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Doll House Items

MARX reissue/recast ornate "wrought iron" gate and 9 fence sections (each 5 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches), Made in black hard plastic.

Picket fence with lamp posts & gates, four of each type of fence (8 pieces total). Maybe 1/24 in scale but can be used for 1/32 setups.

Among the early doll house figures made is the above group (PL-129) circa 1950. Picture courtesy Rick Koch who has seen them in a SEARS catalog ad for a Marx doll house. Very hard to find.

Marx 60mm Doll House Figures

Marx made a dizzying array of "family people" to populate their doll houses, pet shops. zoos, and other sets. The seated children, Group A can been seen in the early 1950s Sears catalog doll house pictures, but most of Marx's other "family people" seem to have been made in the 1950s as well. Older versions were made in rubber like vinyl while later versions were made of polyethylene soft plastic (SP). These figures are also being found in the old Marx landfill. We think after burial the cream color turns white then progressively darker gray but could be wrong.

Group A Seated Children (PL-81)

Group B Pet Shop Family

These figures were found in the 1953 Pet Shop playset as well as dollhouses. They are about 65mm in size.

Group C 1950s family

Group D 1960s Family

Blister card, 6 people & farm dog.

Interesting set with four figures that can be plugged together and taken apart. Knees bend so they can sit on doll house furniture. Set also has solid younger sister holding books and baby.

Doll House Kids

This group was sold in the red polka dot boxes as well as in larger tin litho doll house playsets. There are two babies crawling, one kitten, one nanny and one each of the other six boys and four girls. Soft plastic unless noted vinyl (= rubber like vinyl). Quite a few have turned up in the old Marx landfills. Something in the soil seems to leach out the cream color and they turn kind of white chalky and then become gray. Some become dark gray. If I say gray the figure may be from almost white to very dark gray.

Nursery Figures and Items

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Doll House Pool Items

Vacuform pool.

- School House boy, cream, SP.

Doll House Swing Set Items

Marx made a modern somewhat bizarre IMAGINATION DOLL HOUSE with stacking modular pieces. The set came with the 4 piece 1960s family, but also included the harder to find 3 piece seated family (father with pipe, mother pointing and daughter). We have only had them in waxy cream. 1960s Family is shown above.

Doll House Furniture

Like the figures, Marx doll house furniture was made in distinct molds that could be rearranged into different groupings depending upon the specific needs of the doll house to be sold. PL-518 Patio & Bar furniture had 8 cavities. If only the 6 piece patio furniture was needed the mold was run using only those six cavities and was called PL-518A. The bar could be used by itself as PL-518B. Old warehouse stock surfaces every now and then and several of the PL-518A groups in PL-518 bags have come to light. Why the incorrect bag was used in unknown.

PL-518 bag with 6 piece PL-518A patio furniture grouping as seen above. Old warehouse stock.

We think these are Marx, NO MARKINGS.

Doll House accessories with original playset bag. 13 Pieces making 12 assemblies, yellow.

Fox Hunt

These figures made it into large deluxe doll house playsets.

This mold made two sets of eight animals; fox running, 2/3 dogs running, 2/3 dogs sniffing, horse running and horse walking.

This mold, PL-330 had 18 cavities making three sets of figures in cream soft plastic. The easiest combination would be one of each of the six figures pictured above. The boy with bucket is the 60mm farm boy, and blue man seated is a 60mm "Special Town Cowboy". It has been assumed that the mold had these two figures as they come in the same playsets as do the four fox hunt figures. In the recent release of reissue of this mold (made in red) the seated cowboy was in the mold but the seller has decided to sell this figure in a different way, probably with some type of western themed set.

Reissue 15 PC set; 5 red people, 2 horses, 2 (vintage 1950s)saddles, 5 dogs & 1 fox as seen above. Animals are all silver.

Reissue Marx PL-441 Kentucky Stable Accessories; 20 Pieces making 16 assemblies (3 piece horse stall, table with plug in hand pump, cupola with plug in weather vane). I do not think Marx ever used this mold when in business.

FIREMEN, CONSTRUCTION, WAREHOUSE AND SERVICE STATION WORKERS

FIREMEN FIGURES AND ACCESSORIES

Among the earliest plastic figures Marx sold were hard plastic firemen made to go with metal firetrucks in the late 1940s to early 1950s. Thanks to Josh Petrie for the identification.

Marx made a nice playset that had ten different firemen related 45mm figures. The set also had a nice set of HP fire station accessories. These are not easy to find. Playset picture courtesy Whitmer-Hammond Antiques, Birch Harbor, Maine.

Vintage pieces

Reissue All three 4 inch firemen used with metal firetrucks, silver, SP. ()

CONSTRUCTION SET ITEMS

Marx made a nice set of ten 45mm figures for their Construction Camp playset. Mold PL-534 had 22 cavities making two sets of figures each with ten figure poses + 1 board for one figure to carry. In later years for the Big Inch Pipeline playset the watchman figure with lantern was deleted and replaced by the climbing lineman to be attached to a telephone pole. Playsets had cream and sometimes metallic blue colored figures. Redbrown figures may be test shots or perhaps were sold in header bags. Light gray may be from the dump.

Marx made these near the end of the line.

Chair in picture above courtesy Rob Lake.

- Truck Cab, silver HP. - - Bulldozer, no wheels or plow, HP.

Above picture shows the six 3 1/2 inch figures made in mold PL-863. The foreman with plans in cream is an old original. The other five figures in tan are later recasts. Other recast colors such as dark red exist.

SERVICE "GAS" STATION FIGURES & ITEMS

60mm Gas Station attendants

From the early 1950s.

Marx PL-1164 RECAST Miniature gas station accessories; 60 Pieces about 54mm in scale. Made in black and dark green. Most or all of 2 sprues so 60-66 pieces in most cases.

40/45mm Gas Station Attendants

From the 1970s.

Service Center Set blister card. Picture courtesy David Schafer.

Gas Station Accessories

Station wagon, SP.

FREIGHT TERMINAL WORKERS & ITEMS

We have only had these in early rubber like vinyl.

Marx made a nine piece group of gray hard plastic pieces making six types of freight.

- Wooden oil drum. ()

Three inch freight station workers.

SPORTS FIGURES

54mm Race track figures are not easy to come by. The hard plastic painted figures are similar but slightly different than the soft plastic versions.

Marx also made the race track figure in 1/72 scale.

54mm Race track spectators are also hard to find.

Picture courtesy Christopher Wallintine.

Photo courtesy Francis Turner.

54mm football team with coach (Landrey?) & 4 refs. These figures were also sold by AURORA as a paint yourself model kit.

Marx made a series of 3-4 inch football players for a large game. Bases are dated 1969.

60mm Sports Figures

OTHER CIVILIAN FIGURES & ITEMS

Untouchables Items

Untouchables fence. - Untouchables barrel, SP.

Jointed car driver, cream SP. - 1910 Ford, friction. - Race Car Driver. - 45mm Trainman, gray SP. ()

30-35MM CIVILIANS

SEE MARX, MTH & BACHMANN MODEL TRAIN ACCESSORY SALES PAGE. WE HAVE PUT ALL THE MARX "HO" AND 30/35MM FIGURES AT THAT PAGE.

45mm Train Station Figures

Like other Marx figures these were first made without bases and the the mold was altered to include bases so the figures would stand better.

Reissue Marx skyscraper tower and antenna, silver.

54mm Skyscraper Figures

Marx made a nice set (PL-880) of sixteen 54mm civilians (in 15 cavities) for their skyscraper playset. It seems they were to be part of a Superman set that was cancelled. Sometimes only 13 of the figures were produced as PL-880A. This smaller group eliminates the two ping pong players.

Made in gray hard plastic.

Picture above has original bugler while the rest are recasts.

Marx made four different Canadian Mounties in the early 1950s. Old originals were made of rubber like vinyl while later recast/reissues can be found in soft plastic. Picture courtesy of Theo van der Weerden.

ARCTIC FIGURES AND ACCESSORIES

ARCTIC EXPLORERS

Alaskan Polar Set blister card, Picture courtesy David Schafer.

Igloo

Igloo, semitranspaent, vintage, Reissue igloos were made in white.

Mold shot PL-915; 2 2pc dog sleds and 1 2pc kayak.

Vintage pieces, were usually brown in playsets and red on blister cards;

Mold shot PL-914, 37 pieces

In vintage Marx playsets this PL-914 was often run in two colors (usually blue and orange)and split into two distinct groups A & B (probably where the runner sprue was located). The the playsets would get the "A" group in one color and the "B" group in the other. Reissues were made in silver

ESKIMOS

Original Marx Eskimos were light powder blue and yellow in a nice soft plastic. Reissue/recasts are in a stiff cream plastic (lower three on the right of the picture). Other recasts in Mexico came in every color of the rainbow (also stiffer plastic).

Marx made a nice set of 18 arctic animals (PL-911) as seen above to go in their Alaskan sets. The animals would be in either cream or gray. Thanks to Mike Handley for supplying some of the animals in the photo. The sled dogs could be run separately for inclusion in blister cards with sleds. Reissues have been made in silver.

RISQUE FEMALE FIGURES

The two bathing suit clad Erie beauties were sold with a large cabin cruiser boat. The nudes were given out by Louie Marx to friends and associates as a prank.

Louie Marx used to hand these ut to friends as a joke.

1 All eight 60mm American Beauties

-Campus Cutie, "Dinner for Two", 6 inch figure, peach flesh.

TV & MOVIE ENTERTAINMENT FIGURES

Howdy Doody TV show characters. Picture courtesy Francis Turner.

LASSIE PLAYSET CHARACTER FIGURES

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In 1955 Marx made two Jackie Gleason figures for the VIP Corporation. Ralph Kramden and Away We Go are square based and about 65mm in scale. The originals were marked COPR. VIP CORP 1955 under their bases. In the 1990s Paul Stadinger had the figures reissued after removing the bottom markings. Some can be found painted to an extreme detail.

Reissue Jackie Gleason set of two figures; Ralph Kramden & "Away WE Go",65mm in gray.

The original Marx Superman figure was made for a proposed Daily Planet playset. Evidently royalty costs were too high and the project scrapped. The Superman figure had come marked under his base SUPERMAN COPYRIGHT NATIONAL COMICS PBLI. INC. The mold was reworked to give him more of a neck but he was never offered for sale. Some of the original tests shots surfaced when the Marx warehouses were sold in the mid 1980s. The reworked figure cavity was also found and reissue figures with unmarked bases were made in the 1990s in; cream, red, purple, light blue, dark blue, brown and perhaps other colors.

Six Inch Figures

Above two Man from U.N.C.L.E. photos courtesy Doug Cusic.

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Reissue movie monsters have been made in several colors.

Very rare six inch figures. Picture courtesy Mark Hegeman.

RELIGIOUS FIGURES

All 14 Apostles made by Marx seen above (Mike Handley collection). Top 7 and first 5 in the lower row are the 12 disciples of Jesus. Matthias replaced Judas and Paul was a noted apostle shortly after the death of Christ. Accounts sometimes use different names for some of these men and Marx put some of the other names on the back of the figure bases. Made of hard plastic.

We have also noticed that there are two variations of apostle Philip. The words and symbol under the base differing. Does anyone know why?

15 Figure set of Jesus and 14 apostles. About 40mm in size, factory paint is wearing especially on gold bases. Probably copies of Marx.

Marx made a nice 15 piece set of nativity figures. Made in white hard plastic and sometimes painted. Reissues were made in a stiffer soft plastic in the light tan seen above and white.

Boxed nativity set about 45mm scale. Marx poses but no Marx name on the box so perhaps a copy set. 1960s or 70s era.

Picture courtesy Joe Leonard.

Several religious personalities were made as square pedestal base figures by Marx. They are not easy to find.

Moses, Pope Pius XII, Pope Paul VI., Cardinal Francis Spellman.

Reissue soft plastic Pope Pius XII figures have been made in; white, cream, red & blue.

PRESIDENTS & POLITICIANS

Picture courtesy Joe Leonard.

Marx made a few statuettes of foreign politicians. They are all hard to find.

Napoleon I, Mendes of France, Winston Churchill.

Reissue soft plastic Napoleon I;.

Picture courtesy Joe Leonard.

Marx also made a few US politicians and Presidential candidates of 1968. These are hard to find.

Hubert Humphrey, Adlai Stevenson, Barry Goldwater.

Reissue Barry Goldwarer in cream soft plastic

Picture courtesy Joe Leonard.

Ronald Reagan, Nelson Rockefeller, Hubert Humphrey, painted, Robert Kennedy, painted, Richard Nixon, Charles Percy, painted

- Hubert Humphrey, in a small header card with a 37 in a circle on the card. These were made in case he became the 37th President by Pretested Promotions. 54mm Painted hard plastic.

Picture courtesy Joe Leonard.

The Marx inaugural series consist of three of our most noted president and their wives. They can be found painted and unpainted in white. Reissues have been made.

Reissue Marx Inaugural Series (Mold PL-681)Three presidents and their wives. The set has the Washingtons, Lincolns and Eisenhowers, six 54/60mm figures, HP.

Marx white house kit.

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NONE - Boxed set of 36 figures. All the presidents through Eisenhower and the set includes two versions of IKE and two of Mamie. Also included was the Marx president information booklet. Marx sold the white unpainted president figures in several ways including the seven figure boxed sets as seen above. Boxes are circa the late 1950s and MAY show wear with some corners split and taped many years ago or price stickers.

Series 1 with; Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monrore, JQ Adams & Jackson. Box rough but comes with booklet.

Series 2 with; 8 Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore & Franklin Pierce. Box good and comes with booklet.

Series 3 with; Buchanan, Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield &1 Chester Arthur. Good box and has booklet.

Series 4 with; Cleveland, B.Harrison, McKinley, T.Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson & Harding. Good box, no booklet

Series 5 with; Coolidge, Hoover, FD Roosevelt, Truman, Both Eisenhower poses & Mamie Eisenhower. Good box, no booklet

Series 5 with; Coolidge, Hoover, FD Roosevelt, Truman, Both Eisenhower poses & Mamie Eisenhower. Rough box, no booklet

INDIVIDUAL FIGURES

Marx made a 6 inch version of President Eisenhower but we are unsure if they were ever retailed. The unpainted one may the the prototype.

Marx made several sizes and series of US Presidents. Owner Louis Marx was a personal friend of Dwight Eisenhower of whom he made several different poses and sizes of figures. The white unpainted series came first (we think) and includes the first 33 presidents from Washington to Eisenhower. Some were either made in a cream or yellowed over the years

Both Eisenhowers and FDR had multiple poses unlike the other presidents. A second Grover Cleveland would have made sense.

- Reissue Richard Nixon in gray soft plastic.

Picture courtesy Joe leonard.

Three variations John F. Kennedy exist. One just has his birth year 1917, the secon has the year he was elected president 1961 and the third has the years he served as president 1961-63. The third version factory painted can be found without too much trouble but the unpainted versions are hard to find as is the Jackie Kennedy figure.

Kennedy 1917, Kennedy 1961-, Kennedy 1961-1963, factory painted

Jackie Kennedy.

Reissue Jackie Kennedy

After the mold was moved to their Hong Kong factory or perhaps ReMarx issue, at least the first 25 presidents were made in a gold color;

Painted presidents were sold from counter displays and in small header bags. SEE NEXT GROUP FOR FIGURES STILL IN BAGS

Marx did a series of candidates including Nixon and Humprey. Nixon of course became president, but his figure was made before that time and so does not include a date on the base.

Nixon (nothing on base back).

A company on New York know as Pretested Promotions bought the painted presidents from Marx for resale in 24 count decorated boxes as can be seen above. They were made in both Hong Kong and Taiwan. Perhaps to cut down on costs the counter boxes went from being printed for each president to a generic box with each president's name ink stamped. The figures came in small header bags with a small white circle marked with a number representing which president each was. Eventually the headercard was done away with and each bag, as can be seen with the Lincoln figure above, was marked with the number. Perhaps to be ready for whomever won the 1968 election Pretested Promotions had Hubert Humphrey figures ready to sell. As he lost they went into storage until they turned up in the 1990s.

ODDITIES AND ERRORS

Humphrey picture courtesy Joe leonard.

At some point production was moved to Taiwan. The above picture shows Hong Kong figures on the left and Taiwan examples on the right. The Taiwan Eisenhower was redone with the hand at chest switching from right hand to left hand. Paint schemes also differed as you can see on the William H. Harrison & Hubert Humphrey's figures.

An error Taft figure has been found. Made in Hong Kong instead of the correct 1909-1913 on the rear of the base it is marked 1909-1919.

SMALL SIZE FIGURES

Smaller versions of the bigger sized figures except FDR who now has a cape (see below).

Small vs large + FDR variation.

Photo courtesy Bill Sencio.

22mm "HO" scale IKE, hands up, white, Campaign give away, elephant.

COPIES MADE IN HONG KONG

A company in Hong Kong we only know as J.J.or JaJaCo made a set of 30mm copies of Marx presidents. The first series went up to Kennedy and a second edition up through LBJ. Two different styles of markings can be found. We have seen these in a flat window window box but there could be other types of packaging. Listed figures may have cardboard from the packaging glue to their base.

Famous Canadians

36 Famous Canadian figures were made in Hong Kong. The 60mm figures were used as give away premiums by Lipton's Tea Company in Canada. Apparently they were never sold in retail stores. Hard plastic and factory painted, each came with an short biography information card printed in English on one side and French on the other. Although believed to have been made by the Louis Marx Toy Company there is good reason to believe someone else simply copied the Marx pedestal base figure style and made them.

Email: sprecherko@aol.com