Tim Mee Toy Hercules AC-130 Plastic Army Men Playset

Plastic Army Women Project: ONE YEAR LATER
almost 3 years ago – Sun, Dec 12, 2021 at 01:22:37 PM

It's  been just over a year since the first Plastic Army Women shipped out. I plan to write a wrap-up of the project, but here's some more recent news I wanted to share.

Our second "Women in the Military" educational article about retired USN Fleet Master Chief JoAnn Ortloff was recently posted. We owe JoAnn a very special thanks for all her support of the Plastic Army Women project and sharing her personal  story, wisdom, and photos from a remarkable Military career:

One of the things I was looking forward to when working on this project, was seeing the Plastic Army Women  out in the world, in photos, and (hopefully) in some stop motion videos.  I've seen lots of great photos, but this is the first stop motion video  I've seen. The creator contacted me before publishing and I thought it  was well done and great fun, so I sponsored it:

The History Channel  had a short Plastic Army Men segment in their recent episode of "Modern  Marvels" episode titled "Classic Toys".  Most of the segment was filmed at the Scranton factory, and the Plastic Army Women  were included. It's a nice segment, but they did get some facts wrong  and cut out the middle part of my story how the Plastic Army Women  project was started where I mentioned early customer requests for female soldier figures, and how JoAnn Ortloff convinced me to finally start  product development. Still, it was nice to see the Plastic Army featured  between Lego and Play-Dough as a classic toy, and for the Plastic Army  Women and Vivian's letter to be included in the story. 

There's not too much new product news  yet. I recently released a paint-able version of the Rosie the Riveter  figures. These figures are molded in the same type of plastic that's  used for hobby models instead of the softer plastic used for the toy  versions. The factory has also started molding a new purple color  variant. I'm not sure when they'll be ready for sale as the Scranton  factory is in the process of setting up and moving to a new larger  facility in nearby Old Forge, Pennsylvania.

As a small thank you I've set up a discount code for 15% off all the in-stock Plastic Army Women items at BMCtoys.com and our Amazon shop. The code 15WOMEN21 is valid through December 20th.

I have been paying attention to all  your requests and suggestions for future projects, and have a good idea what I think should be next. I'm still recovering from a couple of really jam-packed years that included getting the original sets released last year and well-stocked for this Christmas. 2021 has been another challenging year  for everyone, and I greatly appreciate all the well wishes and support  I've continued to receive.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,

Jeff at BMC Toys

ps If you're one of the handful of original backers from the 2019 Kickstarter that have not received your Plastic Army Women, please send a message to [email protected].

Plastic Army Women Project: SPRING CLEANING!
over 3 years ago – Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 02:04:17 PM

I'm pleased to report that 98% of all the Plastic Army Women pre-orders have shipped, and the final batch of product we need to ship the last 2% is scheduled to arrive this week. If your pre-order was placed before April 20th, 2021 and has not shipped, it's due to one of the following:

• Your pre-order included the 'Bucket of Plastic Army People'. The People Bucket orders will all be shipping within the next few days.
• Your payment failed. This can happen for a bunch of different reasons.  Just send a message to [email protected] and I'll send you a link and instructions to update your credit card info.
• Your order was placed on December 26th and is missing product selection due to a technical mistake I made that day. Send a message to [email protected] and let me know which Plastic Army Women items you wanted. 
• There's still a few supporters from our 2019 Kickstarter Campaign that I need to hear from in order to ship your packages. Send your current shipping address and color choices (if applicable) to [email protected].

Now that we're finally finishing up the remaining pre-orders from the past year, I'm giving everyone a chance to order from the current supply we have on-hand, including 3 new color variants, Red, Blue and Medium Green:

These colors were planned for production at the end of the initial manufacturing run last year. They were put on the back-burner when pre-orders went crazy after CBS ran the story on Black Friday. You might notice the new colors are little more expensive than the original colors. The original colors will also be getting the bump in price at some point. Costs for everything have been going up like crazy this year, including factory labor, raw materials, and freight. 

Everything currently available in the pre-order shop should ship within 2 weeks. I expect the current supply of Pink to run out very quickly. 

I'm still not certain when I'll be able to release the troops for general sale. Pre-orders have already eaten up most of the second production run. The factory is working on a third big production run so I'm estimating it will sometime between Mid-May and Late-August. We're also planning on some mold improvements to increase production capacity, but it will be a few months before that project is completed. 

Tanks' again for all your support,

Jeff at BMC Toys

Plastic Army Women Project: Marching Forward!
over 3 years ago – Mon, Mar 08, 2021 at 11:44:57 PM

The BMC Toys Plastic Army Women project has made great progress over the past month. The factory completed the second production run of the OD Green packs, and Pre-orders that include just the OD Green packs placed before March 4th, 2021 have all shipped. New Pre-Orders for the OD Green packs are shipping every week.  Pre-orders that include only Pink (or Pink & OD Green) placed before Christmas 2020 are estimated to ship within a week.  The factory is currently molding more Tan and Pink figures so it will be a couple more weeks before the remaining pre-orders of Tan & Pink start to ship. It will be about a month before the remaining Bucket set pre-orders ship. 

Demand for pre-orders has remained high so we're already scheduling a 3rd production run. I'm tentatively planning a general release for mid-April, but may need go back to the Pre-Order system if we run out of inventory. I'm working with the tool maker and factory on ways to increase the speed of production, but it will take some time before those improvements are able to be implemented.  It's going to take a good effort to catch up with 60 years worth of demand, but we'll get there!

There's still a few folks that supported the Kickstarter Campaign in 2019 that we need to hear from in order to ship your Plastic Army Women. We need to know your current shipping address and color choices. You can send that info to [email protected].

We did a lot of research about women in the US Military during the development phase of the Plastic Army Women project. Lorretto (AKA Loretta) Walsh was mentioned by a couple of early supporters and caught our attention. Not only was she was the first woman to enlist in the Navy,  she's also from the town of Olyphant, PA, which is about 5 miles from our hometown of Scranton. In honor of International Women's Day we've published an article about Loretto Perfectus Walsh on the BMC Toys Blog:

https://bmctoys.com/blogs/news/women-in-the-us-military-loretto-perfectus-walsh

BMC Toys has a long tradition of 'History in a Box' playsets that help teach history through play. We hope to publish a series of well researched feature articles that expand upon the Highlights of Women in the United States Military article that is included in every pack of the Plastic Army Women as a continuation of that tradition. Here's the slightly revised version that will be included in the 3rd production run:

Tanks' for all your support,

Jeff at BMC Toys

P.S. The Pre-Order shop is still open at https://PlasticArmyWomen.com

Plastic Army Women Project: GROUNDHOG DAY UPDATE!
almost 4 years ago – Sat, Feb 06, 2021 at 02:45:39 PM

Here's a quick update on the BMC Toys Plastic Army Women:

I asked a neighborhood groundhog for advice on setting a release date for general purchase. The only prediction I got was 6 more weeks of winter and that I can expect a significant portion our 2021 garden will be requisitioned.

We've shipped out over 390,000 Army Women figures including 99% of Kickstarter Rewards and  78% of pre-orders.  Manufacturing is ongoing, but was much slower in January than expected. Production timelines over the past year have been increasingly difficult to estimate due to COVID-19 issues. 

The factory is currently working on the OD Green Plastic Army Women packs and I'm planning for the next batch of the OD Green pre-ordered packs to ship in about 2 weeks. I don't have current estimates for when the next batches of Pink, Tan or Bucket sets will be ready, but it could be a couple of months before all the remaining pre-orders ship. If your pre-order hasn't shipped yet, you can cancel if the delay is too long, just send a message to [email protected]. 

If you are a Kickstarter campaign backer from 2019 and haven't received your reward yet please get in touch. You most likely haven't completed the survey to let us know your color choice and current address. You can get a new survey link here at https://bmctoys.backerkit.com/, or send a message with your info to [email protected]. 

That's all for now, 

Jeff at BMC Toys

Plastic Army Women Project: Pre-Order Shipping and Manufacturing Update
almost 4 years ago – Wed, Dec 23, 2020 at 01:24:16 AM

Season's Greeting Everyone,

As of today we've shipped out 99.8% of Plastic Army Women pre-orders that were placed before November 28th. Many of you have already received your packages and let me know how pleased you are with your new recruits. If you haven't received your package yet, there's a good chance your troops won't arrive before Christmas. I thought most of these orders would arrive in time for the big day, but both manufacturing and fulfillment over the past 3 weeks took much longer than expected. To make matters worse, the post office is experiencing long and widespread delays due to an unprecedented amount of holiday mail, COVID-19, and winter weather. Delivery delays of 3 weeks or more are very common right now. My best guess is that delays will last well into January (nobody knows for sure).  

I apologize that the project was not completed on schedule, and am truly sorry if I wasn't able to get your Plastic Army Women delivered if they were intended as a holiday gift. The vast majority of you have been extremely patient and understanding, but I also understand those of you that are frustrated and anxious about the delay. Everyone involved in the project has worked incredibly hard over the past year, and the postal workers are doing their best under very difficult circumstances.

Most of the pre-order placed after November 28th haven't shipped yet (you would have received a shipment notification). I estimate this wave will all be shipped by late January, but if the delay is too long, please send a message to [email protected] and I'll cancel your pre-order. 

Some customers have told me they are upset that others received the Army Women before them, even though their pre-order was placed back in March. Many of the Plastic Army Women you see folks sharing on Social media were supporters of the Plastic Army Women Kickstarter Campaign in 2019. Those folks made pledges that were paid for around this time last year, so they were ahead of even the first pre-orders. The order in which the pre-orders shipped was largely determined by which products were completed at the time. The packs of Army Women in the packages I just dropped off at the Postal Sorting center this evening were finished by the factory just yesterday!

Here's a couple of photos from my Sunday afternoon at just one of the businesses that helped ship out a huge number of packages this week:

Thanks for all your support, and patience, and well wishes.

Have a safe and Happy Christmas,

Jeff at BMC Toys