Up for bid is a cherry 1978 marx series 300 electronic bowling gameeverything works, it has no broken pins, no burned out lights, very clean circuit board, no cracks or gashes on the lane, clean crisp.from.
This invention is directed to a simulated bowling game, and in particular to a simulated bowling game wherein a reflected image of fixed illuminated bowling pin shaped lamps is utilized to simulate an actual bowling alley.
Heretofore, toy bowling games have been of two types. A first type is where the bowling pins are actually contacted by a projectile such as a small bowling ball or a sliding puck. Such bowling games have been found to be less than completely satisfactory for two reasons. First, the toy bowling pins can often be damaged by the projectile, and secondly, the toy bowling pins do not effectively simulate the manner in which actual bowling pins are knocked down. In order to overcome the disadvantages provided by bowling games wherein the toy bowling pins are contacted by the moving projectile, simulated bowling games having a display panel to which are mounted a number of transilluminated visual indicia corresponding to bowling pins have been provided. In these types of simulated bowling games, the player rolls a ball down an alley so that the ball will pass under a display panel and actuate a series of downwardly extending switches, which switches in turn indicate the pins 'knocked down' by switching off the appropriate visual indicia on the display panel. Among the disadvantages of this type of simulated bowling game is that display panels are incapable of providing the same effect provided by ten bowling pins standing at the end of a bowling alley and, additionally, the trans-illuminated visual indicia are directly coupled to the switches that are contacted by the bowling ball and, accordingly, prevent a simulated known down of bowling pins that are not directly contacted by the bowling ball, but would otherwise be knocked down in an actual bowling alley as a result of the angle at which an actual bowling pin disperses when same is struck by a bowling ball. Accordingly, a simulated bowling game that overcomes the aforenoted disadvantages is desired.
Generally speaking, in accordance with the instant invention, a simulated bowling game wherein a reflected image of ten illuminated bowling pins and the manner in which same would be deflected if struck by an actual bowling ball is provided. The simulated bowling game includes a bowling alley and a bowling pin assembly at a rear end of the bowling alley toward which a bowling ball is adapted to be rolled from a front end of the alley. The bowling pin assembly is characterized by a plurality of illuminated bowling pin lamps disposed in a ten pin pattern, each of said bowling pin lamps being adapted to be illuminated to produce an image representative of a bowling pin. A semi-reflective surface, positioned at an incline with respect to said alley, is spaced apart from the alley to provide a clearance for the ball and is further positioned in facing relationship with respect to the plurality of illuminated bowling pin lamps so that the semi-reflective surface produces an image of each of the illuminated bowling pin lamps at the front end of the bowling alley. A plurality of contact switches are positioned at the rear end of the alley and are adapted to selectively produce contact signals when a bowling ball is brought into contact therewith. A control circuit is disposed intermediate the respective contact switches and the plurality of illuminated bowling pin lamps for receiving each of the contact signals produced by the respective contacts when a ball is rolled toward the rear end of the alley and, in response thereto, selectively deenergize certain of the illuminated bowling pin lamps representative of the bowling pins that have been knocked down by the bowling ball engaging the contact switches.
Accordingly, it is an object of the instant invention to provide an improved simulated bowling game.
A further object of the instant invention is to provide a simulated bowling game wherein a reflective image of a ten pin arrangement is viewed by the bowler at the front end of the bowling alley.
Still a further object of the instant invention is to provide a simulated bowling game wherein the bowling pin need not strike a simulated bowling pin or a contact directly associated therewith in order to simulate the knocking down of each bowling pin.
Still another object of the instant invention is to provide a bowling game wherein the manner in which actual bowling pins are knocked down and in which the same scoring utilized in an actual bowling game is effectively simulated thereby.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.
For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a simulated bowling game constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the instant invention;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a plan view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7--7 of FIG. 6; and
FIG. 8 is a block circuit diagram of the microprocessor control circuitry of the instant invention.
Reference is now made to FIG. 1, wherein a simulated bowling game, generally indicated as 10, is depicted. The simulated bowling game is supported in a housing 11 defining an alley assembly, generally indicated as 12, and a bowling pin assembly, generally indicated as 13. As is particularly illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2, 6 and 7, the alley assembly 12 includes a substantially flat elongated alley 15 having recessed gutters 16 and 16a respectively extending along the lengthwise edge of both sides of the alley and operating in the same manner that a gutter would operate in an actual bowling alley. Alley 15 and gutters 16a and 16b are integrally formed into the housing and are supported by lengthwise struts 17, widthwise struts 18, bottom wall 19 and side walls 20, front wall 21 and rear wall 25.
A recessed step 23 is provided at the rear end of the alley and defines a recessed support surface 24 for supporting a contact assembly, generally indicated as 40. As is explained in greater detail below, contact assembly 40 positions a plurality of treadle contact switches in a position substantially flush with alley 15 in order to permit certain of the contact switches to be actuated by a bowling ball when same is projected toward the rear end of the alley. Accordingly, the contact assembly 40 and support surface 24 terminate at a position spaced apart from rear wall 25 to define an elongated return opening 26 at the rearmost portion of the alley assembly. Return opening 26 extends along the entire widthwise extent of the alley portion for receiving a bowling ball after same has rolled past the contact assembly 40. An elongated metal chute, generally indicated as 27, has an inclined receiving portion 28 for receiving a bowling ball when same falls through the opening 26 and for directing the bowling ball into the elongated chute 27. Chute 27 is angled downwardly, as it extends to the front of the alley assembly, and delivers the bowling ball to the end of the alley return opening 29 disposed in the front wall 21 of the alley to thereby automatically return the bowling ball after each bowling operation.
A leaf-type microswitch, generally indicated as 31, is disposed at the position where the receiving portion 28 is connected to the chute 27. The microswitch is positioned to assure that it is actuated each time the bowling ball is rolled from the front end to the rear end of the alley assembly and is returned by the chute 27.
The alley assembly also includes a switching station, generally indicated as 34, supported in the inclined front wall 21 of the alley. The switching station 34 supports on-off switch 35, player mode switch 36 and reset switch 37, which switches are utilized to control the operation of the simulated bowling game in a manner to be discussed in greater detail below.
Specific reference is now made to FIGS. 1 through 5, wherein the bowling pin assembly, generally indicated as 13, is illustrated in detail. In addition to the contact assembly 40, the bowling pin assembly includes an upright housing 42 that supports a fixed illuminating lamp assembly 41, a loudspeaker 43, a display panel 57 and a semi-reflect glass plate 44. Semi-reflective glass plate 44 is supported at an incline with respect to the substantially planar surface of the alley 15, and is further positioned in facing relationship with respect to the fixed illuminating lamp assembly 41. Specifically, a bracket 46, including a clip 47, is supported on both sides of the pin housing 42 in order to position securely semi-reflective glass plate 44 in the manner noted above and also at a position spaced apart with respect to the substantially planar surface of alley 15 in order to permit a sufficient clearance for the bowling ball to roll under the glass plate and engage the contact assembly 40.
The fixed illuminating lamp assembly is comprised of ten fixed illuminating lamp bowling pin fixtures 42a through 42j disposed in a ten pin pattern, best illustrated in FIG. 4. Each fixed illuminating lamp bowling pin fixture includes a socket 50 supported on a panel 55 for receiving a light bulb 51. Each flashlight bulb is disposed in the lamp fixture supported on the panel and is comprised of a translucent plastic bowling pin shaped lens 53 secured to an opaque rear member 54. The plastic shaped lens is disposed between the light bulb 51 and the semi-reflective glass plate in order to reflect the image of the plastic shaped lens 53 off the semi-reflective glass plate. An opening 56 is formed in the panel 55 proximate each flashlight bulb to provide a light path to the front of the display panel 57 in order to effect a lighting of the display panel 57 at the same time that a bowling pin image is produced in light being directed through the translucent plastic bowling pin shaped lens 53. Accordingly, when each of the fixed illuminating lamp bowling pin fixtures 42a through 42j are energized, the bowling pin images produced thereby are reflected by the semi-reflective glass plate 45 to produce a three dimensional ten pin image, generally indicated in FIG. 1 as 58, at the front end of the alley to be viewed by the person playing the bowling game. Also, as aforenoted, the triangular ten pin display 59, positioned on the display panel 57, displays each of the ten bowling pin positions and when each of the ten pins are to be displayed as standing, permits each of the ten circular lights to be lit to represent same. Moreover, when a bowling ball has been rolled into contact with the contact assembly to thereby simulate the knocking down of pins, as is described in detail below, certain of the light bulbs 51, representative of the bowling pins knocked down, will be deenergized thereby leaving a reflected image representative of only the pins left standing. The construction of the illuminating lamp assembly 41 will further permit the triangular display 59 in the display panel 57 to illustrate the bowling pins knocked down and the bowling pins left standing, which indication will correspond to the image reflected by the semi-reflective glass plate.
As aforenoted, the contact assembly 40 includes a plurality of treadle contact switches 61a through 61n, each extending through an appropriate sized opening 60 formed in a surface 62 of the contact assembly, which surface is flush with the planar surface of the alley. The plurality of treadle contact switches 61a through 61n are disposed in a predetermined pattern on the surface 62. Additionally, the contact assembly 40 includes a micro-processor chip, which chip houses all of the control and scoring circuitry of the simulated bowling game. As is illustrated in FIG. 8, each treadle contact switch, 61a through 61n, is adapted to produce contact signals 61a' through 61n', respectively when a bowling ball is rolled from the forward end to the rear end and comes into contact therewith. Accordingly, unless the ball falls into the gutters 16, on each side of the alley, at least some of the contact switches are engaged by the ball to thereby produce contact signals in response thereto.
A decoder circuit 64 is adapted to receive each of the contact signals produced by the respective contact switches and in response thereto applies a decoded control signal 65 to a central processing unit, hereinafter 'CPU', generally indicated as 67. CPU 67 is programmed in order to simulate the scoring and performance of an actual bowling game for one or two players. Accordingly, once manually operated switch 35 is closed, to thereby apply power to the micro-processor, a single player mode or double player mode is selected by respectively leaving manually operated switch 36 open or closed. If, for example, a single player mode is selected by disposing switch 36 in an open position, the turning on of the power by on-off switch 35 effects a resetting of the micro-processor circuitry to zero and places the simulated bowling game in a one player, first frame condition. At this time all of the fixed illuminating lamp bowling pin structures are lit to produce a full ten pin reflected image. The bowler now begins the game by rolling a ball from the forward end to the rear end of the alley. When the bowling ball is rolled, one of three possibilities can occur. The first possibility is that the ball will fall into the gutter and thereby not strike any of the treadle switch contacts 61a through 61n and, hence, no contact signals will be applied to the decoder 64. The second condition is that the ball will strike certain of the treadle switch contacts 61a through 61n, and thereby produce a sequence of contact signals representative of less than all ten pins being knocked down. The third condition is a 'strike' condition wherein the appropriate treadle switch contacts in the pattern, illustrated in FIG. 3, will be contacted by the bowling ball to thereby register a 'strike' condition representative of all of the pins being knocked down. Accordingly, the absence of any signals applied to the decoder as a result of a gutter ball or, alternatively, a combination of signals representative of the second or third bowling conditions is applied as decoded control signal 65 to CPU 67 and is read and processed thereby when the bowling ball is returned through the return chute 27 and strikes the leaf-type microswitch 31 disposed in the chute. Specifically, microswitch 31 applies a read signal 69 to the CPU 67 in order to read the control signal 65 produced by the decoder 64 and, additionally, indexes the ball counter in order to apply a signal to the CPU 67 to be prepared for the bowling of the second ball in the frame. The CPU 67, in response to receiving the read signal 69, applies deenergizing signals to the appropriate illuminating bowling pin lamps 47a through 47j, to thereby simulate the number of pins that were knocked down by the rolling of the bowling ball. Thus, if the first condition were detected by the CPU 67, no deenergizing signal is applied to any of the fixed illuminating lamp bowling pin structures 42a through 42j. Conversely, if a strike condition were detected by the treadle switch contacts 61a through 61n, all of the lights would be deenergized and, additionally, a strike signal 71 would be applied to the display 72 in order to demonstrate that a strike has been thrown and would also be applied to the ball counter 73 to effect a resetting of same. If, however, the condition occurs wherein the control signal 65, produced by treadle switch contacts 61a through 61n, represents a number between 0 and 10 pins being knocked down, the CPU 67 will apply an appropriate deenergizing signal to the illuminating lamp assembly and thereby deenergize the appropriate number of fixed illuminating lamp bowling pin fixtures representative of the number of pins knocked down.
Thus, a coordinate effect is produced by the deenergization of certain of the fixed illuminating lamp bowling pin fixtures 47a through 47j. Specifically, as each fixed lamp fixture is deenergized, the image of the specific bowling pin represented thereby will not be viewed by the viewer at the front end of the alley and, additionally, the triangular ten pin display panel 59 will illustrate which of the bowling pins have been knocked down by the first roll of the bowling ball.
A frame counter 74 is coupled to the CPU 67 and to the display 72. Accordingly, the frame counter is reset to one at the beginning of each bowling game and, unless all of the pins are knocked down on the first roll of the bowling ball, the frame counter 74 is not indexed. When the first ball is rolled, unless the third condition noted above occurs, namely a strike is thrown, the frame counter 74 will not be indexed and, accordingly, the display 72 will continue to display frame 1. Additionally, in the absence of the occurrence of a strike condition, the contact switch 31 indexes the ball counter 73 which ball counter, in addition to indexing the CPU 67 to a second ball condition, also applies a second ball signal 75 to the display 72 to thereby advise the bowler of this condition. Moreover, once the ball counter 73 places the CPU 67 in a second ball condition, a memory and register in the CPU 67 determines that a second ball is to be thrown and, hence, instructs the CPU 67 to ignore certain of the contact signals produced by the treadle contact switches 61a through 61n when the second ball is thrown.
In order to simulate the operation of an actual bowling alley if, for example, only the seven pin is left standing after the first ball is thrown, only fixed lamp structure 42j will remain lit after the first ball is thrown. In an actual bowling alley, a second roll of the bowling ball on a straight line through the head pin would not knock down the seven pin. Accordingly, the CPU 67 includes a memory and programmable register that are reprogrammed in response to the ball counter applying a second ball signal 75 thereto, in order to ignore the actuation of certain of the treadle switch contacts when the second ball is rolled into contact therewith. Thus, by way of example, if the seven pin is to be knocked down by the second roll of the bowler, the ball would be required to actuate at least treadle contact switches 61a, 61j and 61n to thereby assure that contact signals 61a', 61j' and 61n' are applied to the decoder circuit. Contact signals 61a', 61j' and 61n' would be read by the CPU 67 when the microswitch 31 applies read signal 69 to the CPU 67. When the contact switches noted above are actuated the microswitch 31 applies read signal 69 to the CPU 67. In response to the read signal, the CPU 67 will read the decoded control signal 65 and deenergize the light bulb 51 disposed in the fixed illuminating lamp bowling pin fixture 42j and thereby complete a darkening of all of the fixed illuminating lamp bowling pin structures to produce a reflected image representative of all of the bowling pins having been knocked down. Simultaneously, a spare signal 77 will be applied to the display 72 to produce an indication that a spare has been thrown. After the second ball is thrown, the frame counter 74 will be indexed to provide a frame count signal 78 to the display 72, illustrating that it is now the second frame. Also, the ball counter 73 will be reset to thereby illustrate that the first ball of the second frame is to be thrown and, in the absence of a second ball signal 75 applied to the display, the display will once again indicate that a first ball is to be thrown. It is noted that the display 72 includes a further scoring display for illustrating the cumulative score obtained by the bowler, which score is computed by the CPU 67 in the same manner as the score would be totaled during an actual bowling game. It is noted that such automatic scoring means have been provided in toy bowling games and, hence, the scoring mechanism and the manner in which same is controlled by the CPU 67 is not within the scope of the instant invention. Additionally, the CPU 67 can also be programmed to accommodate the possibility that it will be necessary to throw three balls in the tenth frame when a strike or spare is thrown in that frame.
As noted above, when player mode switch 36 is closed, the CPU 67 is programmed to permit two players to compete and to store and display the competitive scores of both players. Similarly, the reset switch 37 is provided for permitting the bowler to recall pins standing and score of the previous frame if in a one player mode, or the other players pins standing and score in a two player mode, by applying a reset signal to the CPU 67.
As aforenoted, the CPU 67 provides a different deenergizing signal to the illuminating lamp assembly on the second ball. However, in addition to deenergizing certain of the illuminated bowling pin lamps in a predetermined pattern, the CPU 67 is programmed to randomly energize or deenergize certain of the fixed illuminating lamp bowling pin structures in order to simulate the variety of results that are accomplished in an actual bowling game. Thus, considerations such as pin vibrations, deflection angle and other effects accomplished in an actual bowling game are taken into account by programming the CPU 67 in an appropriate manner.
Accordingly, the simulated bowling game of the instant invention accurately simulates an actual bowling game in terms of scoring and play action, without requiring the toy pins to be actually struck by the bowling ball. Moreover, by not directly coupling the contact switches disposed in the alley and by forming same in a random pattern, of the type depicted in FIG. 3 of the instant application, the CPU 67 can be programmed to simulate the actual results that would be obtained in a real bowling alley were the bowling ball to be rolled along the same path with respect to the orientation of the ten pins.
A 2 inch 8立 speaker is mounted on the rear wall of upright housing 42 and is used to simulate the sounds of pins falling. Specifically, the digital deenergization pulses applied to the specific fixed illuminating lamp structures are also applied to the loudspeaker to thereby increase the noise in correspondence with increased number of pins knocked down.
It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.
Private | |
Industry | Toys and hobbies |
---|---|
Fate | Sold 1972, Liquidation 1980 |
Successor | Quaker Oats, Dunbee-Combex-Marx |
Founded | 1919 |
Defunct | 1980 |
Headquarters | New York, New York |
Key people | Louis Marx, Founder, David Marx, Co-founder |
Products | Lithographed tinplate, plastics, wood products |
Louis Marx and Company was an American toy manufacturer in business from 1919 to 1980. Its products were often imprinted with the slogan, 'One of the many Marx toys, have you all of them?' Arguably, Marx was the most well-known toy company through the late mid-20th century.
- 4Toy Train Sets
- 5Vehicles
- 7Decline
Logo and offerings[edit]
A child on a Big Wheel in 1973 (Rogers Park, Chicago)
The Marx logo was the letters 'MAR' in a circle with a large X through it, resembling a railroad crossing sign (Richardson & Richardson 1999, p. 66). As the X sometimes goes unseen, Marx toys were, and are still today, often misidentified as 'Mar' toys. Reputedly, because of this name confusion, the Italian diecast toy company Martoys, after two years of production, changed its name to Bburago in 1976. Although the Marx name is now largely forgotten except by toy collectors, several of the products that the company developed remain strong icons in popular culture, including Rock'em Sock'em Robots, introduced in 1964, and its best-selling sporty Big Wheel tricycle, one of the most popular toys of the 1970s. In fact, the Big Wheel, which was introduced in 1969, is enshrined in the National Toy Hall of Fame.
Marx's toys included tinplate buildings, tin toys, toy soldiers, playsets, toy dinosaurs, mechanical toys, toy guns, action figures, dolls, dollhouses, toy cars and trucks, and HO scale and O scale trains. Marx also made several models of typewriters for children. Marx's less expensive toys were extremely common in dime stores, and its larger, costlier toys were staples for catalog and department store retailers such as Eaton's, Gamages, Sears, W.T. Grant, Montgomery Ward, J. C. Penney and Spiegel especially around Christmas. In pre WWII America, it was common for Kresge's and Woolworth's to place yearly orders for at least one million dollars each with Marx (Fortune Magazine 1946).
History[edit]
A 1930 Marx ad for a no. 100 Doughboy Tank.
Founded in August 1919 in New York City by Louis Marx and his brother David, the company's basic aim was to 'give the customer more toy for less money,' and stressed that 'quality is not negotiable' – two values that made the company highly successful. Initially, after working for Ferdinand Strauss, Marx, born in 1894, was a distributor with no products or manufacturing capacity (King 1986, p. 188; Richardson & Richardson 1999, p. 42). Marx raised money as a middle man, studying available products, finding ways to make them cheaper, and then closing sales. Enough funding was raised to purchase tooling from previous employer Strauss for two obsolete tin toys – the Alabama Coon Jigger and Zippo the Climbing Monkey (Time Magazine 1955; King 1986, p. 188). With subtle changes, Marx was able to turn these toys into hits, selling more than eight million of each within two years. Another success was the 'Mouse Orchestra' with tinplate mice on piano, fiddle, snare, and one conducting (King 1986, pp. 188–189).
Marx listed six qualities he believed were needed for a successful toy: familiarity, surprise, skill, play value, comprehensibility and sturdiness (Richardson & Richardson 1999, p. 42). By 1922, both Louis and David Marx were millionaires. Initially, Marx produced few original toys by predicting the hits and manufacturing them less expensively than the competition. The yo-yo is an example: although Marx is sometimes wrongly credited with inventing the toy, the company was quick to market its own version. During the 1920s, about 100 million Marx yo-yos were sold (Time Magazine 1955).
Unlike most companies, Marx's revenues grew during the Great Depression, with the establishment of production facilities in economically hard-hit industrial areas of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and England (Richardson & Richardson 1999, p. 63). By 1937, the company had more than $3.2 million in assets ($42.6 million in 2005 dollars), with debt of just over $500,000. He was declared 'Toy King of the World' in October 1937 in a London newspaper. By 1938, Marx employed 500 workers in the Dudley factory and 4000 in the American factories (Kern 2015, p. 31). Marx was the largest toy manufacturer in the world by the 1950s. Fortune Magazine in January 1946 had declared him 'Toy King' suggesting at least $20 million in sales for 1941, but again in 1955, a Time Magazine article also proclaimed Louis Marx 'the Toy King,' and that year, the company had about $50 million in sales (Time Magazine 1955). Marx was the star article of the magazine with his picture displayed on the front cover. Marx was the initial inductee in the Toy Industry Hall of Fame, and his plaque proclaimed him 'The Henry Ford of the toy industry.'
An O Scale Marx train set made in the late 1940s or early 1950s.
At its peak, Louis Marx and Company operated three manufacturing plants in the United States: Erie, Pennsylvania, Girard, Pennsylvania, and Glen Dale, West Virginia. The Erie plant was the oldest and largest, while the Girard plant, acquired in 1934 with the purchase of Girard Model Works, produced toy trains, and the Glen Dale plant produced toy vehicles (Marx Trains 2007). Additionally, Marx operated numerous plants overseas, and in 1955 five percent of the toys Marx sold in the US were made in Japan (Time Magazine 1955). By 1959, the demand for American toys was a billion dollars a year (AFL CIO Marx Factory Documentary 1959).
Marx enjoyed his wealth at his 20.5-acre estate in the wealthy suburb of Scarsdale, north of New York City. The estate featured a 25-room Georgian mansion, a barn and stables for horses he raised and other amenities. The estate was sold to a developer after his death in 1982, to make way for some 29 homes (The New York Times 1982).
Playsets[edit]
Among the most enduring Marx creations were a long series of boxed 'playsets' throughout the 1950s and 1960s based on television shows and historical events. These include 'Roy Rogers Rodeo Ranch' and Western Town, 'Walt Disney's Davy Crockett at the Alamo', 'Gunsmoke', 'Wagon Train', 'The Rifleman Ranch', 'The Lone Ranger Ranch', 'Battle of the Blue and Grey', 'The Revolutionary War' (including 'Johnny Tremain'), 'Tales of Wells Fargo', 'The Untouchables', 'Robin Hood', 'The Battle of the Little Big Horn', 'Arctic Explorer', 'Ben Hur', 'Fort Apache', 'Zorro', 'Battleground', 'Tom Corbett Training Academy', and many others (Marx Playsets, Atomic Home Videos LLC, 2010). Playsets included highly detailed plastic figures and accessories, many with some of the toy world's finest tin lithography. A Marx playset box was invariably bursting with contents, yet very few were ever priced above the average of $4–$7. Greatly expanded sets, such as 'Giant Ben Hur' sold for $10 to $12 in the early 1960s. This pricing formula adhered to the Marx policy of 'more for less' and made the entire series attainable to most customers for many years. Original sets are highly prized by baby boomer collectors to this day (Kern 2015). Collector's books titled 'Boy Toys' and 'The Big Toy Box at Sears' feature the original advertisements for many of these sets and are well worth having as a visual reference.
Marx produced dollhouses from the 1920s into the 1970s. In the late 1940s Marx began to produce metal lithographed dollhouses with plastic furniture (at the same time it began producing service stations). These dollhouse were variations of the Colonial style. An instant sensation was the 'Disney' house, featured in the 1949 Sears catalogue. The popularity of Marx dollhouses gained momentum, and up to 150,000 Marx dollhouses were produced in the 1950s. Two house sizes were available, with two different size furniture to match; the most popular in the 1/2' to 1' scale, and the larger 3/4' to 1' scale. An L-shaped ranch hit the market in 1953, followed by a split-level of 1958. Curiously, in the early 1960s a dollhouse with a bomb shelter was sold briefly.
As the space race heated up, Marx playsets reflected the obsession with all things extraterrestrial such as 'Rex Mars', 'Moon Base', 'Cape Canaveral', and 'IGY International Geophysical Year', among other space themed sets. In a similar theme, Marx also capitalized on the robot craze, producing the Big Loo, 'Your friend from the Moon', and the popular Rock'em Sock'em Robots action game.
In 1963, Marx began making a series of beatnik style plastic figurines called the Nutty Mads, which included some almost psychedelic creations, such as Donald the Demon — a half-duck, half-madman driving a miniature car. These were similar to the counterculture characters of other companies introduced about a year before, such as Revell's Rat Fink by 'Big Daddy' Ed Roth, or Hawk Models' 'Weird-Oh's', designed by Bill Campbell (Atomic Home Videos LLC, 2010).
Toy Train Sets[edit]
Marx Girard Train Station – Canadian Production −004
Louis Marx and Company entered a five-year selling contract with Girard Model Works in 1929 and in 1932 contracted Woods/Girard to exclusively produce all his trains and toys. The trains were called Joy Line. These were small four inch tinplate cars with a small windup or electric engine. Marx officially acquired the company in 1935, although his brand appears on floor trains, trolleys, Joy Line and the M10000 sets, years before the acquisition. This was the beginning of Marx trains (Matzke 1989; Joy Line, pp. 41–45).In 1934 Marx produced its first newly designed model train set, the streamlined Union Pacific M-10000 (Matzke 1989; Articulated Streamliners 1934–1954, pp. 94–95). The streamlined Marx Commodore Vanderbilt was issued in 1935 with new 6 inch tinplate cars. The ever popular Marx Canadian Pacific 3000 appeared in 1936 in Canada, while the articulated Marx Mercury was introduced to America.Marx continued to make tinplate train sets until 1972. Plastic sets began in 1952 and only plastic sets were made after 1973, until the end of the company in 1975 (Matzke 1989; Louis Marx:Epilogue, pp. 10–11).
Toy King Overtakes Lionel[edit]
Marx Tin Litho Train Tunnels-014
Even though Marx trains never held the prestige of Lionel's trains, they were able to outsell them for most of the late fifties. While Lionel's top mid-fifties toy sales were some $32 million (Coleman 1988; Baulch 2001), the Marx's 1955 toy sales were $50 million (Time Magazine 1955). When it comes to quality and quantity, Louis Marx and Company is considered 'the most important producer of inexpensive American toy trains' (Claytor Jr., Doyle & McKenney 1993; Introduction, pp. 6).
Vehicles[edit]
Pre-war[edit]
Cast iron was unwieldy, heavy, and not well-suited to proper detail or model proportions and gradually it was replaced by pressed tin.[1] Marx offered a variety of tin vehicles, from carts to dirigibles — the company would lithograph toy patterns on large sheets of tinplated steel. These would then be stamped, die-cut, folded, and assembled (Vintage Marx 2015). Marx was long known for its car and truck toys, and the company would take small steps to renew the popularity of an old product. In the 1920s, an old truck toy that was falling behind in sales was loaded with plastic ice cubes and the company had a new hit.[2] The Honeymoon Express, a wind-up train on track with a plane circling above, later became the Mickey Mouse Express and then the Subway Express. Popeye pushing a barrel of spinach eventually became the 1940 Tidy Tim Street Cleaner and Charlie McCarthy in his 'Benzine Buggy'.[3]
A Marx police motorcycle from the 1940s.
Some of the most popular vehicles were Crazy Cars like the Funny Flivver of 1926 — another was the eloping 'Joy Riders'.[4] One earlier and much sought after tin toy was an open Amos 'n Andy Ford Model T four door, as well as another Model T with driver apparently on a European jaunt and hauling a trunk at the rear with the names of various European cities on it. This model was produced in a variety of liveries.[5] Lithographed tin tanks, airplanes, police motorcycles, tractors, trains, luxury liners, and rocket ships were all produced in bright colors. One toy, the Tricky Taxi seems to have had origins in a Heinrich Muller toy from Nuremberg in Germany.[6] The 1935 G-Man pursuit car was possibly the largest vehicle Marx ever made at 14½ inches long[7] Even doll houses, gasoline stations, parking lots and street scenes were made in tin.[8] That Marx was doing well even in the depression is shown by the date of introduction of their well-known motorcycle cop toy — 1933.[9]
A number of tinplate trucks, buses and vans were made in the 1930s, particularly in the latter part of the decade. Trucks were made, particularly Studebakers, in a variety of colors and formats, and often advertised in Sears catalogues.[10] These included several different series like the truck hauling five tinplate 'stake bed' trailers, a 'dumping' garbage truck, many variations on larger truck 'car carriers' hauling different vehicles, and a set of completely chromed trucks.[10] Metal gas and fire station sets could also be purchased on which to play with the vehicles more fully.
Lumar toys[edit]
'Lumar Lines' was another name used for a line of floor operated tin toys, trucks, vehicles, trains beginning in the early 1930s, in the United States and England. Lumar Lines passenger and freight floor trains were produced from 1939 through 1941. Production continued after WWII with the 'Friendship' train that honored the real train that had sent supplies from the United States to England in 1947. The 'standard gauge' floor train was first marketed in 1933 under the 'Girard Model Works' moniker.[11]
Plastics[edit]
Louis Marx and Company was an early player in the plastic toy field.[12]After World War II Marx introduced more vehicles, taking advantage of molding techniques with various plastics. Pressed tin and steel remained in the form of Buicks, Nashes, or other semi-futuristic sedans, race cars, and trucks that didn't replicate any actual vehicles. One car was a tin Buick-like wood-bodied station wagon. These were often of various larger sizes, ranging from 10 to 20 inches long. Some vehicles were difficult to identify as Marx; one had to look for the small 'X-in-O' logo, usually on the lower rear of the vehicle. Often there were no markings on the base.
More and more, however, plastic models appeared in a variety of sizes, three series of which are significant. The first series, in 1950, included inexpensive 4-inch replicas of early 1950s cars, both foreign and domestic, like Talbot, Volkswagen, Jaguar, Studebaker, Ford, Chevrolet, GMC Van and others. They were supplied as accessories for Marx' large tinplate gas station or rail station toys. These were molded of polystyrene and came with die-cast metal wheel-and-axle combinations. The second series was identical, except for updating the cars to 1954 models. The third series, released in 1959, included updated models of 1959 cars, only these were molded in polyethylene and had polyethylene wheels/axles, and were supplied with an updated 1959 gas station. The Marx 1959 gas station cars were downsized and simplified versions of AMT and Jo-Han flywheel models.
In the early 1950s, one Marx product line showed a greater sophistication in toy offerings. The 'Fix All' series was introduced, whose main attraction was larger plastic vehicles (about 14 inches long) that could be taken apart and put back together with included tools and equipment. A 1953 Pontiac convertible (erroneously identified on packaging as a sedan), and a 1953 Mercury Monterey station wagon which featured an articulated drive-line. Everything from the pistons to the crankshaft to the rear axle gears were visible through clear plastic, and wood-trim decals for the sides finished off this marvelous model. A very large 1953 Chrysler convertible, a 1953 Jaguar XK120 roadster, a WWII-era Willys Jeep, a Dodge-ish utility truck, a tow truck, a tractor, a larger scale motorcycle, a helicopter, and a couple of airplanes were all part of the Fix All series. The cars' boxes boasted features like 'Over 50 parts' and 'For a real mechanic!' As an example, the tow truck came with cast metal box and open wrenches, an adjustable end wrench, a two-piece jack, gas can, hammer, screwdriver, and fire extinguisher. The Jeep came with a star wrench, a screw jack and working lights.
Since the 1950s, Marx had factories in different locations. Among these was a factory in Swansea, Wales, which made a variety of toys for the British market. Example of some of the plastic cars made there were Motorway Station Wagons (which looked like late 1950s U.S. Fords), a remote control 1950 Pontiac, and a Ford Zephyr wagon police car. The Marx factory was in the same industrial estate as the Corgi Toys factory.[13]
The Marx Hudson 13' toy[edit]
In 1948, the Hudson Motor Car Company made a detailed in-house promotional model of its 'step down' 4-door Commodore for exclusive use by their dealers. The model was exceptionally well done, and came in four authentic two-tone color combos, but sadly, was never available on the retail market. Some sources erroneously insist this model was made by Marx (Automotive News 1948), but in fact, it was Hudson's own production effort, manufactured, produced and assembled in Hudson's main factory.[14]
Soon after, Marx copied an injection mold from Hudson's more precise model and marketed this simplified version as a more crude mechanized toy. It was available as a police car in grass green or a fire chief car in bright red. The clear windows of the original were replaced with a single, stamped metal piece with lithographed images of cartoonish policemen or firemen. The police version even had a shotgun protruding through the windshield. With batteries an oversize roof light lit up and the gun made a corny rat-a-tat sound.
Not one of Marx's more successful toys, their Hudson was large and unwieldy, being aimed at pre-teens. After newer, more modern American cars appeared, the Marx Hudson quickly became obsolete, resulting in an oversupply on retail toy shelves. By the mid-1960s they were still easy to find across America and one could usually be bought for about a dollar – a nice discount from the original $4.95 list price.
A well-preserved Marx police or fire chief Hudson with original box will still bring from $50 to $100 in today's market, depending on condition. An authentic Hudson promotional still brings around $2,000. Over the years, professional Hudson experts have upgraded Marx versions to look somewhat like the original promotional – these usually bring from $600 to $800.
Other autos[edit]
Marx also made Studebaker and Packard vehicles especially through the 1930s and 1940s. They often appeared with the Studebaker badge logo in a very promotional way, though evidence of Marx as a promotional provider is uncertain. One of Marx's later Studebakers was an Avanti with a dented fender that could be replaced with a 'repaired' one, which was odd, as the real Avanti had a fiberglass body – and would not dent. A 1948 Packard Fire Chief's car was one that looked, in theme, much like the step-down Hudson.
The 'Electric Marx-Mobile' pedal car.
Into the 1960s and 1970s, Marx still made some cars, though increasingly these were made in Japan and Hong Kong. Especially impressive were two-foot long 'Big Bruiser' tow trucks with Ford C-Series cabs and 'Big Job' dump trucks, a T-bucket hot rod of the same large size and some foreign cars like a Jaguar SS100, which was later reissued. Marx made some 1/25 scale slot cars, like a Jaguar XKE remote control convertible. Into the 1970s, Marx jumped on several bandwagons, for example, plastic pull string funny cars of typical 1:25 scale model size, but this was not quick enough to save the company.
Marx sometimes joined with European toy makers, putting their name on traditional European toys. For example, about 1968, Solido and Marx made a deal to sell these French metal die cast models in the U.S. with the Marx name added to the box. The boxes were, for the most part, regular red Solido boxes with the Marx 'x-in-o' logo and 'by Marx' directly below the Solido script. Nowhere on the cars did the Marx name appear.
The small scale market[edit]
During the 1960s Marx offered its Elegant Models, a collection of Matchbox-like 1930s to 1950s style race cars in red and yellow boxes. Also offered were airplanes, trucks, and, in the same series, metal animals boxed in a similar style. Some of the vehicles from this era were marketed under the Linemar or Collectoy names.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Marx tried to compete not only with Matchbox, but with Mattel Hot Wheels, making small cars with thin axle, low-friction wheels. These were marketed, not too successfully, under a few different names. One of the most common was 'Mini Marx Blazers' with 'Super Speed Wheels'. The cars were made in a slightly smaller scale than Hot Wheels, often 1:66 to about 1:70.[15] Proportions of these cars were simple, but accurate, though details were somewhat lacking.[16] Some cars, however, included such niceties as a driver behind the wheel. While some of the earlier toys had a simpler Tootsietoy style single casting, newer cars were colored in bright chrome paints with decals and fast axle wheels. Tires were plain black with thin whitewalls.
Linemar toys[edit]
Atomic Reactor steam toy manufactured by Linemar in the 1950s.
Linemar toys was the trade name under which Marx toys were manufactured in Japan, then sold in the United States and other countries. The reason to make Linemar toys in Japan was to keep costs down. Under the Linemar name, Marx produced The Flintstones and other licensed toy vehicles (Linemar Tin Toys 2015). The Linemar line also included airplanes that were produced in the colors of KLM, Pan Am and other airlines. The trademark for Linemar toys is owned by The Juna Group, LLC.
Decline[edit]
In 1955, with sales of $50 million, Marx spent a mere $312.00 on advertising for the entire year (Time Magazine 1955). By contrast, Mattel Toys in the same year had sales of $6 million but spent $500,000 for advertising, sponsoring shows like The Mickey Mouse Club (Clark 2007, p. 220). Eventually, the high cost of labor in the United States, always a factor in the distinctive quality of American toys, made it very difficult to compete with toys produced in Asia.
Quaker Oats-Marx era[edit]
In 1972, Marx sold his company to the Quaker Oats Company for $54 million ($246 million in 2005 dollars) and retired at the age of 76 (Smith 2000, pp. 9–10). Quaker also owned the Fisher-Price brand, but struggled with Marx. Quaker had hoped Marx and Fisher-Price would have synergy, but the companies' sales patterns were too different. The company was also faulted for largely ignoring the trend towards electronic toys in the early 1970s. In late 1975, Quaker closed the plants in Erie and Girard, and in early 1976, Quaker sold its struggling Marx division to the British conglomerate Dunbee-Combex-Marx, who had bought the former Marx UK subsidiary in 1967.
Dunbee-Combex-Marx era[edit]
Like many toy makers, Dunbee-Combex-Marx struggled with high interest rates and an economic slowdown. It collapsed. By 1979, most US operations were ceased, and by 1980, the last Marx plant closed in West Virginia (Vitello 2006). The Marx brand disappeared and Dunbee-Combex-Marx filed for bankruptcy. The Marx assets were liquidated by Chemical Bank in the early 1980s, with the trademarks and most toy molds purchased by Jay Horowitz of American Plastic Equipment, who later transferred all rights to American Plastic Equipment's subsidiary, American Classic Toys.
Toy legacy[edit]
Some popular Marx tooling is still used today to produce toys and trains. A company called Marx Trains, Inc. produced lithographed tin trains, both of original design and based on former Louis Marx patterns. Plastic O scale train cars and scenery using former Marx molds were previously produced by MDK and are now marketed under the 'K-Line by Lionel' brand name. Model Power produces HO scale trains from old Marx molds. The Big Wheel rolls on, as a property of Alpha International, Inc. (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), which has been acquired by J. Lloyd International, Inc. also of Cedar Rapids. Mattel reintroduced Rock'em Sock'em Robots around 2000 (albeit at a smaller size than the original). Marx's toy soldiers and other plastic figures are in production today in Mexico, and in the US for the North American market and are mostly targeted at collectors, although they sometimes appear on the general consumer market (Lamb 1999).
In 2001, a longtime collector of Marx toys, Francis Turner, established the Marx Toy Museum in Moundsville, West Virginia, near the old Glen Dale plant, to display toys from his collection and inform visitors about the history and output of the company and its founder. However, over its decade and a half of operation, the museum's income could not sustain maintenance of a physical facility, and it was closed permanently on June 30, 2016. The collection has only been shown on loan to other museums and through a 'virtual museum' website since (The Marx Toy Museum, n.d.)
In 2019, Jay Horowitz of American Classic Toys, and current rights holder of the Marx brands, entered into an exclusive license agreement with The Juna Group to represent the Marx brands in all categories outside of toys and playthings, worldwide.
References[edit]
- ^Richardson & Richardson 1999, p. 67
- ^Time Magazine 1955
- ^Vintage Marx 2015; Richardson & Richardson 1999, p. 66
- ^Richardson & Richardson 1999, p. 43
- ^Richardson & Richardson 1999, pp. 43, 63
- ^Richardson & Richardson 1999, p. 63
- ^Richardson & Richardson 1999, p. 66
- ^Richardson 1999, p. 66
- ^Richardson & Richardson 1999, p. 44
- ^ abTustin 2014
- ^Matzke 1990, pp. 92–93
- ^Matzke 1989, pp. 9
- ^Ralston 2007, pp. 20–21
- ^Daniel 2013; Model Cars 1979, pp. 34–45
- ^Toy Collector 2010
- ^Ragan 2000, 54
- AFL CIO Marx Factory Documentary – Americans at Work, 1959.
- Marx Playsets, Atomic Home Videos LLC, 2010.
- Automotive News. 1948. Assembly Lines of a New Type Gain Favor. September 27.
- Baulch, Vivian. 22 Dec., 2001. 'The Toy Train that rules Christmas'. The Detroit News. [1]
- Clark, Eric. 2007. The Real Toy Story, Transworld.
- Claytor Jr., W. Graham; Doyle Paul A.; McKenney Carlton Norris. Mar 1, 1993. Greenberg's Guide to Early American Toy Trains, Carlisle & Finch, Hafner, Dorfan. Greenberg Publishing Co,Inc. ISBN0-89778-230-5.
- Coleman, Christopher. 1988. The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of Lionel Trains. [2]
- Daniel, Paul. 2013. Promo Model: 1948 Hudson Hornet. Savage on Wheels: Honest Car Reviews – Big and Small ! Online webpage article. [3]
- Fortune Magazine. Jan, 1946. 'Louis Marx: Toy King'
- Kern, Russell S. 2010. Toy Kings: The Story of Louis Marx & Company. Colorado Springs, Colorado: Atomic Home Videos LLC, 2010.
- Kern, Rusty 2015. 'Marx Toy Kings', Volume 1. Blurb Publishing Company. ISBN1-364-74792-8
- King, Constance Eileen. 1986. Encyclopedia of Toys. Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, A Division of Book Sales, Inc.
- Lamb, Mondy. 1999. 'K-LINE Collector's Guide: Trains 1985–1998'. MDK. ISBN978-0934580229.
- Linemar Tin Toys webpage. 2015. Fabintoys website. [4]
- 'About History of MTM'. The Marx Toy Museum. n.d. Retrieved 21 January 2019. [5]
- MarX Trains and Toys Info: The Toy King Louis Marx. 2007. eBay On-line review. [6]
- Matzke, Eric. 1989. 'Greenberg's Guide to Marx Trains:Volume I'. Greenberg Publishing Co,Inc. ISBN0-89778-131-7.
- Matzke, Eric. 1990. 'Greenberg's Guide to Marx Trains:Volume II'. Greenberg Publishing Co,Inc. ISBN0-89778-132-5.
- Model Cars. 1979. By the Editors of Consumer Guide. New York: Beekman House, A Division of Crown Publishers, 72 pages. ISBN0-517-294605.
- 'Builder Buys Max Estate in Scarsdale'. The New York Times. 3 April 1982. Retrieved 15 August 2018. [7]
- Ragan, Mac. 2000. Diecast Cars of the 1960s. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing. ISBN0-7603-0719-9.
- Ralston, Andrew. 2007. Plastic Toy Cars of the 1950s & 1960s. Dorchester, England: Veloce Publishing. ISBN978-1-845841-25-6.
- Richardson, Mike; Richardson Sue. 1999. Wheels: Christie's Presents the Magical World of Automotive Toys. San Francisco, California: Chronicle Books. ISBN0-8118-2320-2
- Smith, Michelle L. 2000. Marx Toys Sampler: A History and Price Guide. Krause Publications.
- Time Magazine. 1955. The Little King. Original magazine article online. Dec. 12. [8]
- Toy Collector 2010
- Tustin, Jimmy. 2014. Remember When Restorations website. Page dedicated to Marx vehicles. [9]
- Vitello. 2006. Wheeling: Toy Museum Rekindles Visitor's Memories. Louisville Courier-Journal on-line. January 21. [10]
- Vintage Marx Toys. 2015. Article in Collector's Weekly website. [11]
Further reading[edit]
- Planet Diecast. 2010. Marx Miniature Cars Miss the Mark. Online webpage.[12]
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Louis Marx and Company. |
- www.marxtoymuseum.com — Marx Toy Museum (Moundsville, West Virginia)
- www.fabtintoys.com — Marx and other retired toy manufacturers
- www.toyandtrain.com —Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum; Yearly Marx Convention in June
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