The Marx Archives ~ The Marx Files ~ Louis Marx Toys
The Marx Archives ~ The Marx Files ~ Louis Marx Toys
|
(Including a partial listing of the ToyMemories.com Catalog Archive) In our quest to preserve toy history, we have always obtained what toy catalogs we could. Original toy company catalogs are an invaluable resource and reference because they can: help identify toys and determine the manufacturer, help to date a toy, assist in determining what accessories came with a toy, and can be a key to determining toys that may have been produced in a particular toy series (Best of The West action figures, Hot Wheels cars, bendable figures, and so on.) so a collector can then seek out those toys. They are also very useful in collecting to learn of items one may not have been aware of previously. Though there are some items in toy company catalogs that may not have been produced, that is another helpful plus, because many collectors would like to know "what might have been, but wasn't"; for example, various Star Wars action figures that were shown in 1980's Kenner Toys catalogs that never made it to production. As far as collecting; people talk all the time of "rare" toys. Most toys were and are produced in somewhat large numbers, ranging from thousands of pieces to hundreds of thousands, and really would not constitute truly "rare". Usually what makes a toy more valuable is the fact that very little of some toys (or their packaging) survived intact, and so when a nice example of such a toy is found today, that may be considered a rarity. Toy companies spend a substantial amount of money to make prototypes, in research and development, to make molds, etc., and they tend to produce a very large amount of each item to recoup costs and make a profit. So much speculation goes around, for example, about rare plastic figures of which only a handful were made (they usually originally made at least hundreds, more likely thousands of each figure), and how Marx's Big Loo robot only had a production run of "about 5,000", which is silly to say, especially if you understand that from 1,000-2,000 Big Loos were produced each day on the assembly line. Toy companies make toys to realize a profit, and after all that is invested in each item, they are certainly going to make a sizable quantity of most items. So, you ask, if they made so many toys, where are they all now? Consider the following: many toys are broken during play and thrown away; many toys are discarded when a child outgrows them; quite a few toys are still lying in people's attics, basements and garages; toys that don't sell well don't just disappear... standard practice is to either clear them out to a liquidator, or in many cases ship them to other countries where there may be a better market for them. There are lots of mint-in-box vintage toys still in foreign countries, and also a bunch still hiding in forgotten warehouses here in the U.S.! Most people would be quite surprised to find out how many of each toy are actually made. Toy company catalogs were (and are) first and foremost intended to be given to clients and potential clients in the toy business. While a small number of companies would also sell catalogs to the public (mostly model kit and doll companies) the majority are never intended for the general public, so a very limited number are produced. Big companies like Hasbro or Mattel may produce thousands of catalogs every year, because thay have many clients; on the other hand, small companies like Eldon, Janex and Durham may only have produced hundreds of catalogs, and in cases only put a new catalog out every few years (sometimes companies use old catalogs and insert "sell sheets" for new items and a new price list). Consider the difference of availability, and therefor rarity. Most original toy company catalogs are tremendously rarer than the toys that are shown in them. Is just one catalog per year produced by each company? There are no set rules on how many catalogs are produced each year for each company. The larger companies might have a number of different catalogs each year (seasonal catalogs showing seasonal toys, for example: Summer, Winter, Spring and Fall; different catalogs for different toy lines; a special "Pre-Toy Fair" catalog as well as a special "Toy Fair" catalog, a catalog for the first half of the year as well as one for the second half, sell-sheets for various special products, and so on) and the smaller companies might just have one catalog for the whole year, or they may have multiple catalogs as well. (Toy Fair is the biggest toy industry trade show every year; not open to the general public, it is where toy companies showcase their newest products for potential buyers, and make the biggest sales) There are even some companies that do not have a catalog, but may just have a handful of seperate product sheets ("sell-sheets"), or maybe even just a price list. It all depends on each company's preferences and/or financial ability. To make matters more difficult in regards to collecting toy catalogs, some companies are very particular who they give them to. One company may give extra catalogs to their clients; another company may give them out very selectively, and in some instances, companies may only give a catalog if an order is placed, and only make a minimal amount of catalogs. Because of this, certain catalogs are somewhat scarce, and it may take years before you ever see one for sale. There exists a philosophy to some companies that catalogs are expensive to produce, and the toys really should sell themselves; so why waste money on giving catalogs away and lose money? In reality, a catalog can help greatly, especially with a new customer. They may have little interest at first, but later when in need of more product, they may find things of interest in the catalog. Many buyers don't like the hassle and pressure of a salesman talking them into purchases; a catalog is the perfect alternative- a silent salesman. In collecting toy catalogs, it is important to concentrate on originals. At times, it may be necessary to buy or use a photocopy of a catalog because originals are too expensive or difficult to find. We prefer originals whenever possible. Photocopies can be a life-saver, and very important at times, but they have little or no actual value besides that of learning and knowledge. Which catalogs to collect? There are many different directions collectors choose. Some will buy catalogs from any company, while others have a favorite company to concentrate on. Some people like catalogs from the 1960's or 1970's and others are interested in a certain cartoon or comic book character, movie or TV show, and will seek out any catalogs that show relevant toys. Usually, a good start is in the direction of your toy collecting. If you collect GI Joe, then collecting Hasbro catalogs with GI Joe would compliment your collection nicely. If you collect Yo-Yo's, then seek out Duncan and other related catalogs; if you love Bugs Bunny you could try and find various catalogs with Looney Tunes and Bugs products, and so on. Ask questions when buying catalogs! When you are looking to buy a toy catalog, whether on eBay or elsewhere, it is important to ask a few questions of the seller, if the information is not in the item description. It is common for most toy catalogs to have a little wear, few bends, etc., because most were used by people to purchase toys from, and not considered a collectible item. You should always ask "is the catalog complete?", "are there any pieces cut out on any pages?" and "is there any writing inside, and if so, does it interfere with the pictures or text?". There are various reasons for this, depending on the original source of the catalog. Toy inventors/designers often cut pictures of their creations out of catalogs. Likewise, storeowners would sometimes cut pictures out to use in advertisements. And it was quite common for buyers to mark off what they wanted, or write in prices or information in the catalogs. You could also ask if there is any water damage, excessive bends or tears, etc. Any damage would affect the value, but in the end it is up to how particular the purchaser is. We accept average defects as long as it isn't too bad. There have been occasions where we purchased catalogs described as "near mint", or "real nice" at internet auctions, and when they arrived they had unacceptable damage (to us) such as moisture damage/warping/mildew, pieces cut out, large tears, etc. It all comes down to your preferences. Many catalog buyers don't mind if a piece is cut out if it does not affect the pages they are interested in (for example, a Hasbro catalog that only has Weebles items cut out, and the buyer is interested solely in GI Joe). Basically, it's important to ask questions, especially if a description is vague. **NOTE**:Beware of sellers (especially on auction sites like Yahoo, eBay, etc.) that sell pages or sections that are cut out of trade magazines, or magazine advertisements! Many times they are misleading and describe these cut-outs as "toy catalogs" and "rare", when in reality, they are just pages cut out of a catalog or magazine and have little or no value. These sellers search for old toy industry magazines (and sometimes comic books) which have many color toy advertisements and sections, then cut out the ads and sell them seperately as "rare collectibles" (usually they'll have fine-print in their descriptions saying 'this is a rare advertisement', 'item will come with provenance noted', 'rare trade magazine ad', etc.). In most cases if you take the time to look, you can buy the complete magazine including the same advertisements for a similar price. A complete magazine will keep its' value, while a cut out is basically worthless, and is only good to hang on the wall. We do have some catalogs available for sale. Because we try to buy groups of catalogs when possible, at times we tend to get duplicates of ones we already have in the archive. If you are looking for particular catalogs, feel free to send an e-mail with a list of what companies and what years you are interested in. We also usually have various toy catalogs for sale in our eBay store (the link is on the home page of MarxFiles.com) This list is not complete... Also, some of their memorable and/or classic toys are listed. In the near future we will show some excerpts from Marx Toys and related catalogs on MarxFiles.com; and we should have some excerpts from other great catalogs on ToyMemories.com! (Eventually, we hope to have a little bit of history on the site for most of the companies listed) ~ A ~ ALADDIN: Lunchboxes ALSI ALVIMAR AMERICAN FLYER: Toy trains AMERICAN GIRL DOLLS AMERICAN PLASTIC TOYS INC. AMERICAN PUBLISHING CORP. AMERICAN VISUAL AIDS AMF AMLOID AMSCO AMT AMTOY ANGEL GATE A.R.C./ATHOL PLASTICS ARROW INDUSTRIES AURORA: Model kits, slot cars AVALON AVIVA AZRAK HAMWAY: Inexpensive character toys ~ B ~ BABY JOY BACHMANN BACK TO BASICS TOYS BADGER BAMBINO BARR BASIC FUN: Key chains, novelty toys BEE PLASTICS BESTOY BIG BINNEY & SMITH BLUE-BOX BOJEUX BRADLEY WATCHES: Many character watches BREYER: Model horses BRIO BRUMBERGER BUDDY L: Pressed steel vehicles, Brute vehicles, Pop-Art Buggies BUFFALO GAMES BULLY: Plastic figures ~ C ~ CADACO: Games CANDY CARDINAL CARNIVAL CASTLE CATHAY GAMES CB CAR CHECKERBOARD TOYS CHEIN: Tin toys CHILD GUIDANCE CHILTON CLOVER C & D VISIONARY COLECO: Coleco Vision COLORFORMS COMIC IMAGES CONTE COLLECTIBLES: Soldiers, playsets CORGI: Die-cast vehicles (Batmobile, James Bond, Beatles Yellow Submarine, etc.) COSMOS (BALLS) COX CPC (CAN PRODUCTS CO.) CRAFT HOUSE CRAFT MASTER CREATIVE PLAYTHINGS CUDDLE WIT INC. ~ D ~ DAISY TOYS DAN-DEE DECIPHER DEKA: Plastic cups, mugs, plates, etc. (many character-related) DELTA ENTERPRISE CORP. DINAMICOS DK BOOKS D & E TRADING DOLLY TOY DRAGON DSI DUNCAN: Yo-yo's DURHAM INDUSTRIES DUSTY TRAIL TOYS ~ E ~ EAGLE EDISON TOYS EDUCATIONAL PLAYSYSTEMS INC. EFFANBEE DOLLS ELDON EMCO CREATIONS EMPIRE: Plastic toys (many blow-molded) (producer of the Big Wheel after Marx Toys went bankrupt) ENTEX EPOCH ERTL: Die-cast vehicles and farm toys EXOTO ~ F ~ FALLER FISHER PRICE FLEER COLLECTIBLES FLI-BACK FOLLEY'S FORD GUM FUNDIMENSIONS FUN TIME ~ G ~ GABRIEL GALOOB: Action figures (Star Trek The Next Generation) GAMES WORKSHOP GAYLA GAY TOYS GEARBOX GENE DOLLS GIANT: Plastic toys, HO scale figures and playsets GILBERT: American Flyer trains, James Bond doll GINNY: Dolls GLORY: Premiums GOLDEN PRESS: Little Golden Books GOTZ DOLLS GUILOY ~ H ~ HAIPENGDA TOYS HANOVER ACCESSORIES HAPPY MATES HARBERT HASBRO: G.I. Joe dolls HASEGAWA: Model kits HEDSTROM HELM TOY: Snoopy and Peanuts toys, Thumbits dolls and playsets HERMANN WADER (GERMANY) H-G TOYS HORSMAN DOLLS HOT TOYS HOUSE OF GAMES HUBLEY: Cap guns, metal toys ~ I ~ IDEAL: Plastic toys, King Zor, Odd Ogg, Motorific, Battle Action playsets, Evel Knievel, Team America, Zeroids, etc.) ILLFELDER/ILLCO IMCO IMPERIAL INDUSTRIAL SAFETY BELT INTERNATIONAL GAMES INC. INVICTA EDUCATIONAL AIDS IRWIN ~ J ~ JAKK'S PACIFIC JANEX: Character talking clocks (Batman, Bugs Bunny, Raggedy Ann, Howdy Doody, etc.) JAYMAR: Puzzles, paper toys JOUETS MONT BLANC JOUETS TOYS JUGUETES PIGO JURO CELEBRITY DOLLS ~ K ~ KARLMANS FORLAG KB (SWEDISH) KENNER: Star Wars action figures KIDCO KID GALAXY: Bendos KIDZ MOUSE KIKO TOYS K-LINE TRAINS KOHNER: Trouble, Hi-Q and Headache games, Tricky Trapeze figures, Push-button puppets, etc. KNICKERBOCKER: Annie dolls, plush, figures KNOTS INC. KOALA 'T' TOYS KOSEN KUSAN: Klickity Klacks, Mr. Zip pull toy, Pete The Peeple Katcher pull toy, K-Pop gun, Zeke the Snake, Max Trax, Miss Pigtails toys ~ L ~ LAKESIDE: Games, bendable figures (Gumby, Green Hornet, etc.) LAPIN LARAMI: Inexpensive character related toys (usually sold at super markets; "Rack toys") LEBANON BALL COMPANY LEE MIDDLETON DOLLS LEE PUBLICATIONS LEGO: Building bricks, of course! LEWCO LIDO: Plastic figures and toys LIFE-LIKE PRODUCTS LINDBERG MODEL KITS LIONEL: Model trains LITTLE TIKES LJN: Mr. Action action figures (inferior G.I. Joe clone), Petite dolls LOGAN LORUS WATCHES: Character related watches (Mickey Mouse, etc.) LOVEE DOLL ~ M ~ MADAME ALEXANDER: Dolls MAGIC GUMBALL MAGIC ROCKS MAJOR MAKO MARCHON MARIE OSMOND DOLLS MARUSAN MARX TOYS: Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, the Big Wheel, Green Machine, Fort Apache playset, Battleground playset, Ben Hur playset and many others, Johnny West and Best Of The West action figures, Miniature Guns ("Famous Firearms" and "Golden Guns"), PockeTools, Garloo, Big Loo, Magic Shot Shooting Gallery, Ready Gang, Safari Adventure, Disneykins, Fairykins, Tinykins, Munchie Bunch toys, slot cars, tin toys, trains, you name it! Many many more. MARX TRAINS MASCON MATCHBOX/LESNEY: Die-cast vehicles, Fighting Furies action figures MATTEL: Barbie, Chatty Cathy, Hot Wheels, Thingmaker, many many more. MCFARLANE TOYS: Action figures MEGO: Action figures (World's Greatest Super Heroes, Wizard of Oz, Planet Of The Apes, Little Rascals, many more), Micronauts action figures, 2-XL MEL APPEL MI ALEGRIA MILTON BRADLEY: Games MINER INDUSTRIES MIRRO M-I TOYS MONDO s.p.a. (ITALY) MONOGRAM: Model kits MONOGRAM INTERNATIONAL MPC (MULTIPLE PRODUCTS): Plastic toys, figures, playsets, James Bond Attache Case, James Bond guns, Rube Goldberg model kits MRC MODEL AIRCRAFT MRC-TAMIYA ~ N ~ NANTONG JIAHE PLASTICS TOYS NASCO NASH (SKATES) NASTA NICHOLS/KUSAN NIKKO AMERICA N.J. CROCE: Character-related toys, bendable figures NOBLE & COOLEY (DRUMS) NORTH PACIFIC NURSERY NEEDS (SANITOY) NYLINT: Toy vehicles ~ O ~ OHIO ART OUT OF THE BOX GAMES ~ P ~ PAC PANACHE PLACE PANOSH PLACE PARKER BROTHERS: Games PARK PLASTICS PASTIME INDUSTRIES PAYTON PEACEABLE KINGDOM PRESS PINES PLACO PLASTICOS JUGUETERIA PLASTIC TOY & NOVELTY CORP. PLASTICVILLE: Toy train accessories PLASTIMARX: Mexican Marx Toys PLAYART: Die-Cast vehicles PLAY-DOH/RAINBOW CRAFTS PLAYMATES: Action figures (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Trek, etc.), dolls PLAYMOBIL: Figures and playsets PLAYPHONES (HANDI-CRAFT) PLAYSKOOL PLAYTIME PLAYTIME PROPS PLAYWELL POLIENVASES S.A. POLISTIL: Die-cast vehicles POOF PRESSMAN: Games PRINCESS PROCESSED PLASTIC CO.: Plastic figures and toys PRO-CISION PROLL TOYS PUFF ~ Q ~ QUESTOR EDUCATION PRODUCTS ~ R ~ RADIO STEEL/RADIO FLYER RAL PARTHA RAY LINE REMCO REPART LEASING S.A. REVELL: Model kits REVELL/MONOGRAM: Model kits RHINO HOME VIDEO ROAD CHAMPS ROCKET: Modern tin toys, the Simpsons toys ROKENBOK ROSE ART/RACO ROTH AMERICAN ROY ROGERS ~ S ~ SANDYLION: Stickers, activity kits SCALE CRAFT MODELS SCHAPER SCHLEICH: Plastic figures SCHOENHUT SCHOLASTIC: Clifford The Big Red Dog toys SCHYLLING SELCHOW & RIGHTER: Games SERIOUS USA SHARNA SHARON SHILLMAN SHINDANA SHINSEI SIDESHOW TOYS: Detailed action figures SKYLINE SLINKY TOYS: Slinky, Slinky Pets SLM INC. SMALL WORLD TOYS SMETHPORT SOUTH BEND STANDARD/YOUNG FOLKS STANZEL STEIFF: Plush figures STEINGRAEBER SHIP MODELS STELCO STEVEN STONE HORSES STROMBECKER STUDIO MOUSE SUPERIOR ~ T ~ TAG INC. TAKARA TAMIYA TAM TOYS TANGLE: Tangle toys TARCO TECNOMODEL TESTORS: Model paints and glue, model kits TIGER ELECTRONICS TIM MEE TOYS: Plastic figures TIN BOX COMPANY TINY LOVE TOMY TONKA: Toy vehicles TONNER DOLLS TOOTSIETOYS: Toy vehicles TOY BIZ: Action figures (DC Super Heroes, Marvel Super Heroes, etc.) TOY HEADQUARTERS TOY ISLAND TOY LOGIC TOY MAX TOYPRESIDENTS INC. TOY STREET TRANSOGRAM: Green Ghost Game, Kabala game TROJAN LEGENDS TUDOR GAMES TY: Beanie Babies TYCO: Slot Cars ~ U ~ UNEEDA DOLL UNGAME CO. ~ V ~ VANITY FAIR VENUS PARADISE VERANO VERA TOYS & GAMES VIEWMASTER: Viewmaster VISIONARY CONCEPTS VOGUE DOLLS ~ W ~ WADDINGTON'S HOUSE OF GAMES WALLACE BERRIE & CO.: Plush toys, Smurfs figures WELSH WESCO WESTERN PUBLISHING COMPANY/WHITMAN: Coloring and activity books WESTERN STAMPING WHAM-O: Frisbee WIFFLE WIKING WINNECO WIZ KIDS: Hero Clix, Sports Clix, Etc. WOLVERINE WONDER WORCESTER: Advertising-related ride-on toys ~ X ~ ~ Y ~ YOY ~ Z ~ ZAPF DOLLS |
Questions or Comments? E-Mail us! (No Spam please!)
Remember to include "Marx Files" in the subject line of your e-mail or it may be deleted as spam.
(Please have patience if waiting for a reply. Due to time constraints, replies may be somewhat delayed.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
This page last updated on: 8/29/05
Please check our sister sites!
ToyMemories.com,
CartoonMemories.com and
TelevisionMemories.com
All contents of this site including pictures, text, documents, illustrations, articles etc. are © 2005
ToyMemories.com unless otherwise specified,
and not to be used in any form without express written permission. All characters and properties are (c) of their respective owners! Don't infringe!