Review: Toys R Us "True Heroes" Pirates (and Skeletons) Set

 Yo-Ho-Ho and a Barrel of Bones!

The True Heroes Pirate set is unusual in several ways. It plays on a theme that has been around for a few years: Pirates versus Skeletons. The first of these were in plastic tubes imported from China about 3 years ago. The True Heroes version set has a bit more.

Opening the set, I came across 41 figures: 20 Pirates and 21 Skeletons. These are all new figures and differ from the Hing Fat figures and recasts of Marx and Ideal figures. Both the Pirates and skeletons in this set are in the 45 - 50mm size range, most being about 50mm. There are six different pirate poses and five different skeletons. The pose animation is pretty good as is detail. I think they would look great painted.

Egyptian-style Skeletons!

The skeletons could be used in Fantasy games. They can also be converted to other poses with relative ease. An average hobbyist could build quite an army with these bony fellow. Simple conversions might yield anything from standard bearers to command figures.

Swordsman and axeman - Shades of Harryhausen!

I was informed that the skeletons were originally offered by a company called Toyway in a large playset. The original set had one more footman - an archer - and a mounted figure on skeletal horse. (Of course, it would not take much to convert an archer from the five figures in the Toys R Us set.)

A rather large morningstar.

The accessories stood out. There were rowboats - one large and two small. Also included was a snap-together platform, possibly meant as a dock. Platform dock? Barrels, boxes and sacks were included, as were treasure chests and some very small cannons. As for scenery, there were a couple of plastic rocks and two Palm Tree pairs.

Good assortment of hard plastic accessories: boxes, barrels, bags & treasure chests

Some of the pirates looked more like Vikings.

Axe-wielding Pirate or Viking?

The True Heroes pirates would blend well with the Hing Fat and recast Ideal pirates. They would be rather short compared to the recasts Marx pirates. There are only six poses, but they are definitely different. One man has a hammer and a short sword, for instance. Another is wielding a hatchet.

Charge!

This is a nice little set that can boost your Pirate and Fantasy armies as well as provide interesting accessories. The small rowboats and cannons are a but small for 50mm figures, but might serve smaller scale figures. The palm trees look good, and the boxes, barrels, sacks and treasure chests are the kind of things that fit many gaming scenarios. A nice set for $9.99

Pirate carrying hammer and Pirate captain.

What with all the unusual sets of figures out there, one could put together a game where Skeletons face Zombies or Pirates square off with Fantasy characters.

Small cannon with skeleton for perspective on size.

2 small rowboats

I large rowboat

2 Palm tree pairs

2 barrels

2 sacks

2 boxes

2 treasure chests

2 stones

4 small cannon


20 pirates:

3 pirates with hammer and dagger

5 pirate axemen

3 pirates with sword and pistol

3 pirate captains

3 pirates shooting muskets

3 pirates walking with musket


21 skeletons

6 mace wiedlers

4 axe swingers

3 scimitar wavers

3 swordsmen

4 spearmen

*****

Review: Tim Mee's Desert Patrol Set

Tim Mee Desert Patrol

When I see some of the low-grade toy soldiers and vehicles from China, I wonder who is going to raise the bar. Then another of the new Tim Mee products comes along and sets things straight. The new Tim Mee has several advantages. Top among them is quality. Superior plastics, better colors and for the multi-piece items, superior construction.

A few months ago, I reviewed Tim Mee’s Combat Patrol set. The set included two of the Tim Mee jeeps and cannons. They have been around for over half a century. The new releases are a quality item. Not your average plastic toy soldier vehicles, at least not these days. Everything is better that the cheap stuff coming from China.

Now, Tim Mee has released this same set as Desert Patrol. The difference is that it is molded in tan plastic. Those of us of a certain age may be reminded of a television series called Rat Patrol. And those who have watched the news over the years have seen tan vehicles similar to the ones used by every Middle Eastern army. There were tan jeeps used by the British 8th Army, the Israeli forces, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and a host of others. We saw them on the news in footage from a dozen little conflicts and incidents.

The Desert Patrol is perfect for those wishing to arm their Tan armies in the battles of Green Versus Tan. The color is just right. Each set also comes with stickers to place on the jeeps and guns. And again, it is the quality that stands out. Knockoffs, clones and cheap copies cannot stand up to these recasts of the original Tim Mee jeeps. They are sized just right for 2" to 2 1/2" soldiers (1/35 to 1/30).

The header card of the Desert Patrol set depicts a jeep with a 37mm antitank gun.  The actual guns included in the set are the same ones that Tim Mee has made since the 1950s. They are small field guns, rather like the infantry guns used during World War II. I surmise that they could be used as field guns or howitzers of 75mm to 105mm bore. I am also reminded of the British 25 pounder field gun. Tim Mee used to include the same gun in their Civil War sets of bagged soldiers. Instead of the tires, the Civil War guns were fitted with red spoked wheels. They looked like World War I vintage French 75mm guns.

The field guns, like the jeeps, are sized just right for 2" to 2 1/2" soldiers. They go well with the Tim Mee Vietnam-era soldiers, as well as the old World War II troops. You can easily make a crew for these guns by converting other toy soldiers. They are among the best cannons for army men ever made.

For toy soldier enthusiasts, the Tim Mee Desert Patrol is a great addition to your collection and your army. This is a quality product that stands far above the general run of Chinese and Mexican made  vehicles.

(Thanks to camera problems, I had to borrow pictures from the Tim Mee site. These accurately depict the Desert Patrol set and what is in the bag. As you can see, the guns and jeeps are nicely colored in tan. )

Would you liek a set of your own? Here is a link to Victory Buy and Tim Mee on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_il_ti_merchant-items?me=A2GZGI1K81HLF2&fst=as%3Aoff&rh=p_4%3ATim+Mee&ie=UTF8&qid=1435452397&lo=merchant-items&tag=armymenhomepage-20