Freddie Poe's Popsicle Blue Mummy and Wolfman Marx Figures

[Plastic Nebula]

Be interesting if you had an old Marx playset (e.g. Prehistoric Times, ben Hur, Fort Mohawk) to compare the smells.

Maybe we could train a dog to sniff out original figures!! Or one of those pigs that find truffles in the woods.
I won the auction for the orange set on ebay, so it should be here in a few days and i will have a sniff party.
Ironically, Freddie sold the orange set to the guy i am buying it from. Small world!!

[MonsterBaker666]

Be careful smelling stuff you buy off of ebay.  Often they smell like stale cigarettes.

[Plastic Nebula]

Be careful smelling stuff you buy off of ebay.  Often they smell like stale cigarettes.

Ain't that the truth!!

[Hepcat]

Maybe we could train a dog to sniff out original figures!!

More talk on the smell of Marx figures:

here is my green Phantom of the Opera with dated bottom. the plastic seems like the old figures, has the same "old" plastic smell, and is  a good molding.

First orange marx Ive seen with a date.
thats strange they released some oranges with dates and some without?
I literally have tons of oranges, none of them have a date and I know for an absolute fact that several are vintage 60s as I got them directly from the original owners.
In my collection  I have no oranges that are mexican re pops (the smell and age is there, and several have price stickers)

Anyone familiar with the original Teal Marx UniMons won't be fooled. Repoppers can never exactly duplicate that color and certainly not that type of lead-based plastic mix with the small blackish bits and distinctive smell.

Marx changed it's plastic to the semi-translucent version sometime in 1964 as evidenced by series 3 of the Nutty Mads. Prior to that the plastic was matte (flat) colored. Most common are the Marx Monsters in flat teal blue and "popsicle orange", because the blue ones were made in 1963 and the orange ones in 1964 and perhaps later into the '60s. There seems to be some rare "overlap" pieces from late 1963/early 1964 in the form of the "pumpkin orange" and "popsicle blue".

This may have been the first use of the so-called "Heritage" type plastic that Marx used later with various playset pieces. I'm more familiar with the Marx Prehistoric sets and the first set made after 1963 was the #3398 from 1971 which used the Heritage plastic for the dinos and cavemen. The newer plastic was supposed to mold more efficiently and did not contain the lead-based paint in the older plastic mix. Most collectors preferred the older plastic for the variations in color (and the distinctive smell... *huff, huff*  ).

[Plastic Nebula]

That swirly green Phantom is so cool!!!
The Popsicle Blue Mummy that i got from Freddie has some small black flakes on the left shoulder and
upper left thigh. None of my Teal or other figures have the flakes though. Very interesting.
I received the Orange set yesterday, and i gave them the sniff test and the verdict is.....
The Teal, Orange, and Popsicle Blue all have the same petrol/plastic smell.

[Dr.Terror]

Do any of them have air bubbles?    In my experience thats the only true tell of a 60s original.   Not the smell etc..   Ive had modern toys stored in old plastic containers that come out smelling like the old lead filled plastic the container was made from.   

   Ive only ever seen air bubbles in Orange and Teal that were confirmed 60s.  All of them.    Never seen bubbles in any other color  and Ive seen alot.  Thats why I feel so strongly about it.

Ive never heard anything about black flakes or seen any with them..   

[Plastic Nebula]

Do any of them have air bubbles?    In my experience thats the only true tell of a 60s original.   Not the smell etc..   Ive had modern toys stored in old plastic containers that come out smelling like the old lead filled plastic the container was made from.   

   Ive only ever seen air bubbles in Orange and Teal that were confirmed 60s.  All of them.    Never seen bubbles in any other color  and Ive seen alot.  Thats why I feel so strongly about it.

Ive never heard anything about black flakes or seen any with them..   

I just held a flashlight to the bases of the Orange set, and none of them have the bubbles. My Teal set does.
The Popsicle Blue doesn't. The Orange set is definitely original, no question about that.

[RPM]

The flashlight bubble test may be color specific to the original orange and blue colors used in the monsters. I also tried it on two original colors of Marx Nutty Mads issued in 1963 and none have bubbles. Maybe other members could try the flashlight test on other 6" figures molded in their original color issued from 1963.

[Plastic Nebula]

The flashlight bubble test may be color specific to the original orange and blue colors used in the monsters. I also tried it on two original colors of Marx Nutty Mads issued in 1963 and none have bubbles. Maybe other members could try the flashlight test on other 6" figures molded in their original color issued from 1963.

Yes, this is a call to action to all members!! Please do the flashlight test and report back, it would be much appreciated!!
We're learning stuff and that is awesome!!

[zombiehorror]

Id also like to see the auction pic before the sticker fell off.         

Wow. How did I miss all this discussion previously? Especially given that I was called out. Sorry to say there is no photo of the sticker, the only photo in the auction was the green Frank and another monster (I can't recall at this time but it was a teal or orange original Marx). When I found the auction I questioned the seller because he listed them together as "vintage" or "original"; he told me he had-had both figures since was a kid. I believe he was from PA. I put in a bid and won the auction, again it was two figures, for a mere 20 bucks. It was only upon the figures arriving to me that I discovered the 19 cent Miejer sticker; looked up the store and saw that it was a retailer from that area.

Since then I've heard the theories:
The seller just created the sticker and stuck it on the Frank.
The sticker may be an original price sticker but it must have fallen off a teal or orange monster and the seller just stuck it on the green.
And now based on this thread that I may be making it all up.

The only proof now is the triangular shaped sticker residue left on the bottom of the monster. I wish I would have known the sticker might fall off. I wish I had taken a photo of it. I wish I had found the sticker laying around. But alas, none of those scenarios happened, nonetheless, I believe my lime green Frankenstein was created by Marx in 1964.