Mid-Sized Marx: Star Wars scale Japanese soldiers!!!

 

It's Monday and I still haven't done a weekend post. Fortunately, I have something I've been using the time to examine. It's a new acquisition that I wasn't sure existed before I actually got it, and now I'm still not completely satisfied it is what it's supposed to be. The one thing that is sure is that it's not like anything else I've got, including the set they are literally identical to. Here are my new 3.75 inch Marx Japanese soldiers, a scaled-down version of the figures I wrote about in my very first Marx post! And how about a comparison shot with one of the originals?

Now for the backstory, I first encountered Marx figures in "action figure" 3-4 inch scale when I picked up my first pair of the evil Space Guys. I followed that up with more acquisitions, including a whole bag, but in all that time, I never found compelling evidence that Marx had manufactured any more in that scale. If anything, it appeared to be a one-off experiment, left behind by the ludicrously huge nominal 6-inch figures that proliferated in the 1960s and '70s. Still, there were passing mentions here and there of Marx figures larger than the 70mm Space Guys but still under 5-6 inches. From what information was at hand, they could have been any number of things if they existed at all. Maybe they were "real" Marx figures that never got to full commercial circulation. Maybe they were a vintage experiment from the Mexican Plastimarx or a foreign outlier like the one that made the Ukrainian figures. Or, they could have been just scaled-down copies or loose tributes from long after Marx bit the dust. Once I saw a batch on sale, clearly based on excellent figures I already had, I decided it was worth the money to get a look at them firsthand. Here's pics of most of the lot.

It was immediately clear from inspection that these were not simple imitations. These are virtually identical to the Marx 6-inch sculpts, with a fully comparable level of detail. If these weren't from Marx molds, which I never doubted after getting a good look at them, they were made by someone with direct access to them. Here's more detail shots.

If anything, the real Japanese pistol looked less effective than this.

And here's one that's... different. Well, presumably, some Japanese officers had glasses. I don't recall anyone suggesting they had machetes, though.

The one further question was whether they came before or after the 6-inch figures. I can't easily rule out that these were a prototype of the larger figures, but the law of economy (aka Occam's Razor) dictated that the far more prolific 6-inch line came first. A non-trivial piece of evidence is the bayonet, which I covered in detail the first time around. I don't recall if I mentioned that I had to repair my original infantryman about a year ago, which might or might not have had something to do with bending the bayonet into a horseshoe shape. (Just in case, if it comes up, don't do that.) At any rate, the bayonet on this guy is a lot bigger that the shiv on the Mexican copy, but it still looks proportionately smaller than the 6-inch figure. Since Marx already had trouble with bayonets (more on that in a moment), it's very safe to say the biggest one is the oldest. Here's a lineup of all 3 versions.

And here's the officer, with a 4-inch Space Guy (aka Jason) for comparison. It will be evident from this photo that, alas, these don't "scale" well enough to be easily integrated with the Space Guys adventure.

One more loose end was how many other Marx figures got this treatment. In the inquiries that led to this purchase, I considered a comparably sized set clearly based on the German/ Nazi 6-inch figures (which would have been more relevant to the current and planned Space Guys adventure arc). I declined to buy them partly because I would have nothing to compare them to, and partly because I have found that set far less interesting and attractive than other Marx figures, an opinion that did not improve on seeing them in a smaller scale. It's safe to assume that Marx also at least planned to release similarly sized US troops for them to fight, and perhaps a version of the Soviet set as well. One further datum is that the set had already replaced a discontinued figure shown making a semi-graphic downward thrust with a bayonet, offering the most conclusive proof that the 6-inch line came first.

A further loose end I considered was whether these were in any way part of the evolution of the "standard" 3.75 inch action figure. These definitely are of the same size. Here's a few further comparison shots with Bossk and Sidekick Carl. (I know, Carl's adventure has been postponed a long time...)

As can be seen, these can be considered among the precursors of the 1970s-'80s action figures, assuming they weren't made in the late '70s as a bid to make Marx figures semi-compatible with Star Wars and Adventure People. However, they certainly would not have been the first figures to settle on this size. Here's a lineup with the Archer Space Woman, Ajax Space Guys (plus non-binary person) and the Marx Onion Head alien.

With that, I'm bringing this post to an end. It's another Marx lineage I just might pursue further, if I can do so at a good  price. It may be shrouded in mystery that we probably wouldn't care about if we actually knew, but it's what makes this fun. And to wrap this up, here's an oldie with the Truckstop Queen.

Yeah, this guy didn't even get to the "friend zone"...

And that's all for now, more to come!