Marx Monsters

[Mord]

As for the smell?  I've never noticed that any of them had a certain scent....then again it never dawned on me to smell tham in the first place!?

What kind of lunatic doesn't take the time to smell his own toys? You're lucky enough to have them, now smell the damn things, for God's sake!

[horrorhunter]

Any flashing on that Frankenstein is no worse than any other teal or orange Marx that I have and certainly not as excessive as the Mexican reissues I have.  I bought that Frank, along with an orange Phantom, 7+ years ago from a guy in Pa.   I questioned the falidity of him saying they were vintage/original and he said he had got them both as a child in the 60's.  When I recieved them the Frankenstein had a small rectangular 19 cent sticker on his base that had "Meijers" on it (The Phantom did not, by the way.), not sure when the sticker fell off (Wished I'd have taken a pic.) but only the residue from it is left on the figures base.  Could this guy have taken a Meijers sticker off an original Marx and place it on a Mexican repop?  Or produced the sticker himself?  Sure but there would have been little point as it did nothing to raise the value at the time.  I have little doubt that this is not an original Marx monster.....unless you don't consider anything after Marx's initial run as original Marx.  At the very least, I've little doubt that this was not produced by Marx.

As for the smell?  I've never noticed that any of them had a certain scent....then again it never dawned on me to smell tham in the first place!?

The excess plastic is evident in your own photo, especially around the base. Here is the pic of my sets again. The Teal and Orange sets being original and the green set to the left being Mexican PlastiMarx re-issues from the '80s/'90s. My green Frankenstein is identical in shade to yours so it seems most likely yours is one of the repops. All of my green ones have far more excess plastic than my originals with the Wolfman being so bad as to have nearly an extra set of werewolf ears (kind of like the Wolfman Soaky  ). I really like that shade of green for the Marx Monsters but they are obviously not original Marx product from the '60s. And yes there is a difference in smell. The original Teal ones have the heavy aroma of that flat-colored-lead-based-paint-mixed-in-plastic from before 1964. The green ones don't. The only color besides Teal and Orange I've ever seen that looks like a genuine Marx Monster from the 1960s is the dark green swirled Phantom posted by Frankenstein73 earlier in this thread because it is marked 1963 in Roman Numerals AND the plastic looks right without the excess flashing. We know there are odd colored originals out there but this green Frankenstein is a dead ringer for a Mexican PlastiMarx re-issue.

[freddie poe]

dont forget i have a rasberry blue wolfman & mummy with all the correct markings. which i believe are shown earlier in this thread....

[horrorhunter]

dont forget i have a rasberry blue wolfman & mummy with all the correct markings. which i believe are shown earlier in this thread....

Freddie, I reviewed the entire thread and your posts started at the bottom of page 23 (BTW, this is a cool frickin' thread). You posted several pics that don't show up now. Would it be possible for you to post those pics again, including pics of the base bottoms? It would be great to see these unusual color variations of the originals. Thanks.

[freddie poe]

i could shoot the pix again and send them to you HH to an email address... i  still cant post pix!! just a stupid ole pug....

[horrorhunter]

i could shoot the pix again and send them to you HH to an email address... i  still cant post pix!! just a stupid ole pug....

PM sent.

[freddie poe]

ill have my girl shoot those pix tonight....thanks HH

[horrorhunter]

ill have my girl shoot those pix tonight....thanks HH

No problem, pal. We all look forward to seeing them. Thank You.

[zombiehorror]

The excess plastic is evident in your own photo, especially around the base. Here is the pic of my sets again. The Teal and Orange sets being original and the green set to the left being Mexican PlastiMarx re-issues from the '80s/'90s. My green Frankenstein is identical in shade to yours so it seems most likely yours is one of the repops. All of my green ones have far more excess plastic than my originals with the Wolfman being so bad as to have nearly an extra set of werewolf ears (kind of like the Wolfman Soaky  ). I really like that shade of green for the Marx Monsters but they are obviously not original Marx product from the '60s. And yes there is a difference in smell. The original Teal ones have the heavy aroma of that flat-colored-lead-based-paint-mixed-in-plastic from before 1964. The green ones don't. The only color besides Teal and Orange I've ever seen that looks like a genuine Marx Monster from the 1960s is the dark green swirled Phantom posted by Frankenstein73 earlier in this thread because it is marked 1963 in Roman Numerals AND the plastic looks right without the excess flashing. We know there are odd colored originals out there but this green Frankenstein is a dead ringer for a Mexican PlastiMarx re-issue.

All my orange have what I presume to be the smell mentioned here but none of my teals do from what I can tell.  How is the detail on those green ones?  All of my reissues (except for maybe the cream ones, hard to tell right now as my girls had painted them previously) seem to have little to no detail in the shirt and jacket lapels but my green one has a very deep ridged shirt as well as the very evident cross pattern on the coat lapels.

I still just don't get why the Frankenstein I bought had the 19 cent Meijers sticker stuck on the bottom of it if it is just a Mexican reissue.?

[horrorhunter]

All my orange have what I presume to be the smell mentioned here but none of my teals do from what I can tell.  How is the detail on those green ones?  All of my reissues (except for maybe the cream ones, hard to tell right now as my girls had painted them previously) seem to have little to no detail in the shirt and jacket lapels but my green one has a very deep ridged shirt as well as the very evident cross pattern on the coat lapels.

I still just don't get why the Frankenstein I bought had the 19 cent Meijers sticker stuck on the bottom of it if it is just a Mexican reissue.?

The older plastic has that smell from the lead based paint that was mixed in with it (or at least that's what I've read/been told from different sources). The detail varies greatly on the green Mexican repops (some are pretty sharp and some look like they're covered in plastic webs), but they almost always have that extra plastic to varying degrees especially on the mold seams, and they are that same shade of lime green. Like I said, they look really cool- probably the best of the repops, but they just aren't as cleanly molded as the originals from the '60s. I really like my green ones and I'm glad I picked them up. I'm not slighting them, I just think they have to be re-issues from what I've learned.

The sticker thing is a mystery. Remember these things are over twenty years old even if they are repops. A lot can happen in twenty years. The sticker probably came off an original and could have been placed on the green one several years ago for any number of reasons. Maybe the guy you bought them from just got his memory of the colors mixed up and when that sticker fell off he (or someone else) just stuck it on the wrong one twenty years ago so you end up with residue. Unless a person is a monster fanatic like we are they might not pay attention to some of these details. Then again maybe he did the old truth stretching thing to make a sale.

The bottom line is that you like the figure and enjoy it. Whether it came out in 1964 or 1989 it still looks just as cool. Those green ones rock, which is why I went after them a few years ago. I paid $20-$30 each for them and I'm glad to have and display them. Oh, and thanks for starting such a cool thread. I've probably enjoyed this thread more than any other in UMA. 

[Hepcat]

This has indeed been a great thread so far.

[horrorhunter]

Here are Freddie Poe's Marx Monsters pics for everyone. He can post explanations of them. Thanks, Freddie.

[freddie poe]

thanks Horror Hunter...shown is the orange frank with date... then my (i call them Popsicle blue) wolfman & mummy shown along side a teal mummy for color comparison. then shown are the dated bottoms with correct markings....the light colored Mummy was brought from someone in england and the wolfman i have had for over 35 years......the dated orange frankie i got from a uma fiend!

[horrorhunter]

thanks Horror Hunter...shown is the orange frank with date... then my (i call them Popsicle blue) wolfman & mummy shown along side a teal mummy for color comparison. then shown are the dated bottoms with correct markings....the light colored Mummy was brought from someone in england and the wolfman i have had for over 35 years......the dated orange frankie i got from a uma fiend!

You sold me. I have no doubt those are legit. Those Popsicle Blues are way freakin' cool. 

[frankenstein73]

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)to my knowledge I have not seen any repros in orange or teal.
I really wish we had more info on these, it has to be out there somewhere. There are huge marx collectors that have info on all the playsets etc.. someone has to know. Its just a matter of getting in touch with them.

I saw the blue wolfman when you posted him the last time freddy, glad you found a mummy that goes with him. Very cool color! Hope to find some to add to my collection someday.