Tyrannosaurus rex (‘pot-bellied’ version 1 by Marx)

Review and photos by BlueKrono, edited by DinoToyBlog.

The dinosaurs created by the Marx Toy Company in the 1950s hold a unique title: the first mass-produced plastic dinosaur toys. All others follow in their thunderous footsteps. Previous to the Marx dinos companies like Sell Rite Gifts (SRG) and Mignot had produced dinosaurs in materials like bronze and lead, but these were more intended as mementos to sit on a shelf. Louis Marx had the innovative idea to offer families high quality toys at very affordable prices. During WWII plastics had seen incredible developments, and after the war these production facilities turned to more civilian uses. Seizing on this cheaply-produced material and utilizing conveyor belt-style factory work that Henry Ford had innovated for producing cars, Marx became the “Toy King” of the 1950s and 60s. These electrifying developments led to the production of a line of dinosaurs in 1957, dinosaurs that children could PLAY with. The most exciting to young hearts (and still the most sought-after today) was the Tyrannosaurus rex.

To give insight into why T. rex has cemented its place atop so many favorite dinosaur lists worldwide and why the Marx pot-bellied version is so iconic we need to delve into a bit of history. Fragmentary T. rex fossils had been discovered (and sometimes wildly misidentified) as early as the 1870s, but in 1900 and 1902 the assistant curator of the American Museum of Natural History, Barnum Brown, discovered two Tyrannosaurus skeletons in Wyoming and Montana. Museum president Henry Fairfield Osborn gave it its name in 1905 – Tyrannosaurus rex, meaning “Tyrant Lizard King”. These two skeletons remained the only known specimens through the end of the 1950s, but they were striking enough to become the star of a very famous mural painted by one Rudolph Zallinger. 

The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University in New Haven, CT was founded in 1866, but upgraded to a new building in 1925. By mid-1931 the Great Hall housing the vertebrate collection had been populated by the gigantic reptiles collected by O.C. Marsh during the “Bone Wars” of the previous century. The Peabody’s director Albert Parr found the bones and bare walls a bit drab, and approached the young art student Rudy Zallinger to see if he could make it more engaging. Zallinger had been born in Siberia, Russia, his father an Austrian prisoner of war in WWI. When Rudy was less than a year old his parents took him east, and by the time he was 5 years old they had settled in Seattle, WA. At 17 he entered Yale University’s School of the Fine Arts. During his senior year he had been tasked by Parr with painting marine algae. Recognizing the young man’s “uncommon talent”, Parr asked him to decorate the great hall with prehistoric beasts.

On March 1, 1942, in the midst of the next great war, Zallinger was appointed solely to the mural project. His vision was immense: a continuous “panorama of time” covering the entire 110 ft. wall. Zallinger spent 18 months practicing comparative anatomy and learning about the flora and fauna of the prehistoric past. He also made small scale versions of his mural in pencil and charcoal. The wall was primed with slaked lime plaster, then in October, 1943 he finally painted his first brushstrokes. Zallinger worked diligently on the piece for 3 ½ years, completing it in June 1947.

One of the largest natural history murals in the world, Zallinger won a Pulitzer Prize in 1949 for his supreme achievement. In November, 1952 Life Magazine notified Zallinger that they wanted to use his mural in their Sept. 7, 1953 issue on “The World We Live In.” This brought the incredible artwork into millions of homes across the country and made it the quintessential image of each of the dinosaurs it depicted. Perhaps none has been more influential in this regard than his Tyrannosaurus.

Meanwhile at the Marx Toys headquarters in New York City, the designers were racking their brains trying to come up with the next potential hit. By this time they had already made war sets, farm animals, cowboys and Indians, medieval knights… What was left?? Somebody must have flipped through a Life Magazine, because the idea of a line of dinosaurs was broached. Marx had at the time a highly talented sculptor, Phil Derham, on the payroll, and the dinosaur project was placed in his capable hands mostly to retain him and keep him occupied, according to Francis Turner (former curator of the Marx Toy Museum). Derham based his original T. rex figurine quite closely off the Zallinger depiction, these being by far the most accurate illustrations of prehistoric animals available at the time. From the musculature to the blocky head shape, the triangular spines running down the back and of course that bulging belly, the resemblance is very strong. The most notable changes were clearly made due to scale: the arm is not as spindly as the one on the mural, and it has the correct two fingers as opposed to the one visible in the painting. The number of teeth was reduced and their size enlarged too. Zallinger’s T. rex was about to come stomping into play rooms across America. There was a slight problem though…           

When the line rolled out in 1957 the Marx factory workers in Glen Dale, WV found that the pot-bellied T. rex took longer to cool than its counterparts. Three metal molds were made for the Marx dinos: the Large Mold Group, the Medium Mold Group, and the Small Mold Group, comprising 14 dinosaurs in total. The Large Mold Group featured the T. rex, as well as a Brontosaurus and Kronosaurus (more on that one later). Molten plastic was injected into the molds, then the dinos were dumped in a water bath to cool. With the delay caused by T. rex and the extreme emphasis on high productivity at the West Virginia factory, something had to be done. After all, had to keep Phil Derham busy, right? The pot-belly was only produced for the very first year, then a revised version replaced it in 1958. 

The newcomer was sleeker, with a sweeping pose, slimmer legs and waistline, and three fingers on each hand (oh no!). This must have solved the production issues since it remained the Marx T. rex for the remainder of the company’s duration. The pot-bellied Zallinger T. rex attained a heightened rarity because of the short period of production and the iconic design that endears it to dinosaur and Marx collectors everywhere.

Let’s get into some features… The most obvious is that rotund paunch. Ironically, the most modern depictions of Tyrannosaurus show it as quite round and meaty, resembling more Marx’s original than the slim upstart. The T. rex has the correct number of fingers and toes (2 and 3, respectively), though its dewclaw is lumpy and rounded. It is barely visible in the painting, a further testament to Derham’s faithfulness to the source material. Rex has five teeth in each upper jaw and three in each lower, a necessary allowance in this scale. A tongue is also visible.

From nose to tail it’s about 5 1/8 inches (13 cm) long and stands 3 1/4 inches (8 cm) tall. Rounded spikes run the length of its back from the neck to the tip of the tail. On the right side of the tail is the word “TYRANNOSAURUS”, while on the left side (upside down) it says “50’ LONG.” 

It is only on the skinny remake that the full name “TYRANNOSAURUS REX” appears. The pose is somewhat comical. While matching the silhouette of the Zallinger work, the dino holds one hand against its body with the other outstretched, almost as if to shake a hand. 

Since only one arm is visible in the mural, this is yet another example of adherence to Zallinger’s painting. The subtle texture features crosshatching over the body and limbs, transitioning to stippling on the head. The eye is pupilless under protruding, frog-like brows. The head also features nostrils and kidney bean-shaped ear holes.

The Marx pot-bellied T. rex was issued in three colors for individual sale: gray, seafoam green, and occasionally light brown. Exclusively in playsets it occasionally appeared in rarer colors like silver and metallic green. The pot-bellied T. rex was still issued in playsets until about 1961, but after that no more appeared. Marx wasn’t done with Zallinger’s iconic version though. Marx’s Japanese division Line-Mar produced a set of “Elegant Miniatures” in pot metal, in a much smaller scale. For this they went back to the Zallinger design for the King of the Dinosaurs. This T. rex appears in a dark pine green, as did their tin friction motorized version that debuted in the 1960s.

According to Jeffrey Pfeiffer in his book “Dinosaur Playsets”, an exceedingly rare 6” tin wind-up version was also produced. While it wasn’t economical in plastic, the round-bellied Zallinger design is perhaps the most well-known depiction of the most famous dinosaur and has seen legions of copycats over the ensuing decades besides just Marx. The historic mural and the profusion of art that emanated from it ensures that the Marx pot-bellied T. rex will remain a highly desired and admired piece in anyone’s collection. 

Author’s note

I want to thank you for taking the time to read this, the first toy review I’ve ever written (solo). I’ve certainly spent a lot of time composing it (a fact that has not been lost on some of you). I took a road trip of over 3,000 miles from Minnesota to the East Coast; one of the most exciting highlights for me was visiting the Zallinger murals in person. Their significance to paleoart cannot be overstated, and it was because of my love for Marx dinosaur toys that I originally came to appreciate them. I’ve corresponded with Marx experts and read several books touching on topics peripheral to this figure, doing my best to give an interesting and succinct summary here.

In that time several rarities have appeared on the market. The test shot T. rex showed up on eBay, deaccessioned from the now-closed Marx Toy Museum, but I did not have pockets deep enough to acquire it. The test shot is the first plastic ever put through the mold to test it for quality. This white plastic is harder and more brittle than the typical Marx lead-based plastic. It is the only one known to exist, and has now found a nest in the home of some other happy collector. However, featured in this article is my robin’s egg blue T. rex, a color of surpassing rarity that was never released by Marx to the public. I believe it only arises from a color shift from light green in the famous Marx Toy Dump, as detailed here.

From the Dump I have also acquired the slim T. rex, the only example I know of to be excavated from there. The tin Line-Mar figures are usually found in deteriorating condition; the one shown here is in fine shape for its age. Writing this article has been quite a bit of work, probably more than is evident in its final form, and in the future I’ll try to refrain from pouring so much time, money, and miles into a toy review. Except the Marx Kronosaurus. That one’s gonna be good and long. Stay tuned!