Marx Monsters

[zombiehorror]

The Universal Monster Army - accept no imitations!

I'll never join another!!!

Awesome paint jobs.  It's great to see the subtle differences each individual puts on their monsters.

[Kenneth]

Yes...thanks for this great thread on the Marx Monster set. I believe these were my favorite monster toys when I was a kid. You could engage them in battle and not break them at all!

Beautiful paint jobs on these, guys! I have a set of the cream colored versions from the early 90's, and may try my hand at putting some color on them one of these days.

I wonder if that great Marx Dracula fantasy figure is still available somewhere. It did seem strange that no Dracula was produced for this line.

[michblk]

Ok Zombiehorror, what colors am I missing or what are the 14 colors you have.  I know there is another member here that has several Frankensteins.  Where are you MonstersforSale?

BK

[zombiehorror]

I've only just begun my Marx madness so I only have the original teal and orange sets (minus orange Frankenstein & teal Creature).  I've also picked up a wolfman from the 90's boxed set shown in a previous post, pink Phantom and yellow Frankenstein.

I'm pretty sure the Phantom is pink but he may be more peach, not sure since I haven't gotten him yet though.

[zombiehorror]

Got my Phantom earlier today, he is neither pink nor peach but another orange figure.  This one is not like my other orange figures that I have though.  It's kind of hard to explain but all the figures in my orange set are a darker orange, this one is more of a flat orange.

The figure on the left is identical to all of my other orange figures prior to getting the one on the right.


So tell me Marxperts, is my full orange set comprised of knock offs?  Or is my single Phantom a later release?  Also if anyone knows, what is the chance of finding a Phantom with mask still in hand?  My first two Phantoms (teal & the later glow version) I bought didn't have the mask and I didn't even realize he should have a mask until I bought my dark orange one-my new dull orange figure has his mask as well!

Last but not least, as a side note I just won the carded versions of the glow figures from Uncle Milton!!

[raycastile]

The one on the left looks like the real deal to me.

[Gasport]

I'm in the same boat as you...the Phantom on the right is a milkier orange and the one on the left is of the neon variety. Where else but on the UMA would such a similarity occur? The milky Phantom DOES have a price sticker of 19 cents on the bottom of it , which would  [at least to me] signify it WAS indeed from the 60's... Am i wrong?? I LOVE them both!! Looks like BOTH of your figures stand a pretty good chance of being original...

[The Phantom Creep]

Hey Michblk I tried taking a photo of all the different Creatures where they are and it just wouldn't come out so I'm gonna have to take them all down and set them together on a table or something. I'll try to do that tomorrow.

[raycastile]

Also if anyone knows, what is the chance of finding a Phantom with mask still in hand?  My first two Phantoms (teal & the later glow version) I bought didn't have the mask and I didn't even realize he should have a mask until I bought my dark orange one-my new dull orange figure has his mask as well!

If you're patient and persistent, you can find Phantoms on ebay with the mask intact.  Maybe 10%-20% have the mask.  Of course, they all SHOULD have the mask.  The ones that don't are damaged.

[michblk]

Hey Michblk I tried taking a photo of all the different Creatures where they are and it just wouldn't come out so I'm gonna have to take them all down and set them together on a table or something. I'll try to do that tomorrow.

No problem, whenever you get around to it.

Thanks!
BK

[Richard]

Got my Phantom earlier today, he is neither pink nor peach but another orange figure.  This one is not like my other orange figures that I have though.  It's kind of hard to explain but all the figures in my orange set are a darker orange, this one is more of a flat orange.

The figure on the left is identical to all of my other orange figures prior to getting the one on the right.


So tell me Marxperts, is my full orange set comprised of knock offs?  Or is my single Phantom a later release?  Also if anyone knows, what is the chance of finding a Phantom with mask still in hand?  My first two Phantoms (teal & the later glow version) I bought didn't have the mask and I didn't even realize he should have a mask until I bought my dark orange one-my new dull orange figure has his mask as well!

Last but not least, as a side note I just won the carded versions of the glow figures from Uncle Milton!!

If any help, I took a pic of my 3 orange Marx Frankensteins since they were aquired at different times and their orange color can be compared. The one on the right  (missing his left hand "pinky") belonged to my brother in 1964 (he had an orange set and I had a blue set). The middle one is from my friend, Bobby, in the late 60s. And the one on the left is from an antique shop from about 1997 or so (the base under his right foot is raised a bit...not flat, like the other two).

The orange color appears to be very consistent on all 3 monsters.

On your right side Phantom, I wonder if the orange plastic could have changed shades a bit as it looks like paint was removed? I rememeber a blue Marx monster that was painted with model paint (black). The blue became darker after the paint was removed with easy-off oven cleaner. The plastic was fine but the blue color wasn't right. Just a thought.

Best,
Richard

[fmofmpls]

While Richard's explanation certainly makes sense, could it also be that this Phantom figure was actually part of the 60's painting set? The paint residue lends credence to this theory. Perhaps the paint set figures were of a paler shade of color? Speculation is what I do best. 

[gracebuster]

I love these so much, but I am certainly no expert.
Let me through this out.

It is true that the original sets were PAINT PROOF. John Lamana painted mine and he's a genious painter and he couldn't get the paint to not rub off, even after priming.

SO...could the PAINT sets have been made of a more similiar (LIGHTER COLORED) but different plastic so that it could have been painted by kids.

The slickness of the more neon plastic was the problem, I think.

[zombiehorror]

Found myself out of work again today so I thought I'd compile the color list using Brian's previously posted Creature collection, which I have cropped and reposted here.

So, first off we have the obvious (mentioned at least a hundred times in this thread alone) original Marx colors:

Teal
Orange

Next of course, Uncle Milton's 90's reissues:

Cream
Glow

Then from Brian's photo:

Red
Blue
Black
Brick Red
Light Green
Lime
Burgandy Red
Dark Green

The Red's are hard to really tell from a photo but those are my best guesses as to their shade.  There are also two in the center which both appear to be white-possibly the glow & cream releases?




That makes 12 confirmed colors so far:

Teal
Orange
Cream
Glow
Red
Blue
Black
Brick Red
Light Green
Lime
Burgandy Red
Dark Green

Plus there is the variant milky orange (making it 14 colors), which I believe to be cast that way and not something due to outside elements-the paint issue is certainly an interesting theory.  The only confirmation of this being a true Marx color though may be the discovery/existence of the other monsters being found in this shade.  There is of course one other way to verify the color.....but I'm not going to cut him in half to see if the color is consistent throughout!

Any more colors to add?  Anybody?

[The Drunken Severed Head]

LOVE that bottom photo-- it's a Creature chorus line!

The Hunchback has gotta be based on Quinn.

The Marx figures probably made me fall in love with the Universal monsters. One of the earliest toy memories I have.