Imex - Mikes Diecast Tanks and Armour

King Tiger #3101	M60A1 #3102	T-10 JS III #3103	Chieftain #3104
AMX Napoleon #3105	AMX Napoleon base #3105	Type 61 #3106
	Centurion #3107	Centurion Base #3107	Panther #3108
Leopard #3109	Leopard base #3109	Panzer IV #3110	Sheridan #3111
T54 #3112	Imex Catalog page	Rear of Imex Box	Rear of Metal Beast Box

Imex builds trucks, tanks, historical military figures, plastic models, cranes, all sorts of stuff.

Imex tanks are 1/87 diecast models of fair to good detail, depending upon the model. Imex offers 12 tanks in their Military in Miniature World Armour Series. Imex is also advertising 4 additional models (see the last 4 models in the table below). I have not yet seen any of these four for sale (as of 8/2003). Prices range from $5.50 to $8.00. It pays to shop around! For the price, these tanks are a great deal.

Imex also appears to be the maker of the Golden Wheel diecast "Metal Beast" series. The back of the Metal Beast box shows the 4 additional non-Zylmex releases (see table below, image of box above). You can find metal beast tanks individually packages, or in larger packages containing four tanks. On eBay you will see the Metal Beast tanks for sale at $15.00+. This is NOT a good deal. You can find them for about $7.00, or you can get the Imex version even cheaper.

Tank Type	Imex Stock Number	Number on Base
M60 A1 TANK	871000	3102
M551 SHERIDAN TANK	871001	3111
KING TIGER TANK	871002	3101
KAMPFPANZER LEOPARD TANK	871003	3109
PANZER IV TANK	871004	3110
PANTHER TANK	871005	3108
BRITISH CHIEFTAIN TANK	871006	3104
BRITISH CENTURION MK III TANK	871007	3107
RUSSIAN T-54 TANK	871008	3112
JOSEPH STALIN III T-10 TANK	871009	3103
AMX30 NAPOLEON TANK	871010	3105
CHINESE TYPE 61 TANK	871011	3106
Coming Soon???
US M109 TANK	871012
GERMAN MARDER TANK	871013
GERMAN GEPARD TANK	871014
US M48 A1 TANK	871015

Other Releases: Battle Scenes

Battle Scenes

A fairly recent release in the UK, IMEX tanks can be found packaged under the "Battle Scenes" name.

The initial castings of these tanks appeared circa 1974. At least six were marketed (3101 through 3106) in box very similar to Zylmex tanks of the era. The models are printed with the logo "Product of Universal". Universal was a huge diecast manufacturer from the 1970's through 1992. In 1996 these models were released through K-Mart. The box is similar to the 1970's release, except that the price ($1.09) is actually printed on the box with the K-mart "K" logo, and the front-bottom of the box lists each model. The early versions were made in Hong Kong. The later versions (IMEX) are made in China. Hint: This is a great way to tell which "vintage" your model is!

Although many Imex tanks (871000 through 871011) initially look to be recastings of the Zylmex/Zee toys tanks of the 1970's and 1980's, closer inspection reveals many differences. Because both Zylmex and early versions of the IMEX castings were on the market at the same time, and due to the (sometimes small) differences in the models themselves, I have concluded that these are actually completely different models. Please see my Zylmex page for more on this