The first set of six-inch plastic toy soldiers by Louis Marx & Co. Inc. were US Marines made around 1958 that came as accessories with a large steel army truck sold in this period in the Lumar range of toys. These US figures had no markings on their bases and are therefore very hard to identify and precisely date. Although they are commonly referred to as six-inch figures, they are nearer 5.5″ tall corresponding to a scale of about 1:13.
Around 1963, Marx then produced further sets of these six-inch soldiers depicting the other combatants during WW2 with each set consisting of six separate figures. These included German, Japanese and Russian soldiers. However, as a result of changes to the US copyright laws, all of these figures included a recessed circular stamp on the base with the words “Louis Marx & Co. Inc.” around the periphery and with the copyright symbol and 1963 date stamped across the middle in Roman numerals. The German and Japanese figures were sold in the UK but the Russian figures were not.
At about the same time, the Marx UK factory in Swansea produced a set of six British WW2 soldiers. These UK made soldiers also had a circular stamp on the base with “Made in Gt Britain” around the periphery and with a “Marx Toys” crossed lines stamp in the centre. They also included a description of what the soldiers were (WW2 British Soldiers) and the Louis Marx & Co. Ltd. copyright notice for 1963 on the base in Roman numerals. These British figures were not sold in the US and are therefore very hard to find there.
In addition to the above sets, the Marx UK factory produced two further sets copyrighted 1964. The first were French soldiers from WW1 rather than WW2 possibly because there were no French WW2 soldiers to depict given the speed at which the French army surrendered to the Germans. The other set depicted Scottish soldiers from WW2. Neither set is convincingly modelled like all the other sets with many of the French figures carrying unrealistic looking weapons and many of the Scottish figures attired in very strange combinations of kit.
After Dunbee-Combex purchased Marx UK in 1967, the Swansea factory continued producing toys under the name Louis Marx and Co. Ltd. until 1976. It is believed that the six-inch toy soldiers produced during this period all continued to have the UK Marx stamp on the base but no other lettering and no copyright declaration. No further issues of the British soldier sets were produced during this period but sets of US, German and Japanese soldiers originally made in the USA were produced in the UK factory with the UK Marx stamp on their base.
In 1976 after Quaker Oats sold off the Marx division it had acquired in 1972 to Dunbee-Combex, it is likely that further sets of the US, German and Japanese soldiers were produced in the Swansea factory until it closed in 1981. Although not known for certain, it is assumed that all further issues of these toy soldiers from the UK factory after 1967 bore the solitary Marx UK stamp on the base up to at least up to 1976 and, maybe, up to 1981 when the factory closed.
With the demise of the Marx brand in the early 1980’s, the rights and moulds for these six-inch toy soldiers were passed on to other firms who produced further re-issues. These re-issues are characterised by having no stamp on the base. They are therefore not only hard to date but also difficult to trace to a particular manufacturer.
However, even after the Marx factories closed in the USA and UK in the early 1980’s, PlastiMarx in Mexico continued to re-issue these figure with the PlastiMarx stamp on their base. Some of these were imported into the USA during this period with other being sold into the South American toy market. With the demise of PlastiMarx in the early 1990’s, it is assumed that this brought to an end the production of these plastic six-inch soldiers and the whereabouts of the original moulds is not clear.
1,469 total views, 1 views today