Marx Battleground, Training Center, and Other Military Playset Pieces - Halftrack Redux - Now with Flag

The halftrack that came with my Training Center playset was missing the flag that was attached to the halftrack and back on 18 July I had posted photos of the vehicle sans flag. As funds permit, I've been buying small job lots that contain missing playset pieces, and the latest lot had the correct flag. The bottom of the pole had already been whittled down to fit into the plastic flag holder on the halftrack and you can see by many broken examples being sold on fleaBay where people tried to force the wooden dowel into the holder and broke the plastic.

Ed

Marx Battleground, Training Center, and Other Military Playset Pieces - Jeep, Tank, and Halftrack Pulling The Field Gun

Does it seem like I'm posting all these Marx toys in a helter-skelter fashion? Yup. U betcha!  😜 Honestly. I didn't quite realize what I was getting myself into when I started this series - but hey, it's been fun and I've learned a bit along the way. Back on 29 June, I made a post "How Did You Tow Your Cannon's?", however, it only included one photo of each of the vehicles. But after all, I did do a complete photo essay on all three so why not go ahead and post the whole shebang? 

When, I was a kid, I always pulled the field gun with my Jeep. Now, as an adult, I realize that this particular gun would have been too big in real life for the diminutive Jeep to haul. More than likely the clutch would have been blown trying to pull this piece. When you look at the side profile below, you can see that in real life, that cannon would've been darn heavy.

Ed

Jeep & Field Gun

As a toy, the barrel of the gun is just plastic. In real life, that would be one heavy chunk of metal!

Tank & Field Gun

While we may not think of tanks as haulers, I have seen videos of them doing just that. After all, they had the power to haul field pieces with no problem.

Halftrack & Field Gun

As well, I've seen videos of halftracks hauling ordnance.

Marx Battleground, Training Center, and Other Military Playset Pieces - Training Center Halftrack - HP

Wellll, after posting all of these photos of bits-&-pieces the past couple of months, I finally managed to unbury my lone boxed military playset (other than Civil War, Alamo, Cape Canaveral) after more than twenty years of  it sitting by its lonesome under other boxes. It's an early #4144 U.S. Army Training Center playset from 1952 offered by both Sears and Montgomery Wards. For some reason, I just never got around to buying boxed sets, preferring instead to pick up individual pieces here and there, and it's a good thing because after a short inspection of the contents, my boxed set is missing pieces which I can now provide.

My #4144 set box cover

When this current series wraps up, I'll cover the playset in its own series of posts. For now though, let's take a look at the halftrack which came with the #4144 set (the armored car which came in the set was covered in yesterday's post). It measures: 6.5" (16.51cm) L x 3.25" (8.25cm) W x 2.25" (5.71cm) H. My sample is missing the paper American flag on wooden dowel which was inserted into the post behind the passengers seat. My sample also has a broken windshield - a very common occurrence in these things. Many times I see the whole windshield busted up, but mine just has one missing cross member. It should be an easy enough repair - that is if I ever get off my posterior and actually do it!

Ed