Comments on: Marx Toys catalog, 1975

By: Brian Huntington

Brian Huntington — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 22:18:00 +0000

Who mentioned 180s? This is all I can think about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BNZCZsHJIR8

By: Sparg

Sparg — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 20:44:00 +0000

My nephew did manage to get one of them out of the ring. He used that, an Ultraman toy, and some small plastic army men to stage his own dueling monsters scenarios in the sandbox. I raised that boy right on Ultraman and Johnny Sokko videos! Of course, I had to suffer through the Power Rangers and Blarney.

By: BongBong

BongBong — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 20:38:00 +0000

You know what a good toy for me was as a kid? A can loaded with black powder, a load of tank models and a Super-8 camera. Pure cinematic bliss.

By: BongBong

BongBong — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 20:36:00 +0000

MAD Magazine, not Cracked.

By: BongBong

BongBong — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 20:36:00 +0000

Always wished I could take the robots off the platform and fight with them.

By: Marko Raos

Marko Raos — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 18:30:00 +0000

Agree, imo it’s not the “political correctness” problem so much as the old dinosaurs growing complacent and cynical while utterly dominating mass distribution. “Mattel” Really? Someone should finally shut that old whorehouse down, lol.

By: flailx

flailx — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 13:58:00 +0000

PIT CHANGE CHARGER!! I had one! Awesome toy.

By: taj

taj — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 07:52:00 +0000

Because that’s what happens when you stick a little kid in a dress.

By: Funk Daddy

Funk Daddy — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 01:55:00 +0000

Whatevs, the percentage of toys in toy stores, pharmacies, dept stores, box stores etc that -isn’t- licensed label crap (this movie, that cartoon or a legacy brand like Barbie) is a thimble to a bucket.

But I can go to those s0-called “educational” toy store and get my kid a car, tractor, house, tank, train, board game, action figure, tools, puzzles, books, blocks, riding toy, stuffed animals, there is some approximation of almost any toy they want available, and extremely well made,

and they use -their- imaginations.

This was true of Marx, but that’s not what there is anymore with some clear exceptions as there always are. In fact, the stores I describe are part of the exceptions. Mainstream toy stores provide Madison Avenue/Hollywood pre-packaged imaginations, that’s about as appealing as a stick in the eye, especially as I don’t DVD parent.

Right now, we’ve got a wide variety of toys, but both are of an age where a line like http://www.plantoys.com/home.php is a mainstay with lots of supplemental toys for specific activities.

I like blank stuff, well made, it lets them project their imaginations and play, which lets them create their emotional attachment, which can’t be used to sucker them later. And they love their toys.

course, they do cost, not “collectible” cost, but not cheap either.

By: sean

sean — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 00:56:00 +0000

Could be. I’m not up on a lot of the post-650′s stuff. I could see those being done here, as they were big and bulky. I think the Johnny West stuff was all Chinese, but I’m not sure.

By: LYNDON

LYNDON — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 23:58:00 +0000

I’m imagining a convention with the Marx Toys stand sitting opposite the Galt Toys stand.

By: BarBarSeven

BarBarSeven — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 21:38:00 +0000

Hmmmm… I seem to recall that the molds used for Big Wheels were still in the U.S. up until the dissolution of the company in 1978.

By: BarBarSeven

BarBarSeven — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 21:35:00 +0000

I can’t think of anything worse than those so-called “educational” toy stores. More to the point, MARX represents a mass market company that sold tons of cool stuff to all kinds of stores. Toy stores, pharmacies, hobby stores, department stores, etc… That is why everyone who remembers them have such a fond memory of them. They were everywhere. They were the mainstream. Now if you want “cool” toys you have to go to a “special” store and maybe they might have such items. Vast difference.

By: Navin_Johnson

Navin_Johnson — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 20:59:00 +0000

@boingboing-4eefea4fc77f6a79afe6a2e4b0898d84:disqus
I remember wearing out all the flat tread on mine so that all that was left was something that resembled plastic rims. We’d still spin 360s and stuff on those destroyed tires anyway.

By: x jeremy jarratt

x jeremy jarratt — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 20:26:00 +0000

Ditto on every single word, Mike.

By: Sparg

Sparg — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 20:15:00 +0000

I had the Big Wheel and WW2 play set. The towed artillery pieces were great because you could put toothpicks or ball point pen refills down the barrel and launch them. The Germans were grey and the Americans were green plastic. Amazing most of us survived intact with all the pointy toys like these and Jarts.

By: sean

sean — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 20:00:00 +0000

By 1975, Marx was a shadow of its former self. It was the biggest American toy company for decades- from the days of tin litho toys in the 30′s right up through the early 60′s playsets. Louis didn’t like to spend money advertising, and Remco, Hasbro, and others that were smart enough to use TV to sell their stuff, starting in 1960 or so, eclipsed the Marx company. The toy doll GI JOE spelled the end for the Marx military (and other) playsets; Barbie took the girls by storm. Johnny West was a feeble attempt to duplicate GI JOE’s success.
I’m one of the geeks that collect the Marx toy soldiers I grew up with in the early 1960′s. And they do get costly- some sets have sold for $10,000 and more (Johnny Ringo, BATTLEFIELD with the rare damaged cabin…) oops, getting too esoteric.

By: sean

sean — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 19:52:00 +0000

Actually, Louis Marx moved much of his production overseas (Hong Kong) after his workers in Glendale, WV, went on strike in 1962. Remember all the HO scale figures, “hand painted by artists”? The miniature guns, mounted in a cardboard frame? Hong Kong. I wouldn’t necessarily assume all these were US made. Especially since Quaker had already taken the company over.

By: sean

sean — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 19:41:00 +0000

Uh…that last post of mine was in response to Jake0748′s post…

By: technogeekagain

technogeekagain — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 19:41:00 +0000

Actually, this has me pondering the convention that a young girl must be un-selfconsciously displaying her panties.

By: Navin_Johnson

Navin_Johnson — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 19:38:00 +0000

There are so many toys pictured in these catalogs that would not exist today due to political correctness

Which toys that would be missing today are you upset about?

By: sean

sean — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 19:36:00 +0000

Louis Marx was a real good friend of Ike’s, as well as many other political figures back then. Marx produced figures of all the presidents, a White House set, and his factories contributed to the war effort in WWII. Ike used to collect and paint toy soldiers; Louis gifted him with many. Maybe that was enough to keep Joe McCarthy at bay.

By: Ladyfingers

Ladyfingers — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 18:28:00 +0000

Eh? M&C make amazingly articulated dolls/action figures with genuinely nice accessories that any kid could play with.

By: BarBarSeven

BarBarSeven — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 18:24:00 +0000

They get snapped up by the trolley load by adult collectors.

That’s the key problem. MARX made wonderful toys for children that adult collectors like because of their quality. Companies like M&C just create junk for the “collectors market” which is not the same as MARX or any mass market toy manufacturer in any way.

By: Funk Daddy

Funk Daddy — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 18:24:00 +0000

That’s hockey on a not-a-tv TV.

In the 70′s a short skirt on a child was still considered just “cute” gender stereotyping in the same problematic way it always occurred before the hyper-sexualiztion of children in the present. It was wrong, but it was only related to today’s wrong. The ancestor of today’s wrong if you will, IMO.

By: Ladyfingers

Ladyfingers — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 17:29:00 +0000

M&C’s action figures are fantastic. They get snapped up by the trolley load by adult collectors.

Chap Mei’s stuff is well made and the playsets offer excellent value. I’d have given my eye-teeth for toys like that when I was a kid.

Both firms make a variety of themes, not just military stuff.

By: RayCornwall

RayCornwall — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 17:18:00 +0000

Funny thing- at the time of this catalog, Marx Toys was either sold or about to be sold to the company that also owned Fisher Price- Quaker Oats. Unfortunately, according to wikipedia, the company was about to go into its final downturn…

By: MikeKStar

MikeKStar — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 17:09:00 +0000

They also did Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots – a classic!

By: BarBarSeven

BarBarSeven — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 16:47:00 +0000

Well, I think you miss the point. Chap Mei and M&C Toys pump out tons of generic “war” playlets with very little imagination to them. So generic in fact that few people know who Chap Mei and M&C Toys really are. MARX is a company that had a long history, distinct personality & unique toys that were not based on war & destruction. Small niche marketed toy companies cannot compare. And more to the point, they were mass marketed, successful, independent & 100% American made. The quality of the plastic used by MARX stands the test of time & they are still collected & coveted by adults nowadays.

Very few companies nowadays can make that claim.

By: MikeKStar

MikeKStar — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 16:44:00 +0000

OMG. I had one of those Dodge Chargers pictured above when I was 5. I frickin’ LOVED that thing and would play with it for hours. It was by far my favorite toy (that and my Evel Knievel motorcycle). I remember the dented fender that you’d replace with two little silver bolts using the power wrench. The front grill, hood, engine and wheels all came off as well. I remember taking off all the screws and sending it crashing into the wall where it would explode. Good times!

Many, many times I have thought about that car over the years and wondered where it came from and who made it. Now to peruse ebay to purchase a little bit of my childhood back….

Thank you so much for posting this.