Hi.
I've just joined the forum and apologise if this subject has come up before.
My younger brother was given a set of these Louis Marx WW2 6" plastic soldiers for Xmas in the early 1960's. This included 6 pieces each of German, British, Japanese and US soldiers. We didn't look after them and even used them for air rifle target practice.
I always wondered who made them and only recently discovered that they were made by Louis Marx after seeing two of them for sale in an antiques shop in the UK. I'm now trying to collect the complete set again. The ones my brother had were probably all dated MCMLX111 (1963) and made at the Marx Swansea factory in Wales. Although the German, Japanese and US models were also made in the US, the British soldiers were only made in the UK.
I now see 3 types of these soldiers offered for sale. The rarest have the Marx circular stamp on their base together with the date for 1963 or 1964 - these are genuine originals. The second type have a circular Marx stamp which includes 'Made in Great Britain' but no date. The third type have no stamp and no date.
I believe the second type might have been made in the Swansea factory between 1967 - 1976 after the factory was sold to Dunbee-Cobex in 1967. This UK firm eventually bought the Marx US setup in around 1979 from Quaker Oats who themselves had bought it from Marx in 1976.
I believe the third type may have been made by Mego Corp in the early 1980's who bought the rights and moulds from Dunbee-Cobex-Marx after they went bankrupt in 1980. I recently bought some NOS of this type from the US which were claimed to have been produced for Toys-R-Us back in the 1980's.
I would be grateful if there's anyone on the forum who could add to my understanding of when and where the second and third types were produced. I would also be interested in people's views as to whether the latter types should be considered to be recasts or not.
Many thanks for any help offered,
Arthur
I've just joined the forum and apologise if this subject has come up before.
My younger brother was given a set of these Louis Marx WW2 6" plastic soldiers for Xmas in the early 1960's. This included 6 pieces each of German, British, Japanese and US soldiers. We didn't look after them and even used them for air rifle target practice.
I always wondered who made them and only recently discovered that they were made by Louis Marx after seeing two of them for sale in an antiques shop in the UK. I'm now trying to collect the complete set again. The ones my brother had were probably all dated MCMLX111 (1963) and made at the Marx Swansea factory in Wales. Although the German, Japanese and US models were also made in the US, the British soldiers were only made in the UK.
I now see 3 types of these soldiers offered for sale. The rarest have the Marx circular stamp on their base together with the date for 1963 or 1964 - these are genuine originals. The second type have a circular Marx stamp which includes 'Made in Great Britain' but no date. The third type have no stamp and no date.
I believe the second type might have been made in the Swansea factory between 1967 - 1976 after the factory was sold to Dunbee-Cobex in 1967. This UK firm eventually bought the Marx US setup in around 1979 from Quaker Oats who themselves had bought it from Marx in 1976.
I believe the third type may have been made by Mego Corp in the early 1980's who bought the rights and moulds from Dunbee-Cobex-Marx after they went bankrupt in 1980. I recently bought some NOS of this type from the US which were claimed to have been produced for Toys-R-Us back in the 1980's.
I would be grateful if there's anyone on the forum who could add to my understanding of when and where the second and third types were produced. I would also be interested in people's views as to whether the latter types should be considered to be recasts or not.
Many thanks for any help offered,
Arthur
