At Christmas time, it was fun to go into your local supermarket and look at the great toys they had to offer. Deluxe Reading did a great line of toys one called came with five well detailed soldiers. These figures come up from time to time. The hardest for me would be the sitting figure as I have never picked that one up. Helm toys copied some of the figures.
According to Wikipedia the company was based in Elizabethtown New Jersey and operated from the 50’s to the 70’s. They were sold in the grocery stores and put on the top shelf.
As a kid I had the rocket base (not sure what it was called). Originally I wanted Cape Caneveral, but ended up with the Reading set instead. Seemed to be a common theme as a kid at Xmas, I wanted the Marx set, Artic Explorer, I got the Ideal Mountie set, The Blue and the Gray, I got the Blues and the Grays, Battleground I got some Lido set. Most of the time well 50% anyway, I ended up disappointed, the Reading set was pretty good, two buildings, figures, lots of rocket launchers, that I could fire at the dog, actually pretty cool overall. One of the times my mom made a mistake and it turned out well for me. I had fun with that set and buildings for years. The other one that worked out well for me was the Ideal Mountie set, I kept that tin building and the figures until my mom finally gave all my soldiers away, well most of them anyway, somehow I managed to keep all my GI’s, which I still have to this day. The noted exception being my Lido Germans and Japanese, Bill Nace (RIP) brokered a deal for me at the Indy show ( the first Indy show I ever attended) with someone in Colorado over his cell phone, I had over 70 of them and I got like $500.00 for them. That was the show that got me back into collecting and dealing, prior to that I was just trying to reassemble an Alamo and related figures and not doing much else. I don’t have plenty of money, but I do have plenty of memories.
I always thought my brother and I got a Marx Cape Canaveral set for the Christmas after the Christmas we got the Blue and Gray set, but I think now it was made by Reading. Did Marx do an earlier Cape Canaveral set? I think so but am not sure.
Ed, I feel your pain on wanting Marx but getting something else. I wanted the Marx Ft Apache and Battleground sets for years, but usually ended up with MPC sets. After raising my own kids I understand about price – MPC was cheaper and Mom didn’t know better. I finally got the carry-all Ft Apache in 69 and bought a stockade version set when I got a job and was making my own money – also managed to get a Battleground somewhere; I remember my Mom shaking her head wondering what I was doing buying toy soldiers. I don’t think she ever understood it. I guess if we were able to get everything we wanted there’d be nothing left to strive for.
I guess that’s true, funny thing is, the sets I wanted as a kid I had no desire for when I started collecting. The one noted exception being the Gibbs Custer set, my cousin had one and I wanted one bad, but could never find one, in those days Walgreens were not as prevelant as they are now. All the drug stores in my neighborhood were the privately owned variety, a real rarity now. Anyway when I started collecting I bought every one I could, at one time I had 10 sets. They may be the toughest set to find totally intact with no broken figures and when I see one now I still have the temptation to buy one although I have two sets in my collection, one in hard plastic and one in soft. What other set ever made had 80 figures in 80 poses with 4 teepees and a wagon, even the teepees were different. Yes, they are semi-flat figures and very fragile, but even now they still fascinate me.