Something Old, New, Borrowed, and Green
Posted by Jeff Imel on
The 'Pineapple Helmet' GI soldiers were first issued by Lido Toys back in the 1950's. When Lido went out of business most of their molds were scrapped, but what survived was acquired by Joy Toy, then TootsieToy. Some of the figures were nearly identical to Marx Toys soldiers, with the exception of the helmets which featured a criss-cross pattern meant to emulate camouflage netting. While it's always been common for toy makers to copy each other, in this case it seems it was the mold maker that cut corners and used the same master sculpts for both products as Marx and Lido used the same tool maker.
These soldiers are true survivors that had been in almost continuous production for 50 years, offered under Lido, Joy Toy, TootsieToy, and Tim Mee Toy brands. Here we are in 2017, and they're out of retirement as the first of BMC Toys new 'Classic Army Men' product line. The mold has some wear and tear, but the figures still look pretty darned good, just a bit of flash here and there. These are manufactured in the US by the same factory that produces the Tim Mee Soldiers.
The main BMC Toys 'American Hero' product line will continue to be produced by the same factory in China that has been doing a great job for over 20 years, and are currently working on a big new batch of BMC that should be available late this summer.
More historical info over at Toy Soldier HQ:
http://www.angelfire.com/biz/toysoldierhq/Lido.html