For this week, I'm covering another loose end. For my previous installments of this series, I had acquired 3 of the 6 Marx large-size astronaut figures. At the time, acquiring a complete set wasn't a high priority. The ones I acquired were the ones I found most interesting, and I chose to focus on getting a sampling of other lines. But I kept an eye on my options. It didn't take a lot longer to fill out the collection, with a few extra surprises. Here's a shot of the other three in the set.
Of the three, the one that had interested me most was the one I will call Stepping Guy, featured in the center. He stands out as the only astronaut not carrying tools and equipment and generally doing something. His pose is otherwise similar to the Commander/ Briefcase Guy previously featured. I suppose this is the one who should be considered in charge. However, this is a less satisfying sculpt. The raised foot in particular is rather awkward. It looks more like he's stomping a bug than in a natural walking cycle. This is really a common denominator with vintage "army man" figures: Sculpts that try to simulate motion are consistently less convincing and even less dynamic than static poses. Here's a few pics of the Stepping Guy and the Commander for comparison.
The next in line is a figure I will call Digger, on the left in the second pic above. The sculpt has him with a shovel that is often broken as seen here. I debated whether to pay the extra money for an undamaged figure, but finally settled for this one at a lower price. I can easily picture kids who played with these imagining that the shovel handle was some kind of sensor or instrument, which I find more convincing than the quite strange boxy shovel head in the complete sculpt. What makes the figure is the downturned head and stern expression. Here's a closeup with Stepping Guy.
"Well, Captain Lowest Bidder, I can think of one thing you could do with this..."
Last and by all means least is the Flag Guy, by my estimation the one absolute dud in the group. I can't quite explain why I don't like this one. Apart from anything else, it's a self-dating element in an otherwise timeless set, with an extra reminder of the jingoism that drove the space race. It is also especially unnatural in detail, with the flag going every which way. I finally picked this guy up as a pair with Stepping Guy, and then in large part because it gave me a sample of a blue figure. As an extra, I also separately purchased a blue Cameraman. These don't necessarily command higher prices but turn up a lot less often. The Flag Guy proved to have a marbled plastic with an absolutely beautiful sheen. Once again, the Cameraman proved less impressive. Here's a few pics.
As seen in the pic, the blue version of the Cameraman is exactly the same in height as the one previously featured. This left me just a little disillusioned about the possibility of production variants, an idea which has had considerable attraction for collectors and probably been a significant driving force for Marx collecting in general. After acquiring a full set of a Marx line including duplicates of half of them, I must sadly report that the only variant I have found is the "bulging pack" version of Scooper.
With this, I've finally covered all the giant Marx figures I've collected. Whether I get more will depend on whether anything else stirs up my interest. And we can't end without a pic with the Truckstop Queen!
"No, I will not make a joke about faking the Moon landing, because that's stupid..."
That's all for today, more to come soon!
For links, here's the links for the previous installments.
Part 1: Enemy Marx (Japanese figures)
Part 2: Marx Marxists! (Soviet figures)
Part 3: Marx on the Moon (Apollo/ astronaut set)
Part 4: The Good, the Marx and the Ugly (Wild West and "'casualty" figures)
Part 6: Marx By Marxists??? (Ukrainean produced figures)
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