BMC Iwo Jima Marines and Japanese in Marx-compatible colors.

Some years ago, I bought the Iwo Jima playset by BMC. That was when it was first released. I liked it then. The ground base was cool, and the LVT and Sherman tank looked good. Though I liked the poses and detail, I thought the colors of the Japanese figures were a bit too orange. The Marines were a lighter OD shade. I later acquired more of the sage-green Marines and tangerine-colored Japanese.

The new Add-on set issued by BMC has 14 Japanese (2 of each pose), 12 Marines (1 of each pose) plus the six-man Iwo Jima flag-raising diorama. The figures have not changed. One thing that has changed is the availability of the Iwo Jima figures in new colors. responding to customer suggestions, BMC offers this set in both the original colors and in colors that are more compatible with Marx, Tim Mee, MPC and Lido troops. These new colors are a darker green for the Marines and a khaki tan for the Japanese.

What a difference color makes! Both Marine and Japanese figures look great in these colors. The colors make the details stand out better. Frankly, I like these Japanese troops better than the Airfix counterparts. Ditto for the Marines. The Airfix 1/32 Japanese and Marines are okay, but the BMC figures are better. As good as the Marx recast Japanese Infantry figures are, BMC’s Japanese troops have better detail. They might not have as many poses, but the BMC figures are much better detailed. BMC Japanese have 7 poses, Marx’s set has 12.

Many people do not know that the originals were made as painted metal figures by King & Country. BMC licensed the figures for the Iwo Jima Playset.

The set itself has plenty of firepower. Japanese forces have riflemen supported with light machine gunners and “knee mortars”. US Marines have riflemen, BAR gunners, a flamethrower and a bazooka.  There is also a peculiar figure of a Marine in life jacket standing on  box. He was supposed to ride wither in he landing craft or the LVT.

Consider it a plus that the Iwo Jima Marines and Japanese are affordable, quality figures. List price is $12.20 a bag. That includes 12 Marines, 14 Japanese and an Iwo Jima flag-raising piece with six more figures. Man for man, that is less than the average price for Marx recasts. Get while the getting is good!

The BMC set has enough troops for a game of OMOG Advanced, by the way. That would place 12 on the US side and 14 for the Japanese.
*****

So how do these new “Marx compatible” colors measure up against the old ones? Let’s take a look! I have plenty in the older colors: light (Sage) green Marines and orange-tan (Tangerine) Japanese. The darker Green Marines and Tan Japanese look much better than their light green and Tangerine counterparts. See for yourself!

Improved Flag on rifle for Tan figures

A bag of cabbage salad? No, these are the Iwo Jima figures in the old colors

******

You can get there here: https://victorybuy.com/collections/bmc-toys

Marine on box imitates politician on soap box. 

You can also get them here: https://bmctoys.com/

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