Plastic Figure Showcase April
Plastic Figure Showcase April we start off by looking at the Timmee Army Man with Bayonet rifle at waist. As I mention before when I am going through junk lots, I am keeping all the Timmee Army man with bayonet rifle. I have plan to line them up side by side defending against somebody. In the last junk lot I discovered the Timmee army in its regular size and pantagraphed down. My question is do you know if it was downsized by Timmee or another company?
Gettysburg Show
We have been hearing very good reports on the Gettysburg Show. Sales on plastic figures and accessories were very good. If you had harder to find items especially Marx covered wagons from the Wagon Train Playset they sold. One dealer sold all of his thirteen Marx covered wagons he had with him. No word how the new items from John Stengel Jr. were selling.
Tarzan
I have up a photo of the Hong Kong Tarzan. This figure is a copy of the Lone Star of the United Kingdom figure. I have seen various versions one of the most interesting is the one in purple. It is not a mistake, they used the Tarzan figure as the Phantom from the comic strip of the same name. The Phantom version is sold on a small blister card to be a rack toy. They are not easy to find. The last one I found loose was about seven years ago.
The African native with spear and shield is usually used with the Tarzan figure. I do not whose figure the African native is based on. but we can see that it was pantagraphed down. Tarzan was done over in Europe by various companies. In the United States, only Aurora made a Tarzan figure in hard plastic The knife on the Aurora figure can easily break.
The two African warriors are direct copy of Lone Star .Britain, Made by HK, entire set was copied .First HK early edition were almost same as original in scale, later were cloned and down scaled-figure at left. You got both molds copies poses
I have 5 TM poses copied and are smaller around 56/58 mm, In my opinion they look cloned HK cheap version, but usually HK mark them ,but after 70/80 start to get so piracy that not even market, so it may be or not the case. I found mine at a toy show many yeas ago.
Interesting is purple Tarzan figure and funny. I had see other HK Lone Star copies but much dark pink skin color and almost as LS in even same paint detail. Never this.
You know all the times I have been in the UK, I have never seen the Lone Star African natives.
Admin.It haopen some times,yet I.bet u saw and got what we never did and will .
Talking about LS tarzan.
Do you know if LS did Jane and animlas x the series?.Most compaines w doing tarzan did it but I had never see any other from LS.
On the Lone Star Tarzan there is the foot figure and a mounted figure. do not know on a Jane or animals. Lone Star has a number of unknown figures. It was just uncovered they had done some musketeer poses. Whether these got out or not to the public I do not know.
Update
I realized that I have some natives. I will have get into the collection and see
Yes.I been trying to get his Turpin and Davy Crockett poses x years and not luck.
Interesting in.mounted pose.It is tarzan too?
Erwin
The Dick Turpin did not likely get over here . It shows up at PW, but the figure is not cheap. The Davey Crockett poses is one running with the rife or standing as there is Hawkeye pose from Last of the Mohicans.
The running with rifle I am don’t think is classified as Dave Crockett. Peter Evans can clarified if that pose is Davey Crockett. I got him with a bunch of the Harvey Cowboys as a child.
I know that DELL was one company that did downsized Timmee. I am sure there are a few others. I have run into the downsized ones at times. One thing about them is that they seem to lose some detail to the figures through the downsizing process.
Bobby Moore
Bobby G .I agree downsizing copies or cloned do loose detail in almost all figures all time. Look the two different version of African Lone star copies above, one almost same as original wile other much smaller and less tip spear and else
Lone star Africans were copied in 60′,not 50’s by HK (STAR) company first in BP or Window long case too ,much later second set way down sized and less detail in bag not blister pack appear too, this is more common around. It all over in eBay at all time too.
The downsized Tim-Mee GI was made/sold by DEL (DELL) of Brooklyn NY. DK Toys and Novelties also of Brooklyn made copies as well in green and metallic blue (Tim Geppert misID’d them as ELDON). I have pictures at my website you can copy and add. The Lone Star Zulus were copied long ago in the 50s/60s. I have a blister card of unpainted copies made 1970s. I can email a picture if you like.
Erwin, If you are talking about wanting a Lone Star Crockett, I have one listed on Ebay now, along with Timpo Tim.
Mike ,sorry I lost my bid, I set a max price in my bets to what I consider value,after I let go as think another time will get it, if not too bad too sad.
thank you x your offer and heads up!!
best
Admin.Thanks x great response.
I will send pic of pose I need.I saw the two and red there is discrepancy too.
I red in two british website as lone star mold history is murky because they used many others molds too and copied from others.
The knights or round table set are more nicer but hard to get too.I only have three poses.Also the plastic used was very bad quality compered to other harvey series.
I miss a low sale bid no long ago in ebay on Turpin and sold very low because listed w out the name.
I red about the musketters ,but some one said were not from LS mold.Cresent was also very tangle w LS during some years.
So may be artist from both companies share it!Same as Cherilea have some Hilco molds and others.Who knows the end game.
I have a book on then,will check later.
People think plagarism of British toy soldiers companies happen from HK only.
It happen a lot from them all time as well many others around world.
HK was the base producer most british toys and they had opportunity to do this more easy after toy soldiers producer original companies reduce their toy war toys ,went out business or simple did not care they used their mold.Least they kept toy soldiers coming in two decades after the toy soldier era went down in most developed countries.
Mike send me u item number please.thanks
Erwin
IF you put in Timpo Tim in search at Ebay you will get Mike’s figure.
Yes minor British companies stole from the major companies. Britains British soldiers and Timpo GI are two examples that come to mind. Once these smaller companies disappeared the copies came Hong Kong.
Thanks Admin that is the pose I want.
Thanks Mike x leting me know.I’m on it on ebay already.Hope I win.:-) 🙂
hope you do, too. thanks for bidding.
Paul, thanks for a real pleasant blast from the past. That Timmee Bayonet man remains one of my favorite toy soldiers from my childhood for sentimental reasons. Among the first toy soldiers I ever got (I think it was the same Christmas I got the Marx Giant Blue and Gray that REALLY started it for me) my aunt and uncle bought me a set of the Timmee figures in metallic blue with a nice sized semi tractor-trailer carrying a couple small bronze colored plastic propeller airplanes. I loved that set. I think I still have a couple of the figures from the set. There’s something about that pose that says the guy means business to me. I also liked the officer and the guy creeping forward/advancing with the grease gun. Actually not a bad series of poses when you think of it, even the dozing machine gunner. I’d love to dig out a couple minesweeper guys and convert their mine detectors into dust brooms and/or buffers to accurately reflect garrison life… 😉
There was many a Bloody Bayonet fight in the dirt pile between the Timmee and the Marx/Lido bayonet man back in the day.Timmees were my “Enemy” Army against the Marx/Lidos and my Reliable Canadians.One thing I noticed on the Timmee Overhead bayonet figure was on every figure his bayonet seemed to be a different size.What’s the scariest thing anybody ever said to you?”Fix bayonets”.
Yes once armor and body defense desapair from wars,the bayonet and knife are scarry.
Specially when hand to hand combat braking line or colum formation were charging bayonet was used as a wall of spear x push stab tide effect.
In loose bayonet combat u can get stab by your opponents or any around wile u engage other and as not body protection u are a weak easy target.That is was learn in trench warfare in WW1 at big scale as cobfined space and in WW2 soldiers avoid it at all cost.The increase of use in automatic weapon reduce it big time.A clear example is the advantage Marines and U.S. soldiers against Japanese charging were only in extreme they depend to hand but almost all time dispatched them w shots .
I bought a recast set of the Timmees and it included two sizes of several of the figures, including that figure advancing with the bayonet. I was puzzled by the size discrepancy in the same set. I wonder did Timmee ever downsize its figures, did the recaster use two molds, or were these not really recasts of Timmee but of some other company that cloned them? If it helps, I think I got a set of these mixed size Timmees in one of those mostly MPC Battleground sets sold at ToysRUs in the early 90’s.
Daniel.Are you sure you got them in that playset?
I remember those odd reissues playset do not have any Tim Mee first series GI’s as far I saw the ones I open …
The only playsets sold with Tim Mee were using the later Viet Nam era sets and were used for the firs Iraq war playset call I guess (desert storm playset)!? or something like that.
Of course I could be wrong, but will be interesting if those GI’s were use in those too.
Erwin, these were the sets sold in ToysRUs – not the later more elaborate sets that had Marx Marines, French etc. The sets I bought had a photo on the box face that showed MPC US soldiers fighting MPC German soldiers. In the box you normally found the MPC GIs, MPC Germans, the MPC bunker, and a bunch of MPC tanks and vehicles and I think a couple of Marx howitzers. I had a few of these boxes and in one of them I was surprised to find the “Timmee” recasts/clones instead of the MPC GIs. And as I said, this set, like a later recast set I bought, had figures in two different sizes, roughly 60 mm and roughly 54 mm – the man advancing with a bayoneted rifle, the man with the bayoneted rifle over his head, and the officer with a pistol. I assume these ToysRUS playsets were put out by the folks who later revived Marx for a few years – the company name on the boxes may have been Toy Street. I think they would toss anything into their sets. I once bought one of the more elaborate Battleground sets and it included recasts of the 45 mm Marx training camp GIs to go up against the 60 mm MPC Germans!
Yes Daniel. I bough one playset in early 90’s too,they were also around in few show in same time .But all I saw and open indeed had the MPC figures as showed outside and American were all waxy. I recall too the nice MPC bunker and rest armored tracked vehicles true 1.32 but historical made by MPC as well in same playset. I resold the set many years ago too.
But never out of three I open or saw open found the Tim Mee figures .In same time a Tim Mee Iraq war playset was sold using same accessories but with modern Tim Mee soldiers and another using MPC GI’s in tan and green too for Iraq first war playset with Tim Mee M60 tanks too but MPC deuce truck instead TIM MEE.
So that may be a limited run as you said and uses every thing to feel in ,or may be the case of swapping by some one!?
In TRU in mid 90’s I open an BMC playset to inspect as was apparently partial opened and figures inside were swapped by cheap Chinese copies of Airfix Indians in the same bag the BMC were suppose to be. I can believe people do this things, even some bad collectors do this things around. The funny part I took to front and show to AST manager, few weeks later the same case with false figures was back in shelf.
The guy name you mention is not coming now to my head now-sorry-(I know is polish or close last name) . He run some of the Marx mold early from Miami warehouse and distributed the recast Marx /MPC mix playset in early 90’s if I’m not mistake.
Admin is the best on this part..
The Timmee 50’s army molds were in Mexico by the late 70’s early 80’s so I seriously doubt they were in any set at Toys R Us.
The name you are thinking about is Jay Horowitz of American Plastic later Marx.
Admin I was thinking same ,base in fact that that playset would had been using two complete different version mold from (Tim Mee one and other from another maker that did the 54 mm version not done by TM ),would be very rare and odd, also because as you tell us now ,the molds were in Mexico by them and those playset were run using non Mexico molds but few MPC and Marx in US molds mix .
So my thoughts is Andy got it from a rare playset or some one swap it at store like I mentioned.
Erwin, I am positive I got these Timmee recasts/clones in one of those early mostly MPC Toystreet army sets – I have them just upstairs. Some years later I bought some “Timmee” first series recasts from Classic Toy Soldiers. They were just like the ones in the Toystreet set only a harder plastic. And just like the original batch, some of the figures were in a larger and smaller size, including the advancing man with bayoneted rifle pictured above. That is what I don’t understand – why the different sizes in the same set? I don’t believe that the “Timmee” clones were inserted in the Toystreet box because it was sealed – and in any case, where would a nefarious customer come up with a bag of these recasts in those days? Was Toystreet a Jay Horowitz operation? Given that Horowitz would stick all kinds of figures into his “Marx” sets, it makes much more sense to me that they were substituted for the MPC GIs by the company. But to get back to my original question – given that these sets came with different sized figures, could it be that they were not really Timmee recasts at all, but recasts of somebody that cloned Timmee.
Andy I do not doubt your find neither denying is true the figures were inside at all. I trust what you saw and got.
But I have doubt that Tim Mee molds that I never heard been run by Jay Horowitz and also the Dell’s Tim Mee run by him too as the feeler of his playset he did were using MPC and Marx mold mix as we all know or as far I’m aware unless he used something else in quantities .
So unless some could corroborate he used the old two Tim Me/DELL mold to do these playset I as well others who know about this will have to stick to what was used in them officially.
My personal assumption is either you got a odd rare not long produced playset or some one mix. That was done using exes overstock of old production left over may be!?
Or some swap them.
The logic base in some person doing it is base in two point from my view and had been done…
Point one-A person was looking x accessories inside more than set and kept the figures as he had excess of TM figures as were produced till well later 60’s ,specially the smaller and still abundant at shows else x few pennies-dimes
Lets not forget that PMC bunker and armored tracks did not come out again till 90’s on those playset and many were looking x as only 1.32 close scale versus Marx under scale plus CTS armor and Airfix recast had not been done yet till 1997/98 first.
Point two: MPC Germans were the main target of the buyers of these playset as x long were not run or reissue wile American MPC were and also cloned by Chinese HK companies for long in late 80’s .So any body have extras Tim Mee would have done so as considered more value/important to get the Germans MPC than few Tim Mee poses as Tim Mee were very easy and are all way around from garage sale to any show as most cheap to found of old vintage figures except the few staff and motorcycle, dog and medical poses.
So yes any body could had well done the swap.
Till 90′ the only Germans around were Airfix recast ,rest were vintage Marx(still vintage),lido vintage(still vintage) and CTS had not done his firs set yet plus BMC horrible D day playset did not come till 1998 or later.
As I said before not doubt in your playset and what it got inside. Just curious and doubt it was intentional done in any amount using reissues of such two different brands companies(TM and Dell) molds .
If Tim Mee first series halves/molds were by them in Mexico as Admi already clear up I think the reissues you got are indeed from Mexico, after to this playset and later recast in not all poses imported from there, you still can find reissue sets in not all poses on eBay from Mexico direct, often run in fiesta colors.
as well the mold poses of LIDO/MARS 60 mm used in seral cases original that are in Mexico too.
CTS had bought from Mexico in past many times as well others after few contact created by few US collectors that made contact and travel to that country.
To whom they should thank the labor and effort .
Now the smaller down scale mold is another history and I do not know were the mold went after or else at all.
Kent should know more about as he mentioned.
Would be interesting the figures from bags you still have to see the poses and colors y runs in the playset you got in picture, that will probably help more distinguish the difference.!.
P.S I worked many year in retail as buyer/vendor and two years as store manager in Kmart. Trust me ,any body could use a clear bag and reseal it bag using heat dryer. I saw it so often when doing returns.
I saw medicine out counter bottles with lead glue back been refunded…my history are countless.
worst part, the store take it back, why??
Because you can not proof the customer returning got it as that or his did it!?
In the early 2000 I saw with my eyes CTS tiger tank inside 21 century box inside stores. Who you think did this?-collectors =bad example of them but there some
thanks/.
Again I’m not saying was case at all, but thinking as possibility out unless some one with facts/DATA could corroborate those playset were run using Tim Mee and Dell molds sets or left over in quantities.
Best…
I don’t know (and didn’t care at the time) who produced it or had the molds, but I picked up a set at the Toys R Us in Birmingham, Alabama during a trip up to the VA Hospital – it had to be 92 or 93 – right before I got remarried. Thing was, it was almost completely MPC recasts, with the bunker, various MPC tracked vehicles and trucks molded in gray for the Germans green for the Americans; the only non-MPC items (and I thought it strange and still have the figures in one of my containers) were the Americans, who were the original Timmee GIs. I also know a little later on another trip (I used to have to go there every month) I picked another one up (mainly for the bunker) and the GIs had been replaced with MPC recasts. So it might have been a quick one-off situation.
Wayne, thank you so much coming aboard and helping Andy , so it does confirm Andy finds he had was not a swap but second option(using either left over or else in first batch playset limited till MPC mold were used).
My question now that it was not a swap and a use of limited run set apparently as most had all MPC later .
Were these TM figures come from?
If old stock left over or some cloned from Tim Mee as Andy suggested too?.
If ever possible please…
Any way you could match the figures with original(the Tim Mee tall figures ,not smaller) and see if looks new ones or match with old in color or plastic type!?
Wayne one other question x you is.
Did your set have both Tim Mee ,smaller and taller figures ,or just one size figure style mold?
I’m trying to investigate this out curiosity
Thanks Wayne for confirming that these “Timmee” figures were put into those Toystreet sets. Erwin, I am also fascinated with the size discrepancy of some of the figures. I have never seen such a thing before in the same sets of armymen. I just looked over the set of 35 “Timmee” first series recasts that I purchased from Classic Toy Soldiers a few years back. They are all molded in the same green stiffish plastic. I have noticed size differences with the officer, minesweeper, bayonet overhead and bayonet advancing. Unfortunately I don’t have any original Timmee figures to compare these against.
I had some kind of playset when I was a kid that came with the Centurion tank, firing howitzer and some battlefield accessories that contained Lido figures in gray and green. Very disappointing, I wanted a Battleground.
Ed
How big was your Centurion Tank? If it was very large it would be one that Aurora did with Timpo. If it was it is a demand set.
Ed ,I have two Centurion-I1945/46 early models both large ,one 1.36-aprox other more bigger 1.32 aprox, they are less accurate than standard much later-70’s HK 1.48 scale plastic centurion model III, done and recast-cloned after by all Chinese and often found in many cheap bag sets.
The two Different centurion large version tanks are made in Britain, wile one has made in Britain in wheels bellow and bottom floor is metal, rest hard plastic and dark olive color.(It often appear with a playset sold by T.Cohn with a jeep and a m26 more detail tank but a bit short. I had seen this playset in shows and eBay with Lido figures. How a tank like this pup up in a TC brand US playset is not idea as would be from mid late 50s with Korean war when both tanks (centurion and m26 were used) but is rare see British toys mix with US toys in playset.
May be admin could explain this …!?
Now other Centurion I have is much larger 1.32-1.30 and is friction ,half bottom is plastic in silver color, turret in red with short barrel .Base is tin .Now this one I had only see along in single boxes and I can provide pictures of it.It was copied in HK-later, with out friction and larger barrel that actually make looks more accurate, but I had not be able obtain it yet, only one original.
The tank was about T51 Marx size, maybe slightly larger, part metal and part plastic, a hard plastic. I think I still have it some of the figures and a few accessories. The only thing that survived my childhood were my WWII soldiers and a Miniature Charge of the Light Brigade. I sold the Lido Japs and Germans as well as the Charge of the Light Brigade. I bought two other Charge of the Light Brigades since then and sold them both too.
Yep, I still have it, it’s hard plastic top with metal bottom, close to 6 inches long and 2 1/4 inches tall. It’s in pretty good condition too.
Ed if is not silver and red bout other color such dark olive green or green and very hard plastic material as typical plastic used by early lido cars or else with tin metal bottom, that is the one!!!,Not the much larger I have too,but other. Bingo!!
The other probably tank with it would be the M46 Patton or m26 made in same material and a US jeep too in that playset and it was sold by T-Cohen with those Lido figures. I can tell that playset is not cheap!!
Wish to ever see a Charge of the Light Brigade playset in person, I had none ever till today..
Thanks x sharing…
In my personal experience I barely loose a toy from my childhood, my mother and dad never touched ,so kept them x ever but few who I sold after or give away. So I become an collector since the 17 I should said …
I found it odd that a British tank was in a set with Lido figures. The set had a cardboard mat, a plastic fallen tree, two hard plastic pieces that you could string barb wire from and I believe it had some vacuum form craters and a hard plastic pontoon bridge. Also had a Marx like firing cannon in hard silver plastic, I still have that too, but the wheels are broken. It was a pretty set that ended up being absorbed into the rest of my soldiers. I remember being very disappointed, not quite as disappointed as I was when I wanted a Marx Blue and Gray set and ended up with ring hand MPC set. Seems I never got my Xmas list fullfilled, I remember asking for a Cape Caneveral and got a Deluxe Redding and I asked for a Marx Artic set and got the Ideal trading post . Funny thing I think I enjoyed those two sets more than I would have enjoyed the two Marx sets. Sure it was disappointing to open them initially, but after setting them up I enjoyed them more than I would have the Marx sets I’m sure. The Redding set was often the defensive position against GI attacks, the rocket launchers took a heavy toll on the attackers and the trading post was often combined with other fort pieces to form an impregnable fort against the Indians. Many an Indian bit the carpet in those attacks.
Ed ,may be your Santa got drunk too much and mix the description. Too bad back them we could not know as much detail in brand as now, otherwise your letter would had given more detail I think.
Good idea using the space rocket as a base/bunker. I would no though of it and now I may be looking in to that as a plan!!
Unfortunately I never had a fort as child, only castles,
May Dad start making one of wood ,but never finish it as too busy. I ended always with cavalry and cowboys fighting against Indian in rocks and open, I got a big back yard and dig few trenches x me so I can be in level with figures in ground. Only one picture of me doing it exist, let me see if I find it so you guys see me doing it.
I most said doing it I lost several figures that I bet are deep dig bellow soil still in my older far away home, rain was always responsible to hide with mud them.
The tank is a dark olive green, it was the only tank in the set.
I had two Charge of the light Brigades with Brits in red and Russians in blue and the other larger set was Brits in red against muticolored Arabs or Turks. They were cool sets, but of course very fragile. The first one I had was a sealed set off the shelf and even that one had broken pieces inside the bags. I imagine many sets had broken pieces in them due to the flimsy box they used.
Interesting about the one tank, I had see it with two ,other m46 ,and yes now I recall the cannon but less detail than Marx I guess. So you may got a different-probably early version too from same series. Wonderful.
More interesting is what you said abut Charge of the light Brigades ,
So the figures were done in the fragile stiff plastic as some other Marx HO set too?
Wonder why the run ( I think in HK too )in that plastic!? been actually smaller figures,what a pity!!.
Yeah all the miniature sets I have seen come in that fragile hard plastic. I have seen most of the sets, I only owned 5, at one time I owned two Guerilla Warfare sets, sold them too. They are nice sets, very colorful look excellent when set up, just way too fragile for kids to play with , mine survived childhood because I was 14 when I got it and it sat in a closet for 30 years. I remember I got it like two days after Xmas, they were on sale and there were hundreds of them at Sears in many varieties, I picked the Charge of the Light Brigade because I never had anything from that era and it was the most colorful of them all, $5.00 was the price, I wish I had more money and bought 20 sets. Took me about an hour to pick one out , so many to choose from.
The Deluxe Redding had two buildings and the one that launches the large rocket was really tall , ideal for snipers , the other had four or six detachable rocket launchers that fired rubber tipped rockets. They also doubled as weapons in our many gun fights, they fired much better than those Mattel hand guns and rifles. In any case greenie stick em caps weren’t welcome in the house.
My buddy’s grandfather worked at a lumber mill in Michigan and one time he brought me a box of finished two by fours ends and smaller two inch square blocks and this gave my forts a new dimension. Took me hours to build the fort and set up the figures for my huge battles, sometimes took two days to complete if there was a good ballgame going on outside. Sports and toy soldiers occupied much of my youth. Never went in much for cars , trucks or board games as a young kid, that came later. Eventually girls and beer put all those other activities to rest, except sports.
I have the Blue and Gray, Fort Apache and Western Town mini sets and I love them.
Like you Ed, I’ve had several Blue and Gray mini sets and sold them. I kept a mint one for myself.
The Western Town is really cool with all those cardboard buildings.
And the Fort Apache look good all set up.
I’m thinking of making display bases for them like Jim does.
Lately, I’ve been taking things out of boxes and deciding if I really want or need this particular piece anymore. The more stuff that I get rid of leaves me more space to display what I really like. Thinning out the heard, so to speak.
I understand completely, Bill. But let me tell you —- over the years I have sold many pieces, including Barzso Playsets, Atlantic 60mm Ancients, Elastolin, and Captain Gallant 60mm Arabs, and a lot of other things as well, and I have come to regret almost everything I sold, wishing I had it all back. Some things I wanted back so badly that I paid higher prices at toy soldier shows just so I could once again have them back in my collection.
Today, I’ve learned my lesson: I don’t sell anything, because what I think I’m permanently tired of turns out in a couple of years to catch my re-interest. But I agree, space can become a problem.
I got not time x display,not space x my insane collection ever growing and eventually need to invest in display cabinets.The worst problem as it is much costly.U need some good full tide enclosed glass shelves or all will get dusty w years and only way to clean it is by running under water.
I had x long reduce my repeated set or execs toys.Give way many to good friends and still no way to go down but keep growing.I think is a addiction.:-) 🙂 🙂