Tim Mee reissues: Dinosaurs, Backwoods Battle frontiersmen

Fellow fans of vintage cheap toys will be happy to know that the reissuing of old Tim Mee plastic figures that's been going on over the past couple years continues to go strong with new re-releases in 2014. One of the most recent reissues is the classic Dinosaurs set.

These guys were originally produced in the 1970s by Tim Mee's parent company, Processed Plastic. As with the previous Tim Mee reissues, these new versions are released by J Lloyd International Inc. and VictoryBuy, made in the USA. They come 48 pieces in a bag with a header card featuring some simple, fun, colorful art. Half of the figures in the bag are yellow and the other half are olive green.

There are nine different sculpts in the set, so you get multiple pieces of each sculpt in a single bag. What's cool about this set as compared to other plastic dinos released over the years is that you also get saber-tooth tigers and wooly mammoths. Yes, it might be grossly historically inaccurate, but it does make for a more interesting group of figures. The dinosaurs in the set include a T-Rex, Stegosaurus, Diceratops, Dimetrodon, Brontosaurus (Apatosaurus), Ankylosaurus, and duck-billed dinosaur (Hadrosaurid). Here's a shot of all of the sculpts in both colors:


The sculpts (the longest of which measures 2.8") are nicely done with a good amount of detail, and the figures are made out of a sturdy plastic that's firm but still has a bit of give. I also like the combination of the yellow and green color--it gives them a vintage '70s feel which adds to the nostalgia factor. This, combined with the variety of creatures, makes this a really nice set of dinos!

The Dinosaurs are currently available through Amazon for $11.80 per bag of 48. And if you want to have some even more historically inaccurate fun with these beasts, you can also have them do battle with this other new Tim Mee reissue set:


These vintage frontiersmen have been re-released in a bag of 24, including nine different sculpts all in a dark brown color. They were originally produced in 1964 by Processed Plastic, marketed as Davey Crockett and Daniel Boone toys back then. Here they're called Backwoods Battle, and as you can see from the bearded gent on the header card artwork, battlin' in the backwoods has never been so much fun.

As with the Dinosaurs, there are nine different sculpts:


The figures have a nice variety of poses, with a few in a riding pose (although there are no horses included), two kneeling down and the others standing with their guns pointed in different directions. The color and sculpts definitely bring the nostalgic feel of old western toys. But personally, I think it's even more fun to send them back in time to battle the dinos instead of just each other:


You can stage your own Backwoods Battle by picking up a bag of the frontiersmen on Amazon for $11.80.

And there you go:  A couple of the latest offerings to carry on the joys of bags full of plastic mini figures. Stay tuned for another post covering some more Tim Mee reissue goodness of "jumbo" proportions...