As you know Marx put the Alamo cannon in the their Marx Civil War playsets in gray. My question is did Marx have it as a firing cannon or a non-firing cannon. I had someone asked me that basic question and I can not remember if it did or not. I have picked up only two gray cannons in the last three years and both were without the firing pin. Please let me know.
Didn’t the gray nonfiring cannon come in the heritage Alamo playsets? I do believe I have a gray firing cannon in earlier 54mm Ft Apache sets like the 3660MO
I remember when my older brother and I got the Giant Blue and Gray set for Christmas 1961 there was a black and gray cannon – we assumed the black was for the North and the Gray for the South – both fired, as did the mortars.
They made two mortars for the ACW sets. Only one fired
The one gray cannon that I could locate does not have a firing device. I am almost sure that this came in a Blue and Gray set.
Wayne, are you sure that it was gray and not silver? I have several Giant’s and they all have black and silver small cannons. I’m not talking about the larger cannon that came with the caisson, but the small Fort Apache types. Black and silver in all my sets.
Is not silver and black the reissues sold later!?
I was only 5 years old when I got it but I remember it as being gray. As far as the mortars I do remember the big black one fired but, as has been said maybe the smaller one didn’t – I don’t remember it firing and I think we thought we’d put it together wrong so… that would explain that. This is dredging up some old fond memories here.
Paul, I checked my close to mint sets and both the Giant and the Centennenial sets have gray Fort Apache type cannons with firing pins. There is no black cannon in either set.
So Wayne, you were half right!
I have other Giant sets that have the cannon in black, but they may be “put together” sets. Or the age old Marx habit of substituting pieces/colors could be responsible.
I also have one B&G set that has the cannon in silver with a firing pin. And I recently found a gold cannon in a B&G lot that I picked up.
When I get a chance I’ll check my other B&G sets.
A to the motor… The large black mortor came with a spring loaded firing device in both Giants and Cenntennials sets. The small “3 piece” mortor that came with the small accessories did not fire and was never intended to fire.
Hope that helps.
Bill
Yes the black mortar was a firing mortar except when it was put into the American Heritage Civil War Playsets. The childhood safety laws had kick in and Marx took out the trigger.
The small mortar was never a firing piece in the Marx Playset.
This got me to thinking. I remember one of my brother’s friends busted “his” gray cannon (maybe silver) so I kept the other black one, the Union one. My brother wanted the South because he was born in Atlanta, I didn’t have a problem with the North, after all, in my five year-old mind the North won, didn’t it?
I never lived down the fact I raised Cain to keep the “working” cannon but I figured my brother’s friend broke it it was only fair my brother get it. Had it been one of my friends who broke it it would have been another matter.
I did some checking on a Marx site and this is what it says about set contents. Hope it helps, sure refreshes my memory.
http://www.marxwildwest.com/civil%20war/civilwar.html