Every kid who grew up in the '50s had at least one playset and the lucky kids had a bunch. Those of us who weren't lucky enough to have a bunch when we were kids have collected them as adults. Some of us never stuck it rich and have had to take out second mortgages on our homes to afford these little collectibles......
MARX toys was one of the better known playset names, but there were quite a few others, among them Suzy Goose, T.Cohn, IDEAL and Superior.
(The majority of the sets on this page have now been sold.)
In the Fall of 2001, my wife Gay and I went on a crusade to the mecca of playset
land to visit 3 toy museums, all specializing in Marx toys: the Francis Turner
and Krueger toy museums, both in the Wheeling, WV area, and the Marx toy museum
in Erie, Pa. All three were great and we had a ball. I even picked up some great
vintage postcards for my
collection at one of the museums.
Little did we know however, that the Wheeling Marx plant was right down the block from the Bed & Breakfast we were staying at. We drove down to the (mostly empty) ex-Marx plant and searched desperately for a connection with Marx. Then, all of a sudden we spied the water tower. Bingo!
======================================================================
The MARX Babyland Nursery
The MARX Little Red Schoolhouse -
The Suzy Goose Friendly Folks Motel
The MARX Turnpike Service Center -
The MARX Pet Shop -
I couldn't resist this picture. How often do you see *two* Sears
Store playsets in the same room.
And of course, here it is a bit more complete.
The original version of the MARX Gas Station playset which was recently
reissued. The new version has different cars and is molded in different color
plastic. It also has Sears markings on the decals.-
The MARX International Jetport playset.(This is actually a combination of two
different sets.) -
The MARX Super Circus playset -
A MARX Super Service Station playset. -
A MARX Construction Camp playset - .
The MARX Sons of Liberty Revolutionary War playset-
A combination of the MARX American and
Mexican Alaska playsets
The original MARX Flintstones playset
The MARX Daktari playset
The MARX Freight Terminal playset-
The MARX Zorro set.
Fully detailed and painted Suzy Goose Friendly Folks Supermarket playset.
The
MARX Bus Station playset from the 1930s, complete with a more recent bus model.
The
Marx Machine Shop, also from the 1930s.
The Marx small tin bus station
The Marx Union Station.
An
IDEAL playset from the early 1950s, this one is a small village with an
operating bridge.
The Deluxe Service Station set from the Deluxe Game Corp.
A fantastic little cardboard punch-out Nash Dealership playset from the
1950s.
The Futurmatic Airport by the Automatic Toy Company. Sometimes the boxes were
almost as cool as the actual toys.
The incredible Bilt-Rite Toy Garage from the mid 1930s. B-R really outdid
themselves on this one.
The Bilt-Rite Art Deco house-SOLD
The Bilt-Rite REO garage.- SOLD
A 1964-65 New York Worlds Fair punch out playset.- SOLD
A 1960s punchout Kroger grocery store and truck- SOLD
The Heliport helicopter landing pad complete with restaurant, gas station
and taxi stand. Very nice playset by Mettoy of England. - SOLD
The Mettoy Hospital playset, based on the same tin as the Heliport. - SOLD
The Mettoy gas station
This
tintoy from the 1950s has some of the neatest graphics I've seen on a toy. It
really captures the feel of the '50s in a very peaceful, idyllic sort of way.
A 1950s Tin Track, probably German
Tin litho car/track toys from Germany. -SOLD
The T.Cohn/Superior Royal Canadian Naval Base.- SOLD
The MARX Untouchables playset.- SOLD
The MARX Disneyland playset, featuring much of the original Disneyland park
from the 1950s. - SOLD
The MARX Rex Mars Planet Patrol playset. -SOLD
The MARX Cape Canaveral playset. - SOLD
The Disney Television Playhouse
Camping tin track- SOLD
Beautiful tin litho set from the 1950s.- SOLD
1950s tin track
The 1940s American kitchen playset by Wolverine. - SOLD
The '50s American kitchen in pink and turquoise by
Wolverine.- SOLD
A 1930's airport set by Superior. SOLD
A 1930's airport set by Wyandotte.- SOLD
A Breck Beauty Salon from the 1950s.- SOLD
The MARX Firehouse playset.- SOLD
The MARX Cities Service gas station. - SOLD
The MARX brickfront gas station.
The MARX Day and Nite Service Station. - SOLD
The Uptown Service Center.
The Texaco Colonial Style gas station.- SOLD
The Superior gas station with diner
The British 'Toyland Garage' cardboard set- SOLD
Ideal Lubritorium and Auto Laundry
The Big T Service Station by Wolverine- Cardboard, tin and plastic- SOLD
The Thimble City Gas station turnpike set.
The MARX Skyscraper- SOLD
The Thomas Playtime School playset
A couple of combined Barbie McDonald's playsets.
The Thimble City playset- SOLD
The Magnetic Village playset, a pre-cursor to Thimble City, probably from the
late 1940s.- SOLD
A German grocery store playset from the '50s by the Fuchs company- SOLD
The Beautiful Little Red Riding Hood playset by Peek-O Products.- SOLD
The Electronic Thruway tin playset with "Mysterious Action".- SOLD
The Cragstan Overland Traffic Game- SOLD
1920's Campbells store cutout
Technofix Cola factory
Technofix Coney Island
Technofix Giant Construction Set
The
Shirley Temple Magnetic TV Theatre
An airport Airline Reservation set designed for Barbie dolls
The Barbie Pizza Hut playset
The Barbie Theatre
Mattel Driving School
U-Drive It
MARX Holiday Turnpike