adventure-themed sets, with white-bordered covers. The style of transfers and backgrounds was reminiscent of the SUPER ACTION HEROES range, however the transfer sheets themselves were disappointingly small, with fewer transfer images to rub onto the scene.
Letraset Super-Hero Rub-Ons Letraset SUPER HERO RUB-ONS were published in the late 1970s. The range was sadly limited to four titles only - Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Shazam (a.k.a. Captain Marvel) from D.C. Comics. The style of these sets was very similar to the earlier SUPER ACTION HEROES range, however their size was more akin to the smaller, original ACTION TRANSFERS sets themselves.
Letraset Super Friends Letraset SUPER FRIENDS were similarly published in the mid-1970s and featured characters from the U.S. comics company 'D.C.'. They were small, pocket-sized sets which sported paper, rather than card-stock backgrounds. There were 12 numbered titles in the series - each of which featured a pair of heroes fighting a different criminal threat.
Letraset Mini Marvels Letraset MINI MARVELS were published in 1980 and featured characters from the U.S. comics company 'MARVEL'. The sets were produced after manufacturing had moved to Italy but once more appeared in the tried and tested 'pocket-zise' format. There were eight titles in the range, all og which featured The Incredible Hulk and The Amazing Spider-Man vs a criminal threat. The eight background scenes combined to form a larger panorama.
Letraset Kung Fu Letraset KUNG FU transfers also appeared in the mid-1970s, on the back of recent film and television successes in this genre. The series followed the pocket-sized trend and ran to twelve collectible titles.
Letraset Mini-Toons Produced in 1970, Letraset MINI-TOONS were small, pocket-sized sets which sported paper, rather than card-stock backgrounds. The range features humorous and cartoon-like themes aimed at younger children. The 24 numbered sets possessed suitably 'amusing' titles such as 'Camping Capers' and 'Zany Zoo'.
Letraset Soccer Action Replays Produced in the early 1970s, Letraset SOCCER ACTION REPLAYS were again small, pocket-sized sets, sporting the familiar paper backgrounds. The range featured specific games from cup clashes, domestic league games or international matches. The interior sported a background scene and transfers with which the owner could recreate a crucial moment from the match concerned.
Topps Speed Wheels Produced in the early 1970s, Topps SPEED WHEELS sets were manufactured by Letraset and included in cereal packets as 'give-away' promotional items. The set consisted of 24 different backgrounds, each with its unique transfer sheet of Grand Prix Cars, Dragsters, Hot-Rods or Motorbikes. If you collected all 24, the backgrounds would combine to form a single large image.
Letraset D.C. Super-Heroes Letraset D.C. SUPER HEROES were published very briefly in 1978 after main production had relocated from England to Italy. The content of these sets was an amalgamation of SUPER ACTION HEROES sets or SUPER HERO RUB-ONS sets. Either way, the interior displayed two separate scenes (cut down versions of the relevant scene from the earlier sets) and a transfer sheet containing two distinct sets of transfers (one from either scene).
Letraset White Squadron Space Adventures LETRASET WHITE SQUADRON SPACE ADVENTURES was a series of ten small-sized sets (similar in size to the original Action Transfers range) released after production had relocated to Italy in 1980. The range was obviously inspired by the success of Star Wars and was an attempt to piggy-back on the interest in Sci-Fi at that time. The ten sets followed a narrative story of Galactic Drama and featured a number of glow-in-the-dark transfers.
Letraset Film-Licensed Ranges In the late 1970s and the early 1980s Letraset experimented with various FILM LICENSED titles with predominantly science-fiction themes such as 'Star Wars', 'Battlestar Galactica' and 'E.T.' Many of these sets suffered from their transfer images being mixed in scale, presumably to provide a cinematic perspective to the scenes. Unfortunately, this presented fewer scene-creating options to the set's owner.
Birds Sponsored by the Royal Society For The Protection Of Birds, the BIRDS rub-down transfers series was aimed at bird-watchers and wildlife enthusiasts and featured beautifully-realistic depictions of many varieties of birds indigenous to the UK.
Wildlife In Danger! Sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, the WILDLIFE IN DANGER! series was a valiant attempt at highlighting the fragile and precarious nature of certain species around the globe. The range included three titles each concentrating on a different section of the world.
Remus Picturamas REMUS PICTURAMAS were a small range of sets published in the mid-1970s. These sets were repackaged versions of some of the older Letraset Super Action Transfers. They featured the same transfers as the earlier sets but often these were reduced in number. The sets also featured new/different backgrounds onto which the transfers would be rubbed. Despite being well painted, the new backgrounds seemed slightly less three-dimensional than the originals and the transfers rested "less-comfortably" in the resulting image.
Joe 90 Sets JOE 90 sets were marketed as 'Instant Picture Books' similar to the Patterson Blick range but were marketed exclusively by Letraset and were in fact precursors of the PB range. The booklets themselves comprised a 'comic book story' style content with a background scene and monochrome transfer sheets.
Busy Bee Activity Sets BUSY BEE activity sets were published in the late 1960s and were among the earliest of Letraset's transfers ranges. They featured simplistic, block-colour backgrounds onto which monotone transfers could be rubbed. The sets ranged from Nursery Rhymes through Biblical Tales to Wildlife. All of these sets were aimed at the younger market.
Letraset Fun Doodles FUN DOODLES transfer sets were published in the early 1970s and featured characters from Children's Television Programmes (for younger viewers). These sets included transfer sheets only (no backgrounds).
Letraset Walt Disney Storytime Doodles Letraset WALT DISNEY STORYTIME DOODLES transfer sets were published in the mid 1970s and featured characters from Walt Disney's cartoon feature films (again for a younger audience). Unlike the FUN DOODLES range, this series included background scenes onto which the character images could be rubbed.
Letraset Retail Promotions CEREAL/RETAIL PROMOTIONS were used by various food manufacturers as a marketing ploy to grab childrens' attention. Most common among these promotions were Cereal manufacturers such as Kellogs, who often included a small transfer sheet in their cereal packets and a background scene appeared on the rear of the packet itself. Science-fiction films and television series were a favourite theme but a wide range of other subjects was used.
Miscellaneous MISCELLANEOUS. This section covers "everything else" - i.e. transfers sold in packets in newsagents, freebies given away with magazines etc. A real mish-mash of hard-to-find ephemera.
Decoramas DECORAMAS. This section shows examples of the range of French transfer sets marketed under the title 'Decoramas'. I have little or no information about these sets other than to recommend viewing the excellent examples in this gallery.
Trasferelli TRASFERELLI. This section shows examples of the range of Italian transfer sets marketed under the title 'Trasferelli'. I have little or no information about these sets other than to recommend viewing the excellent examples in this gallery.
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