ToyMemories Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 Pictures coming soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyMemories Posted August 21, 2006 Author Share Posted August 21, 2006 Original Drawings: Corbett Pistol, Flash Gordon Pistol. Original Mold, raygun. Original Drawings: Big Loo's head, Mr. Rembrandt (the artistic robot!), Robot (of Robot & Son) body. Original blueprint and mold: alien target. Original molds: Mystery Spaceship alien and rocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyMemories Posted September 1, 2006 Author Share Posted September 1, 2006 Original mold for a robot target (1950's), pretty nifty... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robothut Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Very cool stuff. So how does one go about finding origional drawings and molds for these old robots? There must be a good story here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyMemories Posted September 1, 2006 Author Share Posted September 1, 2006 robothut said: Very cool stuff. So how does one go about finding origional drawings and molds for these old robots? There must be a good story here. Thanks! It's exciting and a thrill to find any and all of these things (prototypes, paperwork, molds, drawings, tools, memos, photos, etc. etc., all the "behind-the-scenes" stuff) and acquire them (trust me, I love this stuff!), but not really a fantastic story beyond MANY hours (or more realistically many years) of research, hunting, work, and following leads and tracking people and items down (much of this stuff was not properly cared for, and way too much ended up in the trash over the years). Some things show up on eBay, and as well sometimes those items lead to others. Talking to people you really never know what you'll find or what will turn up. Flea markets, antique dealers and fellow collectors and even garbagemen turn up quite a lot. Then you have various people in the industry who have collected things. One interesting find was the contents of an old Marx warehouse in PA a few years ago that held mostly 1970's Marx parts and pieces... nothing very exciting, but there were hundreds of unused "Clash of the Cosmic Robots" robots, just the robots. "Clash" was a revised version of Rock Em Sock Em Robots that didn't sell very well, where the robots sported new heads and were in white and orange. I only got one clean pair of Clash robots because sadly most of the stuff had been exposed to the elements and had rust stains, fading, etc., but it certainly was a neat find, and a reason to have hope for better similar finds! Sometimes it's sad or even sickening when you find things that weren't taken care of and think of how much only a little care in storage would have made a great difference... factory record books that are moldy with pages stuck together... technical drawings that are mangled or have footprints on them... and so on. Then you have cases as we've all had where people don't know how to or don't care when they ship items. I once received a box of technical drawings where the sender basically just shoved (or dropped) a bunch of them in a box almost like they were throwing them away... very aggravating. Then there are happy experiences like the former Kenner employee (pre-Star Wars) who took the utmost care in sending his collection of photographs which arrived in perfect shape. Behind every cool looking drawing, document or item there are many, many "not-so-cool" or monotonous items, but I like them all the same. For example, many people would like to have a drawing or blueprint of a classic robot, or cool part of said robot. BUT, there are also drawings of each gear, screw, bushing, spring, washer, etc.; how many would want those? To me, everything all ties into the toys which we all loved, and are a vital part of our toy history that need to be saved... whether it's the hand made prototype for the Wanted Dead Or Alive "Mare's Laig" cap gun, or a 1932 technical drawing of a wheel for Girard Toys roller skates; they all have a place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyMemories Posted September 7, 2006 Author Share Posted September 7, 2006 Cool original Marx 1950's spaceship hand made prototype (5" long) Reminds me of 1930's spaceships! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyMemories Posted September 21, 2006 Author Share Posted September 21, 2006 Original Archie Comics art I thought was kind of cute, and space related... Space rifle mold sample (from the 1980's) Hand sculpted prototype of Venus playset figure from Fireball XL-5 (cool, but scary lady, haha) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe K. Posted September 21, 2006 Share Posted September 21, 2006 Great stuff, TM. I'm really enjoying these photos!You probably already know this, but the target game molds look like the ones used by Marx to manufacture the Rex Mars Target Game, a photo of which can be found in Blast Off!, page 151. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robothut Posted September 21, 2006 Share Posted September 21, 2006 Just great ToyMemories, post more of your treasures, I to love every little detail of these great toys of the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyMemories Posted September 22, 2006 Author Share Posted September 22, 2006 Thanks, Joe and RH! I'm glad somebody besides me enjoys this stuff too (I can look at this stuff for hours, I never get bored, and yes my wife thinks I'm REALLY strange, haha) Yes, Joe, these are the Marx molds used for the Rex Mars target set (good eye! I believe they were also used for a more generic target set too), and now yikes! I just realized that though I have drawings for all the parts I'm missing the mold for the big ears alien! Hmm... RH, will try and post more soon! If you'd like to see pics of mostly NON-space related toy material, I have some on my sites (links below). Marx Toys is my favorite area of interest (most of their toys). Years back I collected a lot of different things, but kind of didn't have much "direction" other than stuff that was neat, odd, unusual, etc. (I just had to have that original desk model of a Polaris missile!) I'm glad I settled on the more obscure toy company things long ago as it is really fun! --- Here are original blueprint illustrations of the whole target gang (gotta love a spaceman with a large dagger!) And, a blueprint for the gun that matches the mold shown above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyMemories Posted September 30, 2006 Author Share Posted September 30, 2006 Original blueprint for Marx's Robot and Son! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 You're killing me. Really. Seriously. It hurts.The space rifle mold test you've got is for the Marx Captain Space Atomic Rifle, ca. mid Fifties. It's an uncommon toy, and one of the nicest space rifles. Pull the trigger and it makes a buzzing noise while the tip and "scope" light up. The mold test is (obviously) missing the scope's lens and the tip that screws onto the front of the barrel. And of course, as stated elsewhere, the gun whose blueprints and molds you've posted is the the Marx Rex Mars sparking gun. It comes in red, the very rare green, and the obscenely-rare-I've-only-seen-one blue version. Did I mention it was transcluscent? As if the toy wasn't beautiful enough...So... any more marx ray guns? Because I haven't had a full-on heart attack yet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Oh, and I've never seen a Tom Corbett water pistol -- only the Flash Gordon one. Has anyone? I wonder if they'd have produced it in different colors, or if they'd limit it to the yellow and blue they used for the Flash Gordon toy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyMemories Posted October 2, 2006 Author Share Posted October 2, 2006 dratomic said: You're killing me. Really. Seriously. It hurts. The space rifle mold test you've got is for the Marx Captain Space Atomic Rifle, ca. mid Fifties. It's an uncommon toy, and one of the nicest space rifles. Pull the trigger and it makes a buzzing noise while the tip and "scope" light up. The mold test is (obviously) missing the scope's lens and the tip that screws onto the front of the barrel. And of course, as stated elsewhere, the gun whose blueprints and molds you've posted is the the Marx Rex Mars sparking gun. It comes in red, the very rare green, and the obscenely-rare-I've-only-seen-one blue version. Did I mention it was transcluscent? As if the toy wasn't beautiful enough... So... any more marx ray guns? Because I haven't had a full-on heart attack yet... Oh, and I've never seen a Tom Corbett water pistol -- only the Flash Gordon one. Has anyone? I wonder if they'd have produced it in different colors, or if they'd limit it to the yellow and blue they used for the Flash Gordon toy... Hey Doc! I'm sorry... I don't want to hurt you, my friend... I'll stop posting pics before it's too late... I do know some about the pics I'm posting, but you oldtimers know more, and I enjoy your descriptions much better than mine! It's fun to learn too You guys keep it fun. (I guess you can call me backwards, as lots of the cool stuff I'd like to have I instead have the background material. So, one day, as finances allow, I'll hopefully be able to buy the actual guns) The mold test pics that don't include all the parts are naturally that way because they are tests from the gun body molds only (the other component molds I don't know of any tests) Yeah... the Rex Mars pistol IS a beauty! Don't hate me Doc, because I don't yet have one, but one day I will! I do have more raygun/space/robot internal material, but I certainly wouldn't want you to drop on me! Alphadrome needs you here, and I enjoy your posts too! For the Marx Tom Corbett pistol, I'd say it's likely they produced it in some form, as from the blueprint it would seem a production item... but I could be wrong. So, what's your favorite picture of the ones I've posted here so far, Doc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 First, don't stop posting. While it might be unhealthy for me, I love seeing the pieces in your collection.Second, I don't think I'm an old timer quite yet. I've only been collecting for about five years (and I'm only 31). I've got nothin' on some of the guys here!I hate to say it, but that Rex Mars sparking gun is a toughy to get. I don't have one yet, and I've been looking for a while. I've seen two complete ones on ebay -- one was red and one was blue. (Most are missing the little site thing in the back...) The red cost a few hundred dollars. Oddly, the blue one went cheap -- I suspect everyone was sleeping. Including me! The Captain Space rifle is a bit easier to get. One just sold, in box, for $178. This was an absurdly low price -- generally speaking, the gun sells for about $350 to $450. Loose. It comes up once or twice a year. The key is to make sure the site/light is in proper workinng order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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