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Walker Bulldog Take 2

Friday, May 5, 2017

TMA Flashback

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Here's an old screenshot of the TimMee Army website circa 2004. I never submitted it to the search engines as my attention turned towards Unimax; which led to the creation of a Forces of Valor website. Both are still active but buried deep within the bowels of an old network server where they will remain indefinitely. So if you've ever looked at the blog's footer, noticed the 2004-2017 copyright tag and wondered if TMA has actually been around that long, the answer is... yes.


M41 Walker Bulldog Reissue

Monday, April 24, 2017

The TimMee M41 Walker Bulldog (dubbed the 'M60' by Processed Plastic Co.) finally makes its return after a 12 year hiatus courtesy of J. Lloyd International, Inc. It was Christmas 2003 when I last spotted them in a brick and mortar. Halfway down a discount aisle was a rather large pattern that suddenly caught my eye. It was row after row of Walker Bulldogs stacked from top to bottom, four deep and in every color. There must've been easily a hundred perched in the their cool display boxes. I grabbed as many as I could juggle as they were only $4.99 a pop. I promised myself I'd go back and fill up a shopping cart. But I never did. 

The tooling for this reissue, as with the others, has stood the test of time. There is no flashing whatsoever and the lines are as crisp as day the Bulldog first rolled off the Montgomery assembly line back in 1983. And might I add that it looks especially slick in this new shade of army green (as do the S.W.A.T. Team figures). Gone is the original front hull U.S.A. sticker which has been replaced with an historically accurate single star courtesy of the included sticker sheet. Those in the "family" business will really appreciate the M41's generous trunk space provided for all of your hauling and disposal needs. Rope and duct tape not included.

While its obviously larger in scale then the majority of the TimMee army vehicles and soldiers, its always been popular amongst kids and collectors alike. And this reissue should continue that trend for many years to come.

Semper Fi! 









Arco TimMee Clones

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Back in late 2013 I wrote an article about the Manaplas M35 cargo truck. With the exception of bigger tires and a few very slight detail variations it was an excellent cargo truck clone despite the oddball colors. I recommend searching for them on Ebay if you love the Deuce as much as me.
So this week I finally came across the other cargo truck clone I'd long sought after. This one was produced by a Bangladesh company called Arco Industries LTD. which is said to have been founded in either 1948 or 1955...depending what part of the Interweb you've been rummaging around in for information. The company was eventually purchased in by Mattel Toys in 1986.  


The slightly smaller dimensions, subpar detail, flashing and warpage of this truck are typical of the Asian knock-offs produced by companies such as Imperial. Accompanying this shipment was an M48 Patton tank, Willys Jeep and field cannon. All three appear to be cast from the Larami toolings. Since Larami was purchased by Hasbro in 1995 and Arco purchased by Mattel in 1986, this would lead one to believe that any tooling shared between the companies took place prior to '86 as neither Hasbro or Mattel (two of the biggest toy companies in the world) would never share tooling with their arch rivals. And I'll bet they didn't crowd fund either. But I digress. 



UPDATE - 4/27@11:13PM: Reader Kirk Larson Submitted the following pics of the Arco Sea King helicopter. Thanks, Kirk!