Marx Monsters

[Dr.Terror]

Does anyone remember how much one of these would've sold for back in the 60s, when they were new? (This is for my essay).

.19 then .29 cents each

[Hepcat]

Many posters have reported buying them for fifteen cents before the price was raised to nineteen cents. Look through this thread.

 

[Dr.Terror]

I just noticed I have a Phantom with a .12 ink stamp as well.

[horrorhunter]

The prices probably varied by store when these first came out in '63, and then when the orange ones came out in '64. I vaguely remember my parents buying some for me around '64 when I was 5. It seems like they were only .10 each at first (through the memory of a 5 year old), but that could easily be wrong. They gradually went up in the '60s. I have an orange one with a .19 sticker on the base bottom. These cheap toys were sold through local dime stores back then and were priced differently by region and town/city size, or just by the whims of the local store owners.

[YoungestMonsterKid]

Many posters have reported buying them for fifteen cents before the price was raised to nineteen cents. Look through this thread.

 

Interesting because three of the ones I have (that I bought in a lot off ebay) have tape with "15" written on the bottom of them. I wonder if that tape goes all the way back to the 60s?

[horrorhunter]

Here's a video I did on Marx Universal Monsters.

[Mike Scott]

Here's a video I did on Marx Universal Monsters.

Good video! Seen it before. I need a carded glow Creature, but only if the card is nearly perfect. Don't want no bent corners. 

[horrorhunter]

Good video! Seen it before. I need a carded glow Creature, but only if the card is nearly perfect. Don't want no bent corners. 

I bought those Uncle Milton carded figures new at TRU around 1991, so I managed to score some nice cards. The carded ones are still not very expensive, but it's a challenge to find a nice backer-card. The bubbles yellowing is another fairly common issue.

It's also tough to find a Phantom inside the sealed blister-card that doesn't have a broken mask. I own several Marx Phantoms and the only one I have with a broken mask is the carded Uncle Milton...the mask is in there just bouncin' around. 

[Mike Scott]

I own several Marx Phantoms and the only one I have with a broken mask is the carded Uncle Milton...the mask is in there just bouncin' around. 

That's weird! How could that even happen, unless somebody stomped on it.

[horrorhunter]

That's weird! How could that even happen, unless somebody stomped on it.

The mask is thin-molded on those glow Phantoms and the figure bounces around inside the bubble which breaks off the mask. The Uncle Milton or TRU workers were probably throwing the shipping cases around, or they got bounced around inside the shipping trucks. Marx proper had great quality control, Uncle Milton...not so much.

[horrorhunter]

Finally scored some Pumpkin Orange Marx Universal Monsters figures. $100 for the lot of 4.





After all these years collecting these things I still didn't have a "Pumpkin" Orange. I saw this lot of 4 eBay listing and carefully checked out the pics since they can be misleading regarding color shades. The seller sent me an offer that I accepted. I don't think he was aware of the scarcity of the Pumpkin Orange versions. These probably came out just before the common orange ones in 1964. The flat/matte finish teal blue ones came out in 1963, and Marx changed the plastic for most of the orange ones that came out in 1964. The newer orange ones are in the slightly translucent shiny looking plastic commonly called "neon" or "Heritage" plastic.

These matte finish ones show their details much better than the later neon orange or the teal blue ones. These are legit '60s with the barred out Roman Numeral 1963 date and the Universal Pictures copyright info in the other base circle. The plastic looks right and smells right. You can faintly smell the lead paint they used in the plastic mix before it was changed later. Now I just need some "Popsicle" blue ones. Popsicle blue is the neon equivalent of the common neon orange ones though they are much scarcer than the original teal blue ones, whereas the matte finish (pumpkin) orange ones are much scarcer than the neon orange.

Glad to finally add some of these to my collection.

[Dr.Terror]

They arent 60s original.   They are repops made of that softer plastic the gets scratches and dings easily.   

[horrorhunter]

They arent 60s original.   They are repops made of that softer plastic the gets scratches and dings easily.   

What do you base your claim on. Do you have any proof?

[horrorhunter]

https://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?msg=631701

I checked these out again with fresh eyes (and a magnifying glass) and compared them to my originals and some repops I have. The plastic on these pumpkin orange ones is the same density as the '60s originals. It just looks "softer" because the lighter shade of orange shows detail much better. I went over the minor flashing on the originals, and it matches the pumpkin orange ones as does the little details on the figures. The Plastimarx, Uncle Milton, and various newer Mexican recasts, are all quite different with either excess flashing or more rigid/brittle plastic. The susceptibility of damage from dings and scratches seems consistent with the originals and the pumpkin orange ones since the plastic is the same.

I'm no expert but from what I can tell these new pumpkin orange ones look like original '60s production. It's certainly possible because we know pumpkin orange and popsicle blue exist from some of the posts in this thread. They're just much scarcer.

[horrorhunter]

Marx Phantom original teal blue 1963 sells for big bucks at eBay auction- around $178.



Undamaged with mask which is often broken off.

I bought my original teal blue set of six in excellent condition for around this same price ($175) from a Toy Shop ad back in the early 2000s from Steve and Cathy Sawchuck. I got tired of chasing the individual ones with varying degrees of damage, especially the Phantom with the problematic mask, so I paid up. Paying up these days is expensive it would appear.