Lost Marx World War Two German Figure Mold one of the biggest questions for collectors is where are certain of the Marx molds. There are a number of the Marx molds missing. Top of the list are many of the character figure molds. Also many accessory and figure molds are missing. They can be in another country or sitting in a warehouse forgotten.
Lost Marx World War Two German Figure Mold Background
One of those missing molds is the Marx 54mm WWII Germans. As reported in issue No 95 of Playset magazine the mold was used by Mego. Mego did two playsets using the Marx molds. They were Marx Fort Apache and Battleground the molds which Mego werleased. According to the article when it came time to return to Marx actually Dunbee Comex and Marx they refuse to pay duties. The Germans showed up in a playset done by Phoenix then they disapeared. It was thought they were also used by Superior Toyof Chicago IL for their playset. Unfortunately that was not the case.
Lost Marx World War Two German Figure Mold Superior
In 1988, I went up to the New York Toy Fair. This show held in February showcases various toys for the coming season. I was looking for items I could use with Stad on my lists. One of the companies I found was Superior Toy of Chicago. They had two playsets available for sale Rulers of the Earth and Island Invasion.
Rulers of theEarth was dinosaur playset with mountain.
The dinosaurs and mammials were Marx molds.
Lost Marx World War Two German Figure Mold Island Invasion
The Island Invasion playset came with figures, vehicles and a mountain same in Rulers of the Earth. I was told they used that mountain because the Marx Navarrone mountain would have required a very large press to run.
The contents of the playset with one exception was MPC.
That exception was the large Marx raft with the two paddlers. The set was sold in three different sizes. A deluxe version which had 128 pieces. The two smaller sets with 112 pieces and 29 pieces. I decided against the playsets due to being loaded with MPc parts I would have hard time selling them.
Lost Marx World War Two German Figure Mold More Information
I crossed paths on Superior two more times. The first was talking to Jay Horowitz of American Plastic / Marx. He related to me that he got back from Superior molds of his. These molds included the Marx 54mm Boonesborough pioneers and the large raft used in the set. No mention was made of Marx Germans or Battleground items.
The other time was when Laurie and I were in Germany for the German Plastic Show. We were in Peter Bergner’s shop where we were sharing good fellowship and buying. One of the things Peter offered me were bags of the grey figures from the Superior playset. I bought them for the Marx paddlers. The figures are in a stiff hard plastic which leaves a lot of damage. Still I was able to make a profit on them.
Lost Marx World War Two German Figure Mold Final Thoughts
It is doubtful that Superior had the Marx German mold. It would make sense to run it for the playset. As I mention Jay Horowitz would have said something about it when we talked. So where it is who knows.
Interesting, for all we know the molds might be sitting in a warehouse somewhere – that is, if someone didn’t pick them up in an auction and melt them down for the metal… a shame.
Looking at ebay there doesn’t seem to be a particular shortage of either the Ft Apache pioneers or the Marx WW2 Germans (unless folks are selling and re-selling the same old figures over and over). But I’ve often wondered if it wouldn’t be worth someone’s while to pantograph them one day and produce remakes like CTS has done with the Captain Gallant figures. With the amount of figures available right now I don’t see that as a viable or cost-effective option right now with the available figures.
I would like to see newer versions modified a bit to make them fit better with newer figures like Conte and TSSD – even pose changes like CTS did to improve their usefulness. But, again, probably a pipedream with the current market. It does remain one of my daydreams if I can ever get my hands on a 3D printer…
I recently noticed two huge lot of new made or mint (“vintage grey armor German marx full sets”!) on ebay ,the seller was selling every piece x 20.00 each and he claim have over 12 each .He say from old stock .He listed it twice or have to big lot .The sets included all seated poses figures and to me looks so new that was hard to believe were old ones.
I save the sales list ,but for some odd reason the pictures got erase from link and only description saved out of ebay sold out lot two day after buy now last piece finish .
I had forgot ask seller about .But will if show again to see what it says.
I’m wonder what is going on out there with so many repeated MARX sets (:”vintage “) in so great quality .
But is just thoughts i guess.
At the moment it would be too expensive to make molds of the Marx Germans and pioneers. There is no money. Francis Turner wass selling light gray Germans for $.25 each at the East Coast show. Dark gray go for $1.00 each normally.
I agree Paul; but it is for me one of those nice “what-ifs;” as I said, there seems to be no real shortage of either set so…
There was a company that marked the Germans with their name on the bottom , that name being Helm. In a photograph they looked like Marx Germans, but once I got to hold them in my sweaty little palms, they seemed to less detailed , maybe even a little smaller. I’m not sure what they did to produce them, but produce them they did. They also did the GI’s and seemed to mix in the Mongram GI’s too. Maybe they made their own molds using the original figures, I don’t know. I remember speaking with Bill Murphy once and he was telling me he went down to Mexico and there was a warehouse or factory that had stacks of molds, he wasn’t sure even if they were all old Marx molds. I guess he brough back a bunch of them that he could identify, this was years ago he said and our talk was years ago too, so the details are a bit fuzzy. Of course we were drinking at the time too, so that didn’t help the clarity of the situation.
The helm germans were made in HK and as u say bad copies.
They did copy not all poses and also did some Gis.
They came w a playset.I have it.
Kent site have some then in pictures …
Another HK unkown brand sold other copies not the helm with less poses in grey, blue and green.I have a mint bag of it.These last come in 80s .
Hasbro mark as then w HK stamp did 5 german marx varied poses and 3 Marx gis plus aurburn gis poses in 54 mm.
I have a bag of those as well.These were not bad copies but after compared to Marx germans they are fron non marx mold as some detail and bases are different complete….
Best…
Bill Murphy was talking about Dinamicos. They had some Rel molds and Leya army Jeep. When the molds were sold at the Marx Auction Jay Horowitz bought them and either he was backed or Dinamicos bought molds.
Has anyone created some good conversions from the Marx germans? If so, please send some photos of them to Stad so he can post them here. We’d like to see ’em.
Yes I agree if anyone has done any conversion we would like to see them.
Mego also made a Navarone set and then separated the Navarone (yellow) accessory mold from the other molds and ran it in metallic blue to go in their Eagle Force 3 inch soldier series. The mold was used in their Eagle Island Playset and you can find pictures by searching for it. The Navarone mountain and floors molds were used in the 1990s to make Navarone playsets that sold in Toy Liquidators stores. They used the Payton AA guns which were a poor fit, and the figures I saw were either Marx 45mm Training Camp GIs or their Payton clones. I have heard but can not substantiate that when Mego shipped the German & GI molds back to Marx that both marx and Mego were in bankruptcy and no one could pay the railroad that did the shipping so the railroad kept them and sold them for scrap……
Yes I’m two years late to this thread. Kent you did answer what I was looking for. I work with a company that cleans out houses. They trash, donate, recycle, and auction off the good stuff. Well to my excitement we pulled out a Mego Navarone set. I already told the owner of the company it’s mine. It is going to auction, but I will be there, and if anyone else thinks they are getting it, they will pay way too much. Anyways I didn’t get a chance to check all the contents of the set yet. I only pulled the mountain out. It did not have the yellow cannons. It had two twin barreled anti-aircraft guns in green instead. The mountain is black also. The guns look like the ones on Ideal’s Anzio Raider.
When I get the set I’ll post pics on Facebook,
military toys from our childhood. I already own a Navarone set and have sold several mountains. This is first time I’ve seen one with different guns.
Those were classic poses in the G.I stretcher bearer set. I would like to see these updated. Same with the Germans. Nice facial sculpting and helmets but the uniform/body needs more 3D sculpting. The G.I carrying the wounded soldier is a classic and needs to be done by someone in plastic.
The Marx GIs from the second set with the stretcher and casualties are among my favorite WW2 figures of all time. The first set is good too, but the Germans were disappointing. I found them too skinny and the helmets looked undersized. I only like the officer and the dead guy and the man with the MG42 over his shoulder. The bayonetting guy is passable. When I got a Battleground set in 1976, I retired the Marx Germans as soon as I got a box of Airfix Germans.
CTS did a phenomenal job downsizing the 6″ Marx Germans in there first German set. I often think and wish they would have done the same with the 6″ Marx Japanese for their first/only Japanese set. I personally think the plastic being used for the Arabs/FFL redos is questionable quality plastic.
The 6″ japanese were down sized and cloned copied in 54 mm together w russian, marines and germans by obscure company I have them.So Greg Liska as well .
I made a large compare post photo pose by pose w their 6 and 3″ counterparts sets that is ready to post here at any time admin convenience.
The maker was from SA .
The plastic used in arabs was recicled bottle tab granulated and made using hand tool mold machinery molds system .Crude house made making.I ask maker to change and he did not.I step away from business as I knew quality will degenerate in future.
Result was bad FFL and cavalry copies made.
Best.
Yes Erwin, I got some of the Russians which one pose, my favorite, walking with rifle across waist was good. The others all suffered from short molding, mold flaws. Especially the Americans and Japanese. Maybe the advancing with the bayonet rifle Japanese pose was good too.
The figures have some molds flows of course but sets were least very acceptable in.my opinion.The Germans were better.
I noticed same sets from one bag to other w some poses better finished. So it depend I guess .
The Cane brand Japanese, marines and US soldiers in 65mm are excellent copies.Too bad they did not copy the Russian or Germans.
My thoughts.
Best.
It seems to me it had a sparkle appearance (especially on the Arabs), with some transparency on the peripheries.
Given the non-existence of any good quality 54mm universal monsters (Frankenstein, Dracula, and wolfman), I have hoped beyond hope that someone would have downsized the marx 6″ monsters set. I did talk to someone who said that Ron Barzso thought about making 54mm monsters to go with the castle set, but licensing from Universal for even low 100s production was in the six figures.
About classic monsters in my opinion de SCS resent large 16 poses classical monsters/characters sets in 54mm are very well done and classical.
The Amex brand from Mexico in 70 mm aprox too and very universal studios style classic as well,original made in Mexico.Mexican did not paid any license I bet .
MPC were reissued as well .
So i think are plenty out there to choose in a thematic not quite so abundant collected in that scale
My thoughts
The 6″ Japanese, were without a doubt my favorites of all the 6″ figures Marx ever made. I remember the day I got them and I was seriously impressed with how realistic they looked. I wish the officer pose wa a little more nimated perhaps with a Samauri Sword, but other than that they were great.
The Marx six inch figures were great. I could have lived without the knight leaning on his shield and pointing, and the guys getting shot – but they all were beautifully sculpted. I remember getting the Marine advancing with the gun across his chest. My father looked him over carefully and called in my mother to look at him too – he was amazed by the detail, and I can remember him commenting that you could even see individual teeth on the figure. We had a fair number of these guys lying around. My brother was given a cardboard bunker loaded with six inch Germans and GIs.
Last issue of Play Set Magazine had an article about that cardboard bunker and German 6″ figures.
It was a wonderful toy, and as I remember it, it would make a great fort for 1/32 soldiers.
Well the biger the figure is the more artist can do deetail.
Many of 54 mm are donevin much taller scale as prototypes.
Then reduce till scale archive.
Best.
Indeed! And on this bigger scale Marx went the limit, producing figures with wonderful animation and detail. Of course these came out in the 1960s, when Marx figures were at a peak for natural-looking sculpting.
But as to play with.The 1/32 is best of course and x playset as well.The tall scale were made as collectible figures pretty much. .
Some 1/32 if you use a magnifier will able see the teeth detail and much more.But because so small at simple view would not be apreciate unfortunately.
I personally like the Marx 54mm Germans. As for the tanks, they could have been more in scale with the 1/32nd figures. I am also referring to the U.S. Tanks and other vehicles, not just the German Tanks and Command Cars.
I had come across some Marx Germans in a bluer gray made of a very flexible, vinyl-like material. Sort of like the rubbery material Bachmann used for making their Airfix copies that were factory painted. They were in a big Ebay lot I’d gotten and I sold them to someone who just thought they were different and interesting.
The WST scale-down (from the 6-inchers) figures were as far as I understand, not his doing but an acquisition. When CTS carried them at first you got 2 of each pose and although not the best copies, they were better than most China copy endeavors. Later, as the inventory ran out, you were guaranteed one of each pose and the other 6 would be whatever was left. Before WST ran them, I’d encountered these figures in bright, fruity colors that made the figures look worse than they were. The WST releases were not always the best color choice either. The Japs were MPC yellow. I think we all would have preferred flat tan. The GI’s were in a good drab green. The Germans were in a way-too-light grey and the Russians were in a darker grey. They all ended up with a paint job for my collection, except the GI’s.
I purchased a dark gray german tank and some dark gray German soldiers. in the group 0f soldiers there several that were molded in a dark green color. Have you ever heard of that before?
Thank you,
Mike Feodorov
Mike I need photos ypu can send to pestad@gmail.com
Quite a few years ago, I ordered some Marx German figures from Hobby Bunker. They were cast in a light gray– almost white color. I just assumed they were re-casts, so I did some primitive conversions (At that time, I did not know the fate of the original molds). And I did poor paint jobs becasue I did not know that I should wash off the mold release chemicals and then prime the figures…Doh!
I’m not sure how to post a photo here, so I sent one to Paul. Maybe he will post it, and you will see what I mean– the Testors paint is flaking off…
Stad’s Stuff– still the best! So I hope other collectors and figure converters will post here.
Back in the day, Testors or Pactra enamels were some of the only paints we could find at hobby stores. You want field green, you had to custom mix it yourself. You want flat or matte finish you could add some talcum powder, etc. Now there are so many choices and paints are much better than those old enamels. Though Testors is still available and still my first choice for that glossy, vintage toy soldier look.