Author Topic: Dinosaur Playsets  (Read 202203 times)

horrorhunter

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Dinosaur Playsets
« on: September 09, 2013, 03:32:57 PM »
This thread is for dinosaur playsets or pieces, or pretty much anything having to do with dinosaur toys. I'll start us off with one of my favorite dino playsets.

Marx Prehistoric Mountain Playset #3414 (1975)



In the '70s Marx "went vertical" with three of their playsets: Comanche Pass (western), Navarone Mountain (war), and One Million B.C. (dinosaur, 1974). This playset came out in 1975 to replace the One Million B.C. set with identical contents but a different box (sorry, no Raquel Welch figure in the One Million B.C. set). Shown above is the playset, instruction sheet, color booklet, and photo box. The One Million B.C. box was drawn in bold simplistic lines as most of the older Marx playset boxes were.

#3414 contents:
29 Prehistoric Animals: 1 PL-750 Medium Mold Group(6), 1 PL-755 Small Mold Group(7), 1 PL-977 Revised Mold Group( 8 ), 1 PL-1083 Second Series Mold Group( 8 ), all in the shiny "Heritage" type plastic (lead paint free). (note: most collectors prefer the older lead paint based plastic for the individuality and variety it gave to the dinosaurs....and it had "that" smell that assailed your olfactory sense and took you back to when you were a kid)
18 Cavemen in 6 poses
5 Piece Mountain including Land Bridge and Walking Bridge
5 Metal Screws & Nuts for Mountain Assembly
4 Palm Trees with 7 Fronds & 4 Ferns with 4 Bases
Playmat
Instruction Sheet for Mountain Assembly
Color Booklet
Photo Box (The box is 26" tall. The ones that survived usually have extensive damage.)
« Last Edit: November 21, 2020, 11:21:45 AM by horrorhunter »
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Hepcat

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Re: Dinosaur Playsets
« Reply #1 on: September 10, 2013, 10:54:51 AM »
Wow! It would be difficult for me to pick a favourite from among the Marx playsets but the One Million B.C. set would have to be very close to the top.

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jimm

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Re: Dinosaur Playsets
« Reply #2 on: September 11, 2013, 01:09:50 AM »
I believe one of the gang had "Navarone" impressive also...

Hepcat

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Re: Dinosaur Playsets
« Reply #3 on: September 11, 2013, 08:51:54 AM »
The playset that has the identical cliff formation to the Prehistoric Mountain Playset though is the Marx Comanche Pass Playset:





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horrorhunter

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Re: Dinosaur Playsets
« Reply #4 on: September 11, 2013, 10:43:31 AM »
The playset that has the identical cliff formation to the Prehistoric Mountain Playset though is the Marx Comanche Pass Playset:

Comanche Pass mountain replaced the walking bridge with a smaller land bridge, and included a boulder which could be dropped on some unfortunate. Also, the section between the two mountains was painted the yellowish brown color of the mountains instead of the blue river of the Prehistoric Mountain. The smaller mountain was turned differently than the Prehistoric Mountain. Superior only had the Comanche Pass molds for their terrain pieces. They included land bridges and boulders in all three sets. In their large set they included the large mountain section with the small bolt holes closed off in the molding process. Superior used Marx molds and sold only sets in the late '80s.
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horrorhunter

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Re: Dinosaur Playsets
« Reply #5 on: September 11, 2013, 02:53:52 PM »
Here is the Superior Mountain set that I won off evilBay a few days ago.



It was missing a tree and fern, Kronosaurus, Brontosaurus, and the original box. But, it included the elusive Superior pamphlet which folds out instead of opening up like the little Marx booklets. I replaced the missing parts and a damaged Pot-Bellied T-Rex and caveman out of my stash of extra parts. I am glad to finally get the Superior mountain piece. As you can see it is only the large mountain piece from the much more elaborate Marx mountain, however it is still very HTF. I have original boxes for my small and medium sized Superior sets, but will probably never own the Superior large box that contained this mountain set. The large Superior boxes are virtually impossible to find since they were made of thin cardboard instead of corrugated like the Marx boxes. The large ones just fell apart.

Superior prehistoric playsets are sought after by collectors because they used Marx molds and the dino figures were molded in swirled green, brown, and gray plastic, giving each dino variety and uniqueness. Superior cavemen were molded in white and brick red. Superior palm tree trunks and fern bases were molded in black. The small Superior set contained 6 dinos (PL-750, Medium Mold Group). The medium sized Superior set contained 9 dinos (PL-750, Medium Mold Group and PL-749, Large Mold Group). The large Superior mountain set contained 17 dinos (PL-750, Medium Mold Group and PL-749, Large Mold Group and PL-1083 Second Series Mold Group). Superior pieces are much harder to find now than the original Marx pieces.

BTW, with respect to toy dinosaurs Brontosaurus is correct even though in the paleontological world the species was changed to Apatosaurus. It was accepted as Brontosaurus when the Marx and MPC molds were made, and the dinos are labeled as Brontosaurus.
« Last Edit: September 11, 2013, 03:20:35 PM by horrorhunter »
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horrorhunter

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Re: Dinosaur Playsets
« Reply #6 on: September 11, 2013, 03:04:49 PM »
This is the small Superior set that I scored off eBay a couple of days ago. It contains six dinos even though on the box it only mentions five. The bags are still sealed which is very rare. Since I have the other Superior sets I will leave them sealed. Prices are all over the board on these Superior sets despite the rarity. One vendor had one unopened bag of the six dinos from the medium mold group and one Superior pamphlet on a buy-it-now for $75. I picked up this entire small playset with all unopened bags for $15 plus shipping.



The same box design is repeated on all three different Superior prehistoric playsets.
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Hepcat

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Re: Dinosaur Playsets
« Reply #7 on: September 11, 2013, 04:47:35 PM »
Here is the Superior Mountain set that I won off evilBay a few days ago.



Oh that's pretty!

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When were the Superior playsets issued?

 ???
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horrorhunter

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Re: Dinosaur Playsets
« Reply #8 on: September 11, 2013, 05:26:45 PM »
Oh that's pretty!

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When were the Superior playsets issued?

 ???
The boxes and pamphlet are marked 1987. I think they were only sold for a couple of years. IMO the Superior sets are the best of the "after-Marx" sets which used the Marx molds. There was some plastic flashing, and limited amount of terrain and dinos, but because they swirled the plastic on the dinos it gave each piece an individuality that was lacking in the Marx product after they switched to the shiny, uniform, plastic in the '70s. Also, the Superior brick red cavemen and black tree trunks/fern bases are very attractive. I was in the Army when the Superior product was on the market, and wasn't collecting dino stuff for awhile there, so I missed out on these new. A few years ago I found out about them and I've been on the hunt since. Strangely, I found the small set and large mountain set both just in the last few days (got 'em cheap, too). You just never know when something's going to pop up on evilBay....gotta keep your nose in your computer daily. ;)
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Hepcat

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Re: Dinosaur Playsets
« Reply #9 on: September 11, 2013, 08:57:58 PM »
This is the small Superior set that I scored off eBay a couple of days ago.... The bags are still sealed which is very rare.... I picked up this entire small playset with all unopened bags for $15 plus shipping.



The same box design is repeated on all three different Superior prehistoric playsets.


Wow! Great score! Sealed is king.

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Flower

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Re: Dinosaur Playsets
« Reply #10 on: September 11, 2013, 09:52:11 PM »
We need to set up a 'play date' ...  ;)
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jimm

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Re: Dinosaur Playsets
« Reply #11 on: September 11, 2013, 09:57:32 PM »
Your play set collection is jaw-dropping!

horrorhunter

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Re: Dinosaur Playsets
« Reply #12 on: September 12, 2013, 11:47:18 AM »
Your play set collection is jaw-dropping!
Thanks, jimm. I mostly collect dinosaur and monster related playsets so I'm very limited and specialized in that regard. There aren't many monster type playsets which is why I made that custom. I plan to post some of mine a little at a time. I have some Hamilton's Invaders stuff as well as several prehistoric playsets. I really love most of the Marx sets, and several of the MPC, Remco, and Ideal sets, but because of space and money limitations I decided to narrow it to my favorite stuff.
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horrorhunter

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Re: Dinosaur Playsets
« Reply #13 on: September 12, 2013, 11:50:59 AM »
We need to set up a 'play date' ...  ;)
Okie dokie. :)
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horrorhunter

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Re: Dinosaur Playsets
« Reply #14 on: September 12, 2013, 07:07:39 PM »
Pics of the "playset closet":







I plan to post pics of some of these set up as time permits. :)



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