BMC Toys Playset Development Mid-August 2024
Posted by Jeff Imel on
We're close to finalizing contents for some playsets scheduled to arrive around March 2025. I don't have cost estimates just yet, and some refinements or adjustments might still be made.
BMC Toys - American Hero Collection:
American Revolutionary War - Battle of Yorktown
This boxed playset will include a full revival of the early 1990's BMC Toys Yorktown set. Reproduction molds are being made of the BMC redoubt, cannon, mortar, mounted George Washington, 4 colonial infantry, and 5 artillerymen.
The set will also include the current BMC Yorktown figures and the recent Battle of Trenton Hessian figures. To further expand on the original set we're including reproductions of some accessories from the mid-1990s BMC Alamo and Little Big Horn sets, and other BMC and CTS landscape accessories. These contents are an overstuffed wish list with over 200 pieces and may need trimmed back for box size or cost:
American Revolutionary War - Battle of Bunker Hill
This playset is a more affordable American War of Independence shoebox size set. It's designed to be a great add-on to the Yorktown set, while also representing another famous battle. I've scoured art and written descriptions of the battle to come up with a redoubt layout with existing pieces. Here's a possible contents configuration with around 85 pieces:
Battle of the Alamo
A new project I'm considering for 2025 is a BMC Alamo revival that would include an improved reproduction of the BMC Alamo chapel facade and the Come-and-Take-It cannon with ramp. I can't justify reproducing the BMC Shako hat Mexicans since we have the excellent selection of CTS Mexicans available. Fort walls and gate have been suggested improvements to the original.
BMC Toys - Classic Army Men Collection:
Here's the current contents for the Pennsylvania made WW2 Pacific Theater playset. Some components have already been manufactured along with restock production. The mine pieces may seem out of place, but there was a WW2 Japanese bunker that disguised as a mine, and the landscape pieces look good with the BMC Mount Suribachi. This set might not be ready in time for the 2024 holidays, but we are working on it. This set is focused on Louis Marx & Co. and other vintage molds. In that spirit, play value supersedes scale and historical accuracy a bit:
Tanks' for your feedback and support,
Jeff at BMC Toys
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A suggestion on Bunker Hill playset – I would recommend that you check Col. John Elting’s excellent description of the American earthworks in his book The Battle of Bunker’s Hill. Based on that, I would think that 2 sets of Yorktown earthworks as front wall, with one Civil War artillery works for each side wall would be a better approximation, given the pieces you have to use. Two Yorktown sections would work for the back wall, but I understand that you are trying to keep this set small.
I guess battle of bulge playset is not coming out? 🤔😔
Hi BMC, I love your toys and want to tell you that a 101 airborne set would be a huge money maker. You should make a plane mold that could fit the men with parachutes.
I have a question on the old Lido molds. I know that most of their molds were destroyed in the 1960s, with one of the founders buying back what survived and over the years the assets passed to Processed Plastic/Tim Mee. Other that the 60mm soldiers you currently produce, what other molds do you have access to? Will we possibly see the Lido American Revolution or Civil War figures made again?
Looks great! You mention that you won’t be reproducing the old BMC molds for your Alamo project in 2025, but are there any plans to reproduce the old BMC Civil War figures/playsets from the 1990’s? I know the original molds are still being used by Americana Souvenirs and their figures are readily available, but the quality of the plastic and casting is terrible.