Marx Monsters

[Hepcat]

I can't copy the photo of the ad since it has a Photobucket watermark.

I can, I can!



It's child's play for an old master like me.

[RPM]

Looking at this catalog description for the fluorescent figures, it appears they were not bagged but loose.

[Devlin]

Note that it specifies that the banner is fluorescent, but makes no such claim for the figures.

[Dr.Terror]

Note that it specifies that the banner is fluorescent, but makes no such claim for the figures.

It says "molded-on bases and come is assorted fluorescent colors such as......"  also.

[Plastic Nebula]

I picked up a Red set. These have no markings on the base and were probably made in the last 10 years.
It's interesting to see the difference in quality and types of plastic used throughout the evolution of these guys.

Marx - Red Figure Set by John Baxter, on Flickr

[Devlin]

It says "molded-on bases and come is assorted fluorescent colors such as......"  also.

Whoops! You're right. I stand corrected. Of the colors cited, green shows up in the later Nutty Mad series, but I'm unaware of anything I'd call "rose' until the '70s Disneys, and i don't recall any Day-Glo yellow ever, though I have MPC Daffy Daddy-Ohs in that shade.

[Devlin]

I have a recent Mexican set in fluorescent yellow, but I've not seen the monsters in actual fluorescent pink (or the red used on Nutty Mads and '70s Marvel Super-Heroes) as yet. I ordered a pink set from Mexico at the same time as the yellow set, but it wasn't actually fluorescent (but still brighter than '60s Weird-Ohs' dull pink).

[Hepcat]

It says "molded-on bases and come is assorted fluorescent colors such as......"  also.

Hmmmmm. So the question is whether Marx was using the word "fluorescent" as simply a synonym for "bright" or whether they did indeed attempt to make the figures in fluorescent bilious rose, vile green and creepy yellow but it didn't work very well for them so they gave up on trying to produce those colours.

[Devlin]

Generally, a manufacturer won't specify "fluorescent" (or "Day-Glo," which is trademarked) unless they mean that specifically. In recent decades, "neon" has been used fairly promiscuously to mean bright OR fluorescent colors, but that wouldn't be until the eighties and beyond, in my recollection. So it seems clear that they intended to do fluorescent, which was still a pretty new thing in plastics at the time. But it doesn't look like it happened, for whatever reason.

[Devlin]

Here's a little history of Day-Glo, though focused more on inks and paints than plastic pigments: https://www.dayglo.com/company/history/

[Plastic Nebula]

I just got these Dark Blue figures in the mail. I'm pretty sure they were made by Plastimarx in the 70's or 80's.
The Phantom and Hunchback have Hecho En Mexico stickers on the bottoms.

Plastimarx - Phantom - Wolfman - Hunchback (Dark Blue) by John Baxter, on Flickr

Bases by John Baxter, on Flickr

[Dr.Terror]

Those are fairly modern.  Wolfman repops didnt start getting  the flashing "Horns" until well into the 2000s.    Mexico stil uses those stickers.  I got some modern Lucha figures and a few had those stickers on them.

[Hepcat]

Here's a little history of Day-Glo, though focused more on inks and paints than plastic pigments:

https://www.dayglo.com/company/history/

The problem though is that Marx's usage of the word "fluorescent" in 1964 was just too early to mean "day glow" when it came to toys. I don't remember glow balls appearing before I was in high school in 1966 or 1967. Kenner's release of Lightning Bug "Glo-Juice" wasn't until 1967:





And Aurora's Frightening Lightning model kits didn't hit store shelves until 1969.

[Plastic Nebula]

Those are fairly modern.  Wolfman repops didnt start getting  the flashing "Horns" until well into the 2000s.    Mexico stil uses those stickers.  I got some modern Lucha figures and a few had those stickers on them.

That's good to know!! I think those little stickers are pretty cool, that's the main reason i picked them up.

[Devlin]

Hepcat: The Glow Juice and Frightening Lightning kits are really more accurately phosphorescent  than fluorescent (even though either would fluoresce under UV light). In terms of gum machine prizes, I don't immediately have a source for when fluorescent hi-bounce balls become common (the original one didn't hit the market until 1965), but here are rubber bugs in September 1962. https://flic.kr/p/2o3kge8