Hi. I also bought some metal (5th edition like) Saurus that perfectly fit this description.
For the purposes of this post, i'm going to use the following shorts:
M5S - Metal 5th edition saurus.
P5S - Plastic 5th edition saurus.
HW - hand weapons
I can confirm that they are metal, and look very alike to P5S, with a few exceptions:
They are freaking tin.
club on left leg is not present.
scales on back and feet claws more defined.
Over all slimmer and more detailed (mostly due to being metal)
The arms supplied look like the ones from the usual M5S with HW, but with minor differences. (Same base, also wholecast and separate)
Shields are flatter.
My whole army is 5th edition, so I have lots of models, bits and pieces to compare with.
The slotta, says Lizardman 95 If I recall. 1995 being one year earlier than the M5S (96')
So what are they?
Counterfeit? - Probable and should be assumed without further evidence. Some of the parts of these lizardmen are fuzzy and blurry, which causes suspicion that hey are recasts or counterfeits. The original mold is clearly not the P5S, but an external replica probably hand-sculpted, assuming its not a prototype.
Prototype? - The year on the slotta would confirm this, but why do they say Lizardmen and not saurus like the M5S?