Marx Lunar Exploration Miniature Playset v3

While we're still on the subject of miniature space toys and playsets, I thought you'd like to see something I picked up some months back. It is yet another version of the Marx Lunar Exploration Miniature Playset. As with all these sets, the packaging is basically the same but the vehicles, figures, and terrain pieces differ. This set has only two figures and  what I call the 'double-bubble' Moon Grabber. Marx's full sized Moon Grabber series consisted of several different battery operated vehicles appropriately sized for 54mm figures. The vehicles in the smaller playsets were of course much simplified versions. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Marx Apollo Lunar Landing Miniature Playset

Saturday's are usually when I like to post Sci-Fi and Fantasy and today we've got a cool toy from Marx, one of their miniature 'Hand Decorated by Artists' playsets, the Apollo Lunar Landing Miniature Playset. Marx had begunbe producing miniature playsets using hard plastic components in the early '60s. I had one of their castle sets with knights and thought it was great but even as a kid had always wondered why, if these were painted by artists, they weren't painted very well LOL Still they were a nice addition to the overall playset scene, especially for youngsters who just didn't have a whole heck of a lot of room for large sets. 

The set featured today comes in a nice lithographed, window box measuring 9 1/2" (24.1cm) L x 2 1/5" (6.4cm) H x 4 1/2" (11.4cm) D with graphics depicting the Apollo Service, Command, and Landing Modules - none of which come in the set!. Instead what you get are four hard plastic craters, a meteor, three astronauts pantographed down from original 54mm, and a fanciful Lunar Rover all displayed on a really nice cardboard terrain insert. They are all about 1/72 scale and would work quite well beside Triang SpaceX or Imperial Toy Golden Astronaut toys of the same era. My set is missing the wheels for its Lunar Rover and one astronaut is broken and leaning over. The clear cellophane was also nearly completely off so I had no problems at all taking it off the rest of the way and flattening the box for scanning - that way you can now enjoy some hi-res vintage artwork.  Enjoy! Fritz and Bettina Berg

This figure is broken at the ankle

Here's what the original 54mm looks like

 Marx usually liked to produce toys based on the latest technology and while this has a very vague resemblance to a couple of designs I've seen it's probably a fanciful product of Marx's designer's

Here's the original 54mm figure

 

The original 54mm figure

We love the Moonscape on this toy and took a bunch of photos of it

Box Art