Side effect of the Covid-2020 Lockdown "Life On Pause" phenomenon is finally having time to really look at some of the toy forms I've obtained over the past year and a half. And something which managed to slip my attention is a Marx Toys logo which tuned up on the equipment pack of this fellow above. I'd obtained him within the past 90 days but others which had been in my collection for a while are also thusly marked. Twist (for me, at least, still on the learning curve part of Marx and space figure collecting) is that many more examples from my 38 piece collection of loose "swoppet" style spacemen bear all the other hallmarks of a Marx Toys swoppet, but lack a logo stamp on their equipment pack.
Those hitherto common Marx Toys "swoppet" spaceman attributes be:
1) Pod Feet rather than a fitted base.
2) Equipment packs cast in rubber with painted details.
3) Painted details also on weapons, tools & boots.
4) Cast in a stiff vinyl type plastic rather than your standard Army Man plastic.
Cherilea swoppet spacemen have no painted details and have feet which peg into separate base plates. Later copies made for cake decorations likewise have unpainted details but pod feet and typically cast in Army Man plastic.
This guy has pod feet, an equipment pack cast in rubber with painted details, his cosmic ray detector has painted details as do his boots, and a Marx logo. What in Sam Hill???
Upon closer inspection of my box of swoppet style spacemen, I have four of them which have rubber cast equipment packs with painted details strapped onto them. My presumption on their age is that all were made 1968 or earlier. Psychedelic Era spaceman figures, which helps explain why they are so freaked-out looking. I never had any of these as a kid but do recall encountering them at a friend's house and being profoundly disturbed by how different they were than the NASA image derived spaceman figures I had at home. These were like insects, spindly and exaggerated in their poses rather than standing stiffly at attention in an EVA pressure suit.
I had been under the presumption that other than random Made in Hong Kong markings, swoppet style spacemen were usually not logo marked by their makers. The bases for earlier Cherilea swoppet spacemen may have been, I have no examples in my collection which are, and had never read or picked up anywhere prior that Marx's swoppet spacemen are (or sometimes are) marked on their equipment packs.
It's an attribute to look for when shopping for your swoppet style spaceman figures in the same way that the bases on Cherilea spacemen are distinctive to their product. Curve ball being that not all swoppet style spacemen with the five attributes noted above bear equipment packs with a Marx logo. Were they specimens which Marx "farmed out" after the mid/late 60s demand for their unique skein of swoppet spacemen petered out? Are the logo marks specific to certain packaging ranges? And why do some bear no markings on them at all?
Left: Marx logo on equipment pack.
Right: "Made in Hong Kong" on pack with no logo.
A closer look at the yellow dude's pack. Made In
Hong Kong. I love the rusty look to the O2 hose. This is not a knockoff copy. Did Marx simply stop logo marking their swoppet style spaceman equipment packs at some point?
Left: Logo marked equipment pack.
Right: Equipment pack marked "Made In Hong Kong."
All other attributes identical except the body plastic. On the left, stiff translucent vinyl. Right, a more flexible vinyl.
The four figures in my stash who have the logo markings on their packs. I know that Marx used them on the box art for their "Hill Climbing Moon Train" set dated to 1968. They also packed them on blister cards and in window box sets. Rule of thumb I had picked up is that Cherilea originated the swoppet style spaceman in or around 1962 and that Marx's version came later. Would be delighted to learn exactly when, and figure out if there is a way to ascertain the relative year given Marx produced swoppet style spacemen may have been produced. Just, well, to be able to do it.
Left: Logo marked equipment pack.
Right: No markings at all.
Left: Logo marked equipment pack.
Right: "Made In Hong Kong"
One other item is that their packs vary, or at least the guy with the red belt has a different pack than the other two, all of which are logo marked with painted details. Am hoping that further information on this fascinating subject arises, and will bring it here on the spot. STAY HOME!!
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