Marx Monsters

[horrorhunter]

I'm starting to see the pattern here. Freddie's Orange Frankenstein (some people refer to as Pumpkin Orange) is actually the flat Orange equivalent of the flat colored Teal Blues with the 1963 date. And Freddie's Popsicle Blue MarxMons are the equivalent of the far more common Orange MarxMons that we have with the date barred out (that could be called Popsicle Orange I guess). The colors changed from Teal to Orange sometime around 1964 which was the same time they switched plastic types to the "Heritage" plastic (which gives it that slightly translucent "Popsicle" look). Evidently they made a few of the flat Oranges with the 1963 date and a few of the Popsicle Blues with the 1963 date in between/during that switch. Series 3 of the Nutty Mads are Popsicle Green and are dated 1964. The Marx Prehistoric collectors have theorized for years why Marx switched plastic types. Some theories are that they wanted to get away from the lead paint added plastic because kids were chewing dino tails, or the new plastic was easier to mold, or it made it easier to clean the molds, or it was cheaper. It may have been any of these reasons or something different. We will probably never know for sure unless someone affiliated with Marx steps forward one day. The clock's ticking, too. Those folks ain't gonna be around forever. Like F73 said, that info is out there somewhere. You would think all of this would be common knowledge in the collector community.

[Hepcat]

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....

Admittedly I can't shed any further light on this subject. The only thing I "know" is that those Popsicle blue(electric blue) Marx monsters are the wildest and most awesome ones I've ever seen!

First orange marx Ive seen with a date.

thats strange they released some oranges with dates and some without?

Leave it to a long time dedicated collector like Freddie though to expand the boundaries of what we know about these figures!

[Hepcat]

Series 3 of the Nutty Mads are Popsicle Green and are dated 1964.

I take it that the first two series of Nutty Mads were therefore molded in flat colours with lead based dye? Were the Series 3 Nutty Mads available in only the one colour then?

The Marx Weird-Ohs were effectively Series 4 of the Nutty Mads and should therefore have been molded in the brighter lead-free plastic. Is that correct?

[Hepcat]

I'm starting to see the pattern here. Freddie's Orange Frankenstein (some people refer to as Pumpkin Orange) is actually the flat Orange equivalent of the flat colored Teal Blues with the 1963 date. And Freddie's Popsicle Blue MarxMons are the equivalent of the far more common Orange MarxMons that we have with the date barred out (that could be called Popsicle Orange I guess). The colors changed from Teal to Orange sometime around 1964 which was the same time they switched plastic types to the "Heritage" plastic (which gives it that slightly translucent "Popsicle" look). Evidently they made a few of the flat Oranges with the 1963 date and a few of the Popsicle Blues with the 1963 date in between/during that switch.

So then that would imply that the orange coloured Universal monsters started being made in 1963 while Marx was still using lead-based dye to colour the plastic. Still in 1963 Marx switched to lead free dyes for the plastic which resulted in some Popsicle blue Universal monsters being produced. Production of the blue monsters ceased before the end of 1963 but production of the orange ones continued into 1964 which resulted in the date being barred off most of the orange Universal monster production.

[horrorhunter]

I take it that the first two series of Nutty Mads were therefore molded in flat colours with lead based dye? Were the Series 3 Nutty Mads available in only the one colour then?

The Marx Weird-Ohs were effectively Series 4 of the Nutty Mads and should therefore have been molded in the brighter lead-free plastic. Is that correct?

I think the Weird-Ohs were a separate set from the Nutty Mads. The Weird-Ohs were molded in the older flat colored plastic and must have come out shortly before the last series of Nutty Mads (series 3) even though both are dated 1964. The series 3 Nutty Mads are usually in "Popsicle" Green but I do have a Gutterball Annie in flat tan color. The markings look legit on the base bottom but I'm still not sure if this tan one is original or a well molded repop.

I never saw any series 3 Nutty Mads when I was a kid. I picked them all up on eBay a few years ago. Some sellers have stated they were mostly available in Canada. I wonder if that's true.

[horrorhunter]

So then that would imply that the orange coloured Universal monsters started being made in 1963 while Marx was still using lead-based dye to colour the plastic. Still in 1963 Marx switched to lead free dyes for the plastic which resulted in some Popsicle blue Universal monsters being produced. Production of the blue monsters ceased before the end of 1963 but production of the orange ones continued into 1964 which resulted in the date being barred off most of the orange Universal monster production.

That would seem to be the case. Maybe someday we will get accurate facts on all of this from a reputable source that actually worked for Marx or at least in the toy industry back in the '60s. If and when that happens we won't have to rely on speculation so much.

[Scatter]

That would seem to be the case. Maybe someday we will get accurate facts on all of this from a reputable source that actually worked for Marx or at least in the toy industry back in the '60s. If and when that happens we won't have to rely on speculation so much.

Yeah, but there are fewer and fewer of those guys left every year.

[Allhallowsday]

[Mike Scott]

Wow! I don't think I've ever seen that bag, before! That is super cool!

[horrorhunter]

Wow! I don't think I've ever seen that bag, before! That is super cool!

Here's a pic of the whole bag from Bob's collection.


Notice the illustrations on the bags were just teal and orange. This is more proof that the green, yellow, and rose ones never went into regular production. Aside from F73's marbled green Phantom we've actually seen no proof of any original MarxMons outside the blue and orange range. That Phantom could be a weird unique example where they were testing for colors or something, and just never got sent to the Marx dump (thankfully). The unusual versions that Freddie posted are still blue and orange, although the Popsicle and flat colors are reversed from the more common versions. Maybe one of these Vile Green, Creepy Yellow, or Bilious Rose versions will actually surface at some point, but I have my doubts that they were ever actually produced. So far, all the proof we have of their existence is that page from the 1964 Marx catalog.

[freddie poe]

The Nutty Mads also came in a similar bag of 6.

[Mike Scott]

Here's a pic of the whole bag from Bob's collection.

OK, so I probably seen it before. The nice thing about having a bad memory is the excitement of seeing things for the first time, again! 

[Monsters For Sale]

You're gonna love Alzheimer's.

[horrorhunter]

The Nutty Mads also came in a similar bag of 6.

It would be great to see the Nutty Mads bag. Do you have a pic of one Freddie?

[RPM]

Photo from a recent auction.

The Nutty Mads also came in a similar bag of 6.