Marx Toys Miniature Camera Guy Figure from the "Lunar Exploration Miniature Playset" Line

Note - This was an unfinished post from late July.

Back to this stuff again. Downsized miniature spaceman figures are a favorite topic around here and Marx did their fair share of creating specimens thereof to ponder. Their epic year of 1962 saw not only the retail release of the "Operation Moon Base" masterwork but two space toy playsets featuring reduced sized versions of the OMB spacemen. "Mystery Space Ship" was the more popular of the two and "Space Ranger" pioneered the Rescue Chopper toy concept nicely. Both were issued with a set of the miniaturized 35mm OMB astronauts, though the eye-popping alien figures which were there to hamper the routine of the astronauts usually get the propz, and deservedly so.

Space Tank Guy drove into the wrong part of town.

For whatever reason when creating the downsized astronauts Marx excluded their "Operation Moon Base" Camera Guy pose. They also chose not to include the Republic bell style Moon Suit for the astronaut with outstretched arms and left the figure + suit for the Grumman Moon Suit out of the party as well. But when responding to whatever impulse drove Marx to create their "Lunar Exploration Miniature Playset" line he chose to commission a downsized OMB Camera Guy in the slightly smaller 28mm size the LEMP figures were pressed in.

My stash of loose LEMP figures obtained so far. Collectors & vendors have been diligent about keeping the playlets intact for that New Old Stock look, and "complete" sets are not all that hard to find if you know where to look and have the semoleans to make it happen. Sadly, many collectors or re-sellers have efforted "restoring" the sets by re-fastening the toy pieces in place and often - sadly - with adhesive, arbitrarily gluing the figures to the nicely printed laminated cardboard diorama surface the sets were peddled within. While impressive looking for resale, the results frustrate collectors like myself by forcing a decision whether or not to ruin the nice diorama surface by tearing the figures free of their fate or just letting it sit.

Only a fool or insane maniac would pursue that action, so the only solution is to find already loose figures which other collectors had chosen to free, ripping up their diorama stages. Or, find dilapidated sets which are so trashed already as to excuse prying the figures up. I went both routes and so far have a nice cross-section of the six poses Louis Marx commissioned for the sets, lacking only a loose Space Walking figure to complete the mini-collection. Then I should be able to sleep again.

Three of the four figures with bases, the pilot is just a sitter. But all four of the others have a Marx Toys logo and interestingly a Made In Taiwan script as does the Space Tank and Space Camper vehicles I have at my disposal. So the toy pieces themselves appear to have been fabricated in Taiwan and the assembled with their presentation boxes in Hong Kong. Where they were painted is anyone's guess, though I presume in Taiwan after being pressed.

Camera Guy sporting evidence had been sliced free of his glued down fate. Adhesives were not used by the Marx factory as the point of the sets was to have their owners take them apart and play with the components. The diorama box stage was just there to get the imagination flowing, and the figures were never meant to remain permanently attached. These were disposable ephemeral pop culture toys never meant to last. It is only collectors & re-sellers who have chosen to try and preserve their original appearance (and up the resale value) by utilizing adhesive. Fucking idiots.

And again, a Marx logo though too deteriorated from the adhesive much glommed on their for 50 years to make much more sense out of it. And I know, I'm being obtuse: By gluing the pieces down the sets were able to survive long enough for a few specimens to come into my possession. But it's by faking it, to an extent. I'd rather have them rattling around in their loose but then again I'm the knucklehead who used to ruin his rocket models by plucking the astronauts out of them so I could sneak one into school.

No O2 pack as he's conceptually connected to the spacecraft via umbilical with oxygen hose. 

Compared with his full-sized 60mm counterpart.

Left: 1962

Right: 1970

With a specimen of the Moon Base camera guy cut free of its base by a prior owner.

Compared with an iconic MPC Camera Guy 54mm spaceman. Basically the rule is that if your camera guy is free-standing it will be MPC, if it's lying on his side connected to a supporting base its by Marx.

A damaged Marx camera guy from my stash which had been cruelly cut from his support base, though it does allow a comparison with the MPC equivalent at right.

The Marx figure will not stand without sticky putty as it was never meant to. MPC camera guy stands just fine on his own, perfectly balanced by his oxygen hose. One can also see most of the MPC figure's face and his suit detailing are different.

Marx figure has no oxygen tanks.

Marx figure is also of a slightly larger scale. The MPC figures are usually described as 54mm, the Marx Moon Base astronauts as 60mm.

Christmas 2021 at Fra Mauro Station on the Moon, with the Makeshift Purpose-Built Christmas Tree Thing

Image from December 2019, in the Before Time. Had been documenting the blossoming collection of Marx Toys space plastics when it struck me that the above might "work" as a makeshift Christmas Tree image. I've always been down with the makeshift tree thing, born from the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree concept of a shriveled and unloved forlorn gnarly little tree becoming a beacon of hope in an otherwise gloomy and stupid world. Never been more so then these days & remembering the spark of warmth the image had created decided to purposefully approach the concept this year. 

Had some real-world inspiration to do so as well; Out of town family decided to stay put this season and without his granddaughter to have a Christmas Tree for my dad decided to make one in his woodshed which we'd likely use for the duration of time remaining for us to reside in the house. Made me think about the tradition of makeshift trees during trying times, and how they are gestures of humanity done in defiance of mishap.

The basic structure of what I'll call the Nyland Tree. Central trunk form gathered in the back yard, steel rods repurposed from some sort of shelving system and the carved pieces cut on his circular saw.

The maestro working the lights, held in place by twist ties. No other ornamentation. An exercise in unstated minimalism.

Yeah that works. Nice job!

And my version, using a soft glow filter effect.

Further inspiration. Gotta give credit where due; I like how we are looking over the shoulders of the other characters as they are looking at the Bumble.

The original 2021 design. All plastics by Marx Toys from 1962 & 1963, with the aliens as sort of the Christmas elves jabbering around like Jawas. But when looking back to the original 2019 take it struck me as too baroque. Too much to see, needs editing.

After removing the 1962 "Moon Base" aliens & sitting astronauts. What follows are various views or angles which passed the sort/toss of pix taken during the session. I take a lot of pix.

I like this one. Got the idea to try using a flashlight for more dynamic light watching them Rudolph puppetoons. "Christmas at Fra Mauro Station" is referencing the 1971 landing site of Apollo 14 and mission commander Alan B. Shepard, America's first man in space on Mercury-Redstone "Freedom 7" in 1961. Shepard also won an eternal place of respect in my affections by bringing a golf club to the moon on his Apollo flight and hitting two balls, one which sailed for "Miles and miles and miles ..."

This one best captured what I'd wanted to see, which the painted stars serving as snowflakes falling from a canopy of the box sides. But I miss the flashlight beam.

Not bad either but I don't like the glare on the back wall. 

"Everybody belongs."

Swoppet Spaceman Update February 2021: Marx Toys Used Three Paint Colors for their Equipment Vests? and What's Up with the Yellow Faces??

EDIT 032121 Had the page title misspwelled as "Swopped Space Man Update" for six weeks thanks to autocorrection, never noticed.

 

Click here to open video in a new window for fullscreen viewing option.

The "Zombie" pose with arms out, with examples by Marx Toys (front left), Cherilea Toys (blue figure with yellow pack at center) and others/unknowns (everything else).

Our control sample grouping of three Marx figures. The specimens to the right boasting a rarely seen Marx Toys logo on the outer side of his belt.

The specimen at center had this vestigial marking on the outside of his belt. Looks like a W followed by an A, and my guess is that it was meant to say TAIWAN where Marx was known to have done some fabricating or packaging of these figures.

The figure with the W and A, which has been my favorite of them all -- He looks like he was someone's toy back in 1967. An issue I've never considered as this is my only example thereof, is that some Marx swopped spacemen have yellow faces and it makes me wonder; Was that some (hopefully) well-intentioned designer trying to connect with Asian markets?

The three new arrivals. Middle guy has a very yellow face and the other two share those attributes the control samples boast: Rubberized equipment packs with painted details using three colors, painted feet/boots using two colors (blue figure defies that rule) and the white figure also has painted gloves.