While I'm a big booster of Tim Mee's figure bags - the low price-per-piece make them the best toys for classrooms, dentists, and sandboxes - the vehicles don't command the same value proposition. While a decent size, the three armored units of the Tank Command Desert Command Vehicle Set will set you back about $5.53 each. For the size, this is not a terrible price - they're sized a little small for the various green army men but not so small that they don't look cool together. This is the toy vehicle you buy when you've bought the figure packs and say "I need more like this."
The glossy HDPE tanks have a moving turret and a sticker sheet for added detail. The sculpting, much like the figures, is simple and quite decent. Various panels, vents, and other details make these look like a great starter item for a custom paint job or some sort of model battlefield. Or as things for your Transformers to fight - they're sized about right to go up against Hasbro's robots or larger Godzilla toys.
It's shiny and the turret turns smoothly, with the vehicle seeming that it could withstand some time in a child's sandbox outdoors. This is an important feature. Being a toy from a company that specialized in army men, it shouldn't surprise you that the tread links and wheels are purely ornamental. What may surprise you is that the original designers put fake wheels inside the treads - fans of other toy links with tanks may recognize this - but the kicker is those can't turn either. Rather than put the treads directly on the floor, you get little wheel-shaped risers for some reason I don't understand.
With the death of G.I. Joe as a mass-market product, there's no more standard toy for kids if you want military stuff. Toys R Us has their own store brand stuff, and army men are probably the most visible toys in this sector after The Corps from Lanard Toys. This tank - with its stickers and pretty decent quality - is a tough one to recommend. On one hand, this is a shining example of what this kind of toy can be. It's not flimsy. The plastic doesn't look or feel cheap. It looks pretty cool, like an unpainted scale model kit even if it may not be a real perfect replica of a real-world tank. (Maybe it is, I don't know my tanks.) The real challenge comes from price - one tank and a sack of army men for $10-$15 would be pretty exciting stuff, but three tanks for $15 makes this a collector's purchase. The unique serial number stickers makes each one look a little bit different on your shelf, so if you buy a set you may wish to keep them all and not give one away to the neighbor's kid. The Tim Mee people did a bang-up job bringing this toy tank back to market this year, but if you're in the market for this kind of stuff spend generously on their figural lines first. And their Battle Mountain, that thing is incredible. These are merely good.
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