Return to the Crackington Formation

[Crackington]

Bit of a delay since the last post, had a very heavy week at work 

As promised, a couple more snaps on the Jaru Marx knock-offs I took a chance on in case they were the real deal.

Here's a comparison snap of the Jarus with real Marx figures I already have. The Jarus are in front of the real ones:



The Stegosaurus, Allosaurus and Dimetrodon are really similar, though the Allo is slightly smaller. Not sure if the Hong Kong factory got the Marx molds and did something to them? They're not actually that bad and for me would be acceptable if you didn't have the originals.

The T- Rex and Trachodon have been ruined though! Horrible extended claws on both of them and worse of all, the dagger foot on the Rex. It looks like something out of John Carpenter's The Thing or the Terminator! Ugh!



Avoid them if you see them.

[CityRaptor]

Well, they look a lot better than the Jaru figures I had during my childhood.

[Halichoeres]

The feet of that rex mold really suffered during the many rounds of knockoffs, wow!

[Crackington]

Thanks @CityRaptor and @Halichoeres - I never saw these Jarus as a kid back in the 1970s, though we did get Inpros and other iffy dinos at the bottom end of the scale. The Trachodon and T-Rex aside, I'd have loved these if I had seen them!

I received an interesting item today, Dr Adam's Plesiosaur Neck book. It's really good and I'll be on the lookout for young relatives to pass it on to. Unfortunately, most of my nephews and nieces are grown up now and my girls are also too big! Still here's a nice snap for @dinotoyforum  with a Collecta Attenborosaurus:

[DinoToyForum]

Oh, thanks for getting a copy of my book. 
I'm glad you like it and I hope you find a young reader to enjoy it as well.

[Crackington]

Thanks Dr Admin, it's a great read and I would encourage you to do more in future. The Pliosaur's Teeth?

I enjoy seeing other members' collections and appreciate the diversity of models collected, display styles etc. Many have provided inspiration and tips and even set me off on different collecting courses. I particularly like the way @Libraraptor shows his prehistoric related collectables, such as books, art and paraphernalia.

With that in mind, I've recently been dabbling in card albums, which can often be picked up for reasonable prices. There has been some really good ones down the years such as the PG Tips tea card Prehistoric Animals set from the early 1970s (more soon).

However, I'll start with a more obscure one from the late 1960s, the Crosse and Blackwell "World of Prehistoric Reptiles" set:



This is a very nice set given away with, of all things, tins of baked beans! I think the cards were just cut off the tins which may explain their somewhat crumpled texture in the album:



The album would have been sent away for or perhaps bought in the shop. There's a nice collection of beasties and the artwork is good fayre for the 60s:



Alas, the album does not tell us who the artist was or who authored the text, but it's nicely done and would have been a good introduction to paleontology for kids back then:



I'll post more card albums soon.

[ceratopsian]

Baked beans of all things!  I don't ever remember seeing these around as a child.  But then my mum never bought Crosse & Blackwell, not even their soups let alone their beans.  We were a Heinz family!

[RobinGoodfellow]

Really wonderful vintage paleo-art: I love it. 
Congrats 

[ceratopsian]

It has a lot of nostalgic appeal.  Something I'll consider in the future to broaden my own collection.....

Really wonderful vintage paleo-art: I love it. 
Congrats 

[Crackington]

Thanks @RobinGoodfellow  and @ceratopsian  - I agree, Heinz beans are much nicer than Crosse and Blackwell!

The cards are really interesting and when you look into it there are so many of them! It's not just the Panini's and the Brooke Bonds.

I found a great website where you can see all of these makes down the years:
https://dinofan.com/Collectibles/ByCategory/ByCategoryMenu.aspx

I think it's a pretty old site judging by the layout etc, but this must have been a real labour of love and shows the good side of the web, allowing people to indulge their hobbies and interests, even when they are niche and (very) obscure.

[ceratopsian]

Thanks for the link, @Crackington.  Yes, it looks an old site - but a treasure trove to dip into now winter is here and the evenings are long and dark.  Thank you.  I collected Brooke Bond cards (anything they produced, not just prehistoric life) but guess my mother consigned them to the dustbin at some point (pre-paper recycling!)

[Halichoeres]

I would have loved this kind of thing as a kid, although canned beans are not where I would have expected to find it!

[Crackington]

@ceratopsian  I have fond memories of collecting the Brooke Bond tea cards too and will put the 1970s Prehistoric Animals album on this thread soon. They used to produce a new one annually and there were some great ones on other topics too as you say.  I picked up one or two through tracking down the prehistoric sets.

@Halichoeres yes baked beans tins are not where you would expect to find dinosaur cards! Must have been quite tricky taking them off if they were part of the label, especially if they'd already been opened!

[Crackington]

I was going to make my next post about Brooke Bond tea prehistoric tea cards, but that'll have to wait until the New Year. After some very busy weeks at work limiting my posts on here, I had a very lucky find when perusing eBay in a quiet moment. A beautiful set of Marx figures:



They were on sale at a very low price and not identified as Marx by the seller, so I put on a bid and hoped no one else spotted them. I also hoped they really were Marx, rather than ending up with Jarus again like last time!





Amazingly, I won the auction, but what's better than a pristine set of vintage Marx figures? Another set that was part of the same item!





I'd struck treasure! There was just that nagging doubt we have over here in England where Marx is uncommon, were they the real thing?

Well, there were some other things in the box of delight that indicates they are. The seller said they came from a house clearance but included old plastic bags which the Dino's were wrapped in and one was from Canada. Did the previous owner pick them up on a trip there?



Even more intrigiguingly, there were some papers in the box in 1970s style typeset, these clearly were a set:



Could the papers have come from the Marx factory too?

I had a good look on Randy Knol's excellent Dinosaurcollector site and Mike Frederick's Dinosaur Collectables book and think they are genuine Marx, probably second mold figures from the 1960s? The dark green colour seems to be unusual though...

The bronto and steg seem to have later style foot circled, the Dimetrodon has no round mark on his tummy and the Ankylo has a grid system on hers, all indicative of later mold models:



Sorry for such a long post, should probably have broken it up a bit, but wow, my head's still spinning from this find!

[Shonisaurus]

My congratulations, pretty "retro" prehistoric animal figures. You have been very lucky with your acquisition.

[Gwangi]

That's an amazing haul @Crackington, congrats! They're beautiful. I've never seen that dark green color before but they look like genuine Marx toys to me.

[Duna]

Congrats! That's an amazing lot. They are truly made from the original Marx molds, probably from the latest, as the plastic looks shiny.
I've never seen that dark green color.
Surely the expert J @japfeif can help you here.

[ZoPteryx]

Woah, what a cool find!  It's like a mysterious time capsule!

[japfeif]

I was going to make my next post about Brooke Bond tea prehistoric tea cards, but that'll have to wait until the New Year. After some very busy weeks at work limiting my posts on here, I had a very lucky find when perusing eBay in a quiet moment. A beautiful set of Marx figures:



They were on sale at a very low price and not identified as Marx by the seller, so I put on a bid and hoped no one else spotted them. I also hoped they really were Marx, rather than ending up with Jarus again like last time!





Amazingly, I won the auction, but what's better than a pristine set of vintage Marx figures? Another set that was part of the same item!





I'd struck treasure! There was just that nagging doubt we have over here in England where Marx is uncommon, were they the real thing?

Well, there were some other things in the box of delight that indicates they are. The seller said they came from a house clearance but included old plastic bags which the Dino's were wrapped in and one was from Canada. Did the previous owner pick them up on a trip there?



Even more intrigiguingly, there were some papers in the box in 1970s style typeset, these clearly were a set:



Could the papers have come from the Marx factory too?

I had a good look on Randy Knol's excellent Dinosaurcollector site and Mike Frederick's Dinosaur Collectables book and think they are genuine Marx, probably second mold figures from the 1960s? The dark green colour seems to be unusual though...

The bronto and steg seem to have later style foot circled, the Dimetrodon has no round mark on his tummy and the Ankylo has a grid system on hers, all indicative of later mold models:



Sorry for such a long post, should probably have broken it up a bit, but wow, my head's still spinning from this find!

Hi, yes they are genuine Marx, they are from the Revised and Second Series Mold Groups. Nice unusual color though! Very cool!!

So as far as having the entire set of Marx dinos, all you'd be missing are the original "pot bellied" Tyrannosaurus & the Kronosaurus from the Large Mold Group, the Hadrosaurus & Pteranodon from the Medium Mold Group, and the Sphenacodon, Plateosaurus, and the Cynognathus from the Small Mold Groups (23 dinos total, the T.rex being represented twice). And no, Marx didn't include inventory lists of contents as in the pics you posted...most likely whoever owned these guys at some point typed those up and included them with the dinos!

No disrespect to Randy's web article or Mike's Dinosaur Collectibles book, but both are quite outdated and not overly complete anymore. For the best, most complete, and most up-to-date source on Marx dinosaurs, I highly recommend to anyone interested in them my book Dinosaur Playsets: An Illustrated Guide to the Prehistoric Playsets of Marx and MPC, which is available on eBay and Amazon (cheap plug I know, but the book is for anyone with a passion for the Marx/MPC dinos, especially if they are going to be spending money and are not positive what they are getting, and is most helpful!!).

Just trying to get the information out there to dinosaur enthusiasts!
Jeff

[ceratopsian]

It's always good to read of a fellow collector's joy. Well done indeed!  They make a beautiful display too. I find the dark green is aesthetically very pleasing. You have sharp eyes and patience to have found the lot.