Table of Contents (click on name to move to section)

60mm and Similar Figures

The Flintstones Play Set

3-Inch Flintstones Figures

The Miniature Flintstones Play Set

Yogi Bear at Jellystone National Park Play Set

Troll Village

6-Inch Super Heroes and Monsters

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Please note:  For the most part, figures on this page are shown in approximately proper proportion when compared to other figures.  The primary exceptions to this are 1) 6-inch figures, which are decreased by about half and 2) some photos which I have obtained from other people.  In addition, due to size, many accessories shown are not scaled in this manner either, smaller items being increased in size and larger items decreased.

When I added this page to the web site in August 2011, there were huge holes of missing figures.  To the best of my knowledge, with a great amount of help from several collectors, it is now near complete.  The narrative information has expanded, but I hope to add more as I find or am informed of more details.  I welcome your comments, corrections, additional information and photos, and anything else you may wish to share with me and others who may read this page.  You can reach me by e-mail at info@marxwildwest.com.

Though Marx manufactured a variety of non-Disney cartoon characters with the same techniques used to make playset figures, only two figure groups were included in a playsets:  the Flintstone group in the Flinstone Play Set and the Yogi Bear group in the Jellystone Park Play Set.  In addition, the Dagwood Bumstead family was included with a Marx doll house.  Otherwise, these figures were sold only individually or in small boxed figure sets.

I find it curious as to what cartoon characters Marx made and did not make.  Though I have read that Louis Marx hated to pay licensing fees for figures representing characters or cartoons created by others, he obviously agreed on such fees to make and sell these cartoon figures.  I certainly cannot complain as far as the groups that Marx made, though it would have been nice to include a few more figures in some of the groups, for example Black Bart in the Popeye group, Dagwood's boss Mr. Dithers (and his wife Nora), and Daddy Warbucks with Little Orphan Annie.  Moreover, there are obvious omissions of popular cartoons, such as Alley Oop, Pogo, Little Lulu, and Bugs Bunny and friends.  I mean, how easy would it have been to put out some Alley Oop figures with the existing Marx dinosaurs and have a hit playset?   So, I assume that some cartoonists wanted more licensing money than Mr. Marx would pay or just did not want their cartoons turned into plastic.  That's really a shame....

60mm cartoon figures

Like the Disney figures, these figures were done in various pastel shades.  Their size varies greatly from a big Lil' Abner to the small Little Orphan Annie and her dog Sandy, but they are totally compatible in size with the Disney Television Playhouse figures shown on the Disney Cartoon page.  Unless otherwise noted below, they are generally considered 60mm scale.  Most figures are in the $10 to $20 range if in good condition, but there are exceptions.  You will pay a premium for Popeye if you can find him with the stem of his pipe intact.  The Howdy Doody figures are very hard to find and very expensive.  Superman is rare and will cost an arm and a leg.

    Lil' Abner, Dick Tracy, and Little Orphan Annie
           PL-508

1.  Lil' Abner	2.  Daisy Mae	3.  Mammy Yokum

4.  Pappy Yokum	5.  Salome

6.  Dick Tracy	7.  Junior	8.  B. O. Plenty

9.  Gravel Gertie	10.  Sparkle Plenty

11.  Little Orphan Annie	12.  Sandy

    Blondie
           PL-

Sold seperately
1.  Dagwood	2.  Blondie	3.  Cookie

4.  Alexander	5.  Daisy

Sold in doll houses
1.  Dagwood	2.  Blondie	3.  Cookie

4.  Alexander	5.  Daisy

    Popeye
           PL-

1.  Popeye	2.  Olive Oyl

3.  Swee' Pea	4.  Wimpy

    Barney Google
           PL-

1.  Snuffy Smith	2.  Loweezie

3.  Jug Haid	4.  Sut Tattersail

    Bringing Up Father
           PL-

1.  Jiggs	2.  Maggie

    Howdy Doody
           PL-

The 5-figure Howdy Doody group was made first in soft plastic (Poses 3 to 5 below) and later in a hard plastic (Poses 1 and 2 below).  Soft plastic figures came in pink, green, and blue; hard plastic ones were white/beige.  These figures are very difficult to find today; three figures sold together on Ebay in September 2011 for $665.

1.  Howdy Doody	2.  Clarabelle	3.  The Princess Photo courtesy of David Schafer
4.  Dilly Dally Photo courtesy of David Schafer	5.  Mr. Bluster Photo courtesy of David Schafer

Recent Price Lines I have noticed
Howdy Doody, Clarabelle, and Dilly Dally	$665	Sept 2011	Ebay	Pale green soft plastic, as in photos above.

     Superman
       PL-

According to veteran collector Paul Stadinger, the Superman figure was never sold by Marx.  Existing figures were found in a Marx warehouse after the company went bankrupt.  The figure is one of those items that every collector searches for and almost no one finds.  It is rare and it is expensive.  Fortunately for us peons, the Superman figure was re-issued by Hobby Bunker in 2012 in a hard plastic cream.  The figure stands about 2-1/2 inches tall.

Superman	Superman Re-issue figure

     Tom and Jerry
       PL-

According to veteran collector Rick Koch, Marx produced Tom and Jerry figures in the 1960s at their Swansea factory in Great Britain, for sale in Europe.  They were not distributed to the U.S. and are not often found here.  The figures shown below are hard plastic and appear to have been factory-painted, but perhaps they also came unpainted.  The figures are referred to as 60mm, but Tom is actually about 50mm tall.  I am unsure of the exact size of Jerry.

Tom	Jerry Photo courtesy of Denis Rylev

Russian collector Denis Rylev provided the following photos of figures that are compatable with the many Marx cartoon figures that are about five or six inches tall.  He reports that they were made in Marx' Hong Kong facilities in 1973.  I have not seen them elsewhere.  Again, I am not sure of their exact size.

Tom	Jerry
Photos courtesy of Russian collector Denis Rylev

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The Flintstones Play Set




The Flintstones Play Set came out in 1961 with figures in 60mm scale.  It included an assortment of hard platic buildings, pre-historic "cars",  and other small accessories, as well as existing dinosaurs and palm trees used in previous playsets.  It is another example of Marx obtaining licensing rights and using popular television programs to spur sales.

 

        Figures (PL-1128)

1.  Fred Flintstone	2.  Wilma Flinstone	3.  Barney Rubble

4.  Betty Rubble	5.  Dino	6.  Baby Puss

7.  Waitress	8.  Waiter	9.  Policeman

10.  Fireman	11.  Construction worker	12.  Service station attendant

          Accessories (Shown about half-size in proportion to figure photos)

Fred and Wilma's house About 10 inches wide
Barney and Betty's house and garage House is about 5 inches wide, garage 4-1/2 inches
House About 3-1/2 inches wide	Supermarket About 5-1/4 inches wide
Diner with Separate Stools About 3-3/4 inches wide	Gas Station (4-piece)	Gas Sign

Town sign Sign is large, about 5 inches wide	Mail Box	Shopping Cart

Barney's car	Fred's car Photo courtesy of David Schafer

Recent Price Lines I have noticed
Fred's car	$27	April 2013	Ebay
Barney's car	$33	June 2013	Ebay

As with many playsets, the Flintstones set came with a thin soft plastic playmat.  It measures about 27 inches by 36 inches.  

Flintstones playmat

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Flintstones Hunting Party Set - 3-inch Scale
           PL-

Unlike the 60mm scale Flintstones Play Set, this was a figure set that included only two figures and three dinosaurs.  Collector David Schafer -- whose figures are shown below -- has suggested that the three dinosaurs in this set are more in scale with the 60mm figures than those included with the 60mm figures in the play set above.  

These are the only cartoon figures I am aware of in this scale.  Fred is about 3-1/2 inches tall, the borontasaurus about a foot long, and the big-headed T-Rex about 6-1/2 inches tall.

All photos below courtesy of David Schafer
Playset box	Fred and Barney
Brontosaurus
Tyrannosaurus (T-rex)	Stegosaurus
All photos above courtesy of David Schafer

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The Miniature Flintstones Playset

And finally, Marx also made a miniature Flintstones Playset that included figures about an inch tall.  It was one of about 50 such sets in a wide variety of themes that Marx' Hong Kong facilities produced in the 1960s.  Items in such sets were generally made of painted hard plastic, and figure poses were often down-scaled versions of the 54mm or 60mm playset poses.

Miniature Flintstones Playset box, contents, and playmat (at left) Photos courtesy of collector Christopher Wallentine.

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Yogi Bear at Jellystone National Park Play Set

Marx followed up its success with the Flintstones playset by releasing a Yogi Bear at Jellystone National Park set one year later in 1962.  According to an article in Playset Magazine Issue 94, the Yogi Bear television show premiered in 1961, spun off from the Huckleberry Hound show.  The location for the set was Jellystone Park -- based on Yellowstone National Park -- which caught the eye of the U.S. populace, which had recently begun more extensive travel with the nation's new Interstate Highway system.  Marx released its Yogi Bear playset in 1962, numbered #4364.  

Rather than making costly molds for new figures, the company took the low road and used the painted hard plastic TV-Tinykins as figures for the set.  Playset animals, however, were used from the company's wild animal group included several years earlier in the Boys Camp playset.  Most of the animals in the group, which came in cream and tan soft plastic, are well oversized for the Yogi Bear group figures.  

Accessories included a hard plastic Ranger cabin, Jellystone Park gate, a pond made in vacuum-form plastic, and a picnic table and related accessories.  Several other accessories were copied from other playsets, such the ranch outdoor accessories group (4-piece, well, axe-in-stump, anvil, etc.), the 3-piece rock terrain from Wagon Train, a variety of trees, and a red canoe.  Fencing for the set was the Wild West split rail style in white.  The PM article has a contents list for the set.

I find it humorous that many companies who have sold Marx copy and re-issue Wild West playsets tout the small Ranger cabin as a Wild West cabin.

     Figures - PL-
          Figures in this section are slightly enlarged compared to other figure photos on this page.

All photos below are courtesy of veteran collector and seller Dan McLean
Yogi Bear	Cindy Bear	Boo Boo	Ranger Smith

Fibber Fox	Yakky Doodle Duck	Snagglepuss	8.  Alfy Gator
All photos above are courtesy of veteran collector and seller Dan McLean

     Small North American Animals

This animal group -- which was also included in the Boys Camp Set and sold seperately as  a figure group -- is in a scale of about 54mm, much larger than the playset figures.

1.  Bobcat	2.  Racoon
3.  Fawn	4.  Bear cub
5.  Weasel	6.  Skunk
7.  Muskrat	8.  Weasel
	9.  Woodchuck
10.  Rabbit	11.  Squirrel

          Accessories

Additional accessories were also included in the set, such a trees and rocks.  The gate below was unique to the set.  It has since been re-issued without the printing on the sign and used in re-issue Wild West playsets.

Jellystone Park gate Photo courtesy of Dan McLean, Ebay toymiester.

A dark brown Ranger cabin is made in hard plastic and measures about 5-1/2 inches wide, 3 inches deep, and 3-1/2 inches tall.  It comes in two pieces that snap together, including a floor.  The cabin door is frozen slightly ajar with an opening too small to add a couple of items of furniture (though perhaps it could be done before it is snapped together).  As with the gate above, the cabin has been re-issued without the printing on the sign and used as a cabin in re-issue Wild West playsets.

Ranger cabin, front and back

The ranger also had a jeep, the same as the jeep found in the company's military Training Center playsets.  However, here it is made in soft plastic blue.  The canoe, from the Boys Camp playset, is in red.

Jeep Photo courtesy of Dan McLean, Ebay toymiester.	Canoe

And in very fragile, thin plastic was a pond with a short river flowing into it.  Because of the pond's delicacy, I am sure this must be one of the hardest pieces of the set to find today.  It is factory-painted and measures 9 inches by 6 inches.  It stands about a half inch tall.  As shown, the one I own has several cracks in the plastic, with tape underneath in an attempt to slow further cracking.  Marx did not use this type of material material for many play set items, and I believe this particular pond is unique to this set.

Pond, river inlet at lower right Obvious damage at upper left

A picnic set came in dark brown hard plasitc.

Picnic table and basket	Frying pan, pot, and plate	Directional signs

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The Troll Village Play Set

In the mid-1960s, Marx came out with another cartoon playset using small figures, this time with trolls.  Troll dolls, which were first created in Denmark in 1959, became one of the U.S.'s biggest toy fads in the 1960s with their big eyes and wild hair; their popularity in the U.S. has resurfaced several times since then.  Marx' Troll Village set was one of many miniature play sets -- which included military, medieval, Wild West, and other themes -- that the company produced in its Hong Kong facilities.  Similar to the company's Tiny-Kin figures, the trolls are about 1-1/2 inches tall, though they are not designated as belonging to that group.

Besides a dozen unclad trolls, the sets included animals, a house, table and chairs, a cart, fences, rocks, trees, bushes, a couple of mountains with caves, and a paper playmat.  As shown below, the figures and accessories were also sold in smaller window boxes.  Playset Magazine Issue 94 includes a half-page article on the set, with photos and a detailed list of set contents.    

The Marx Trolls -- playset on left, window boxes on right Both photos above courtesy of collector Matthew Pak

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6-Inch Figures

These superhero and monster figures were never sold in a playset, but were certainly popular figures with us guys back in the day.  And, though they can be a bit hard to find in good shape today, they remain popular among collectors of Marx, super hero, and monster fans.  Due to their size, they are shown in smaller scale that other figures on this page.  Note that the excellent photos below have been provided by Russian collector Denis Rylev.

The figures, released in the 1960s, were made in plastic and came in various colors as seen below (including some very-unlike Marx "neon").  So...if we match the six Super Heroes against the six Monsters...who wins?  

          Marvel Super Heroes - PL-

For a little more information on the Marvel Super Heroes, go to http://gobacktothepast.com/fabulous-find-14-marvel-marx-figures/

All photos below courtesy of Denis Rylev
Thor	The Hulk	Iron Man
Captain America	Dare Devil	Spiderman
All photos above courtesy of Denis Rylev

          Universal Movie Monsters - PL-

You can find a little more info on the monsters at http://www.jeffs60s.com/universal-plastic-monsters.php

All photos below courtesy of Denis Rylev
1.  Frankenstein	2.  Phantom of the Opera	3.  Creature from the Black Lagoon
4.  The Wolfman	5.  The Mummy	6.  The Hunchback of Notre Dame
All photos above courtesy of Denis Rylev

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