Louis Marx was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1896. This was the beginning of the man who would later become known as “THE TOY KING.” Marx got his first taste of the toy business while only a teenager. He worked for toy manufacturer Ferdinand Strauss. Strauss’s company produced tin lithographed windup toys. By the time that Marx had reached the ripe old age of 21, He has worked his way up to a director in the Strauss Company. Marx and Strauss had a difference of opinion and Marx left the Company. Louis Marx bought several of the no-longer-used dies from Strauss and started his own company.

World War II brought a lot of new technology, one being new developments in plastic injection molding. The very late 1940’s and early 1950’s saw the birth of the playset era. The early playsets had chubby figures that were molded in a rubber-type material. These were somewhat crude in detail. The theme of these first playsets was western. As time passed, the molding material changed to a poly plastic material and the detail of the figures was very defined. Many of these figures are now considered very collectable and also some of the best plastic figures produced in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. Joe Ferriot did the sculpture work for about 90% of the Marx figures. The playsets were such a big hit that they became the mainstay of the Marx Toy Company form the late fifties thru the 1960’s. Most of the playsets were sold thru stores like Sears and Montgomery Ward and even Spiegel. Playsets were now added to encompass not only western themes but also farms, doll houses, gas stations, military, and TV related shows. The Marx Toy Company empire had grown so large that factories were located in both the U.S. and overseas.

The playset figures ranged in size from tiny HO scale (which were painted hard plastic) to 6” tall figures. Marx also made figures in a 9 1/4” and 11” tall scale. The most common size for playset figures was 54mm. But some playsets also came with figures cast in 25mm, 40mm, 60mm and a few sets had 6” tall figures. Marx also sold figures in a 3” and 4” tall variety. Rounding out the Marx figure line were Soldiers of Fortune. These were tin lithographed flats that has a point value on the underside of the figure base. You could see how many points that you would get after you shot down a figure using either a small cork firing rifle or cannon that would come with may of these Soldier of Fortune sets.