Inspired by the success of the American doll GI Joe, in 1966 the Spanish company Exin created an articulated doll. Although initially it was not well received by toyshops because at that time it was considered that dolls were exclusively for girls, in 1968 Exin launched its Madelman, accompanied by an extensive Christmas advertising campaign, and achieved an enormous volume of sales.

The Madelman dolls, advertised as Hombres articulados dispuestos para la acción (Articulated men ready for action), represented an innovation because they incorporated an ingenious system of articulations without rubbers, in contrast with what was habitual at the time. They were manufactured by Madel, a plastics company of the same group as Exin. The figures, which could adopt different positions, the variety of highly-detailed accessories that could accompany them and the multiple models of dolls contributed to this success. Soldiers, explorers, astronauts, hunters, cowboys and Indians, mountaineers, pirates, Eskimos, divers, policemen and many others formed a repertory of dolls under the motto Los Madelman lo pueden todo (“Madelmen can do anything”). From 1976 onwards, seven feminine were models incorporated, but production ended in 1984.