BMC Marines

Here's the link to the new BMC Toys blog. There's only one page thus far but much more to come. 

BMC Toys Blog

Close Encounters of the TimMee Kind

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

In Steven Spielberg's sci-fi classic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, little Barry Guiler is awakened from his sleep and watches in amazement as his room full of mechanical toys suddenly come alive. Among them is a TimMee jeep that can seen in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. Thanks to reader J. Mitchell for spotting this one. Be sure to check out the ever-growing compilation of TimMee appearances in movies and television on the TimMee at the Movies post. 

TimMee Germany

Kent Sprecher over at Toy Soldier HQ recently added several photos of very rare and unique TimMee products that were manufactured at their factory (Tim-Mee-Plast Fritz Baumgärtner) in Baden-Baden, Germany during the late '50s. A special thanks to Kent for allowing TMA to post these photos (courtesy of Daniel Lepers). 

First up is the large vacuform diorama with rocket launcher, radar installation and bunkers. Also included were German factory variants of the 60mm U.S. soldiers cast in bright green, light blue, yellow and brown.

Vacuform missile and radar base

Next is the smaller diorama with a single rocket launcher. This set also included soldiers.

Vacuform missile base

Here are the factory's variants of the TimMee rocket launcher platform. In the top left corner is the twin anti-aircraft gun. Below that is the radar trailer. On the right is the more familiar rocket launcher in two different color configurations. Note the extended trailer hitch on all four versions.

Anti-aircraft guns, radar and rocket launcher trailers

The classic TimMee Jeep in transparent yellow with beige wheels and green steering wheel. It is unknown if an identical U.S. factory mold was used to produce the jeep/cannon combo or one that was specifically made for the German factory.

Willys Jeep

The field cannon in the same color combination as the jeep. 

The big mystery here is what's towing the cannon!

Field cannon

Click here for more info on the German variant of the U.S. 60mm soldiers.

Desert Command Series

Desert Command logo

In 1991, after an overwhelming victory by Coalition forces in Desert Storm, the Processed Plastic Company launched the Desert Command Series of soldiers and vehicles to commemorate the event and take advantage of the the public's positive support of the war effort. A new beige plastic (desert tan) was used along with a number of existing molds to produce the series. Those molds included the Vietnam Era soldiers, Patton tank, Scout Vehicle, C-130 cargo ship, M60 (Walker Bulldog) tank, Willys MB Jeep, CJ7 Jeep, M119 howitzer, GMC Troop Carrier, M60A2 Battle Tank, F-16 jet and the Assault Chopper. In addition, a variation of the #5150 Baja Digger dune buggy (released a few years later) was also cast in the same desert tan plastic and sported the Desert Command logo due to a dune buggy's association with desert terrain. Although the series was discontinued in the mid 90s, the company continued using the beige plastic until it closed its doors in 2005. And, unlike the countless variations of green plastic they used over the decades, the hue of the plastic remained the same throughout the 15 year production run of the desert tan products.