The Little People    Table of Contents

Marxville Town People

Disneyland

Sears Shopping Center

Gas Stations

Airports

Strategic Air Command

Mystery Space Ship

Railroad People

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As I begin to prepare this page, I am struck by the limited attempts there have been to prepare an accurate inventory of what I call here "The Little People" of Marx.  These are not figures from the Marx miniature playsets that are about HO scale, ranging from Noah's Ark to the Alamo to the World War II battlefield.  Rather these are -- for the most part -- the approximately 35mm to 40mm scale figures that were found primarily with a few smaller scale play sets (such as Disneyland, Strategic Air Command, the Mystery Space Ship) and Marxville buildings that were made for model train layouts.

You might object that figures such as those found in Marxville buldings are not playset figures.  While that is true, the ones I show on this page are made in exactly the same manner as the company's playset figures and many could, in fact, be reasonably added to some of the company's playsets.  They are molded in vinyl or soft plastic, are mostly a cream color identical to that used for many play set figures, and are not painted.  At the same time, I will point out that most of these small figures are not of the same high quality as larger scale figures.  The photos below show this.  I am sure it takes more skill to create well-detailed smaller scale figures and, consideirng that these are toys, Marx most likely did not see the value of paying the added costs.

I have found two printed sources of information that provide some organization to these figures.  First is the 1993 Appendix to Geppert's Guide for Non-Metallic Soldiers of the U.S., which catalogs many of these figures.  Second is a 2-page article by veteran collector and seller Rick Koch that appeared in the Plastic Figure and Playset Collector (PFPC) Issue 67 in August 2000.

This lack of information surprises me, because the figures show great imagination and, on occasion, nice detail.  Moreover, many of these figures were never produced by Marx in a larger scale, and I find that sad.  Where is the motorcycle policeman and the prisoner handcuffed to the policeman in the Untouchables play set?  Where is the boss, walking down a windy street, in his heavy overcoat with his hat pulled low?  Where is the four-armed alien in space playsets other than the Mystery Space Ship?  Why aren't these men carrying boxes, holding clip boards, and sweeping up in the freight terminal set, instead of the blocky robot-like figures we find there?  Why don't doll houses have the girl jumping rope, the child with the ice cream cone, and the woman pushing a baby carriage?

Well, at least we have The Little People...and a grand village of people they are!  The quality of the photos below varies, because I find it difficult to take clear photos of these small figures.  I will contine to experiment and attempt to add better photos as I improve my camera skills.

Note that some of these figures are also shown on other pages of this web site.  For example, the Disneyland figures are shown on the Disney page, the Mystery Space Ship figures on the Space Figures page, etc.

Marxville Town People

Many of the company's Little People were found with Marx' line of plastic buildings for model railroads, dubbed Marxville.  Some -- and perhaps all -- buildings were also accompanied by appropriate small accessories.  A few of the Marxville figures are extremely hard to find, having been sold with one type of Marxville building and no where else.  This includes, for example, the boy on a bicycle that came only with the Marxville schoolhouse and the prisoner handcuffed to a policeman found only in the police station.

The tiny figure of a girl with an ice cream cone has to be a favorite of many collectors.  It is one of the smallest figures Marx made, only 3/4 of an inch tall.  

Many of the buildings were manufactured and sold under the K-Line model railroad label for several years after Marx went bankrupt.  I believe these re-issues are more plentiful in today's market than the originals...and just as nice if in good condition.

The photos and information below are what I have been able to pull together from various sources, much of it from Rick Koch's article in PFPC which I mention above.  I welcome further information and photos from anyone else that might have some.

Marxville Church
Minister	Bride	Groom
All three figures are hard plastic re-issues.

Marxville Schoolhouse
Teacher	Boy on roller skates	Girl, walking
Boy on bicycle	Girl jumping rope	Girl with ice cream cone

Marxville Supermarket
Butcher	Milkman
I am not positive that these two figures go with the Supermarket, but it seems to make sense and I know of no other place where they were used.

Marxville Firehouse
Fireman with hose	Fireman with axe	Fire chief
Boy with boots	Firehouse dog

Marxville Police Station
Motorcycle policeman	Traffic Policeman	Policeman with prisoner Re-issue figure
Geppert's Guide to Non-Metallic Toy Soldier of the U.S." states that three other poses came in the Police Station: a man with a broom, a newpaper boy, and a child with an ice cream cone.  I have not found this reported elsewhere.  These poses are shown elsewhere on this page.

Marxville Factory
The Marxville Toys factory has to be the most appropriate item ever made by Marx.  It came with various figure poses that were also used in other figure groups and accessories that were unique to the building.
Man in tie, right arm held out	Man holding clipboard	Man in hard hat carrying large wrench	Man with hammer and chisel
Man pushing separate dolly		Man carrying box on shoulder	Box on pallet
Forklift	Boxes on cart	Drill press (?)	Handcart

Marxville Farm
The barn and accessories at the right were accompanied by the figures below.  Note that 1) the box and pallet in front of the barn are the same as the one in the Marxville Toy factory and 2) the plank fence is the same as the small plank fence on the Farm Accessories page. Photo at right courtesy of veteran seller and collector Kent Sprecher.
Farmer	Farmer's wife	Goat
Cow	Horse	Pig

Marxville Military Barracks
Sitting on box	Officer, pointing	Sergeant, marching
Private, marching	Standing, rifle across chest	Bugler
Saluting	Lying, firing rifle

Marxville Train Station
Train man with lantern	Porter with three bags	Woman wearing hat with child	Train engineer
Man in heavy overcoat	Man  walking, coat held on right arm, newspaper in left	Newspaper boy

Other Marxville buildings that I am aware of include

• Airport hanger
• Train station
• Service station
• Colonial house
• Ranch house
• Diner

The photos of Marxville buildings below have been provided by veteran collector and seller Mark Hegeman.  Note that the ranch house is populated by 40mm cowboy figures, which are shown in the Wild West section of this web site.

Church	Fire station	Police station and service station	Ranch house	School	Train station

I have not other information on Marxville, but welcome any information or good photos from anyone and everyone!
                                                                       

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Disneyland

The figures below (including animals) populated the 1961 Disneyland Play Set.  As most of The Little People, the figures in the Disneyland set came in a cream colored soft plastic, but they can be found in other colors also, such as light gray.  Five of the six cartoon characters are down-sized versions of the poses in the Television Playhouse set.  To the best of my knowledge, the animal figures were never used in any other playset, but the cartoon figures were used in the Disneykins group, a large group of Disney characters in painted hard plastic (see the Cartoons - Disney page).

These Disneyland figures are also shown on the Cartoons - Disney page of this web site.  Note that some of the non-character figures in this group were used in other sets, such as airport playsets and Marxville buildings.
 
               Disney Characters and Park Visitors

1.  Mickey Mouse	2.  Minnie Mouse	3.  Pluto
4.  Donald Duck	5.  Professor Ludwig Von Drake	6.  Goofy

        

1.  Boy riding donkey	2.  Woman wearing hat with little girl	3.  Woman with sack

        

4.  Woman with shopping bag	5.  Man with package under arm	6.  Woman with package under arm

        

7.  Woman with hat box	8.  Astronaut	9.  Cowboy Pose is similar to 60mm Matt Dillon in Marx' Gunsmoke Play Set.

        

10.  Wild West lady with umbrella Pose is identical to Miss Kitty in Marx' Gunsmoke Playset.	11. Indian chief	12.  Man in derby hat

               Animals at Disneyland

1.  Matterhorn goat	2.  Elephant	3.  Giraffe

 

4.  Rhinoceros	5.  Hippotamus, with flat bottom	6.  Water buffalo, with flat bottom

7.  Water buffalo, with flat bottom, head turned	8.  Lion	9.  Lioness

10.  Alligator	11.  Gorilla

                                                                        

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Sears Shopping Center

Another set that included The Little People was the Sears Shopping Center, which the Sears and Roebuck Store requested Marx produce.  It would have been difficult for Marx to turn down the request, since Sears sold more Marx toys than any other company.  Most likely due to the limited distritution and sales anticipated for this set, Marx used already-existing, 35mm figures to populate the play set.  Made in cream soft plastic, these figures were borrowed from other Marx play sets, such as Disneyland, airports, and the Marxville playset buildings.  I find it odd that Marx did not even create any sales personnel for the Sears set; you would think that Sears would have insisted on such figures!  

1.  Man pushing seperate hand truck	2.  Man pumping gas	3.  Man with hammer and chisel	4.  Man carrying box on shoulder

5.  Man pushing broom	6.  Woman in hat with feather	7.  Lady wearing hat with girl	8.  Lady pushing baby carriage

9.  Policeman on motorcycle	10.  Lady walking with bag and pusrse	11.  Girl with ice cream cone	12.  Man in uniform, walking

13.  Man walking, looking at watch	14.  Man in cap looking up

                                                                      

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Gas Stations

For whatever reason, Marx chose to invariably include The Little People in its gas station play sets.  They produced two figure groups for the sets, one early and one later.  The first group was made in cream; the second in blue.  Figures from the first group also were used in other play sets.  According to veteran collector/seller Rick Koch's article in PFPC Issue 67, the second group is slightly larger than 35m scale.

Speaking for myself, I would be a little leery of the guy in the first group who appears to be working on a car with a hammer and chisel!

               1950's Gas Station Figures

Serviceman with rag	Serviceman with broom	Serviceman with hammer and chisel
Serviceman repairing tire	Traffic policeman

             1960's Gas Station Figures

Serviceman with rag	Serviceman with tire	Serviceman with water and oil
Serviceman with water hose	Serviceman kneeling

                                                                   

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Airports

Marx used The Little People in its airport play sets, undoubtedly to better fit with the still-undersized aircraft.  According to "Geppert's Guide to Non-Metal Toy Soldiers of the U.S.", the airport group include 24 figures in the standard cream color.  Most of the figures are also in other Little People figure groups.  For example, it includes the entire Marxville factory group, three figures from the early gas station play set group, and one from the Marxville school house group.  

In PFPC Issue 67, veteran collector/seller Rick Koch lists seven to be exclusive to the airport sets.  Having researched the figure groups, I think that there are actually only three such figures, the first three shown below.  Rick included four that are in the SAC play set (see below).  I would also suggest the stewardess, but I believe she is the same as the woman with a shoulder bag in the Disneyland figure group shown above.  The first three poses below are those that I believe are unique to the airport group.  The first seven below are those that Rick suggested as unique to the group.

These figures are also shown on the Airports page of this web site (or at least they will be if I ever get around to creating the page!).

1.  Pilot, seated	2.  Pilot, walking	3.  Man with right arm raised	4.  Man with fuel hose
5.  Man with batons	6.  Man with fire extinguisher	7.  Pilot in high altitude suit	8.  Stewardess
9.  Man walking, checking watch	10.  Woman pushing baby carriage	11.  Woman in hat carrying purse	12.  Lady walking with bag and purse
13.  Woman wearing hat with child	14.  Child with ice cream cone	15.  Motorcycle policeman	16.  Traffic policeman
17.  Man carrying box on right shoulder	18. Newspaper boy	19. Man with broom	20.  Man with hammer and chisel
21.  Man pushing separate dolly	22.  Man holding clipboard	23.  Man in tie, right arm held out	24.  Man in hard hat, carrying large wrench

                                                                

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U. S. Strategic Air Command

These figures came in the U.S. Strategic Air Command play set, which was sold in 1963 and 1964.  With impressive new aircraft (including B-52 bombers), SAC buildings, and Nike rockets, Marx downsized several figures already produced in larger scales to better fit the still-undersized Air Force planes.  The set's figures were down-sized versions of figures previously used in Cape Canaveral play sets.  Figures were made in silver soft plastic.  

In PFPC Issue 67, veteran collector/seller Rick Koch states that the first 11 figures below are the "Air Force" group and can also be found in blue and in some other playsets, such as airports.

I am uncertain exactly how many poses were included in the SAC sets.  Playset Magazine Issue 54 reports that they included 16 figure poses, with duplicates of each.  However, the magazine article includes a photograph of 19 poses, as listed below. "Geppert's Guide to Non-metallic Toy Soldiers of the U.S." lists 18.

The SAC sets are popular among collectors and today, and neither sets nor individual items are easily found in today's market.  The figures are also shown on the Military Figures page of this web site.

1.  Officer, standing reading papers	2.  Officer standing, hands behind back	3.  Airman, loading rocket	4.  Airman holding signal flasher	5.  Chubby pilot, walking in high altitude suit
6.  Pilot, squatting with papers	7.  Pilot, walking with arms at sides	8.  Pilot walking with one hand at chest	9. Skinny pilot, walking in high altitude suit	10.  Fireman in asbestos suit with fire extinguisher
11.  Crewman with geiger counter	12.  Crewman with fuel hose	13.  Airman with lighted signal batons	14.  Crewman carrying large wrench on shoulder	15.  Airman pointing upward
16.  Fireman in asbestos suit with CO2 cannister	17.  Fireman in asbestos suit with fire hose	18.  NCO marching with pistol and holster	19.  Airman marching with rifle on shoulder

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Mystery Space Ship Astronauts and Aliens

The unusual Mystery Space Ship Playset of 1962 (see Space Accessories page for more information)  included a group of tiny 35mm spacemen and aliens.  They were not included in any other play set nor sold otherwise.  The astronauts were downsized versions of 60mm astronauts previously in Operation Moon Base play sets.  

These figures were made in soft plastic, but -- unlike most of the Little People -- were made in color, either what PFPC Issue 56 calls a "medium grass green" or "dull orange."  In each set, the aliens were generally made in one color and the astronauts in the other.

These figures are also shown on the Space Figures page.

1.  Space walking with wrench	2.  Walking on moon, one foot on ground	3.  Walking, hand on visor

4.  Standing, pointing	5.  Walking on moon, both feet on ground	6.  Holding both arms out, not wearing space suit

9.  Alien with four arms	10.  Alien with pistol in left hand	11.  Alien with right arm up, pointed ears

12.  Alien with pointed face, right arm up	13.  Alien with helmet, left arm up	14.  Alien with pistol in right hand

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