Sunday, April 26, 2020

Louis Marx and Company Toys - Confederate Ambulance

With the COVID-19 restrictions and the resulting shelter-in-place orders now in place in much of the U.S., I find myself with time to cull through my collection and resume posting. I recently got the recast of the Civil War ambulance originally released by the Louis Marx and Company as part of the "Giant Blue and Gray Battle Set sold by Montgomery Ward in 1961". Not sure when the re-casts were made, but I got mine from Amazon from a 3rd party seller.

plastic civil war soldier

I was a kid in the early seventies, which was kind of the tail end for the Marx playsets. I don't remember having any of the Marx playsets as a kid, but I remember my friend across the street had the Guns of Navarone playset and the Comanche Pass playset. What I remember clearly was the detail in the castings, and the number of parts that came with the playset that added realism.

Close-up of horse team



The mold for the driver is showing its age, with some visible mold lines. But the detail, including the uniform details and facial hair, are still impressive 50 plus years since originally sculpted.

 Marx even hinged the tailgate so it would open and close. And the detail in the cover is evident here.

 The number of accessories is impressive, as is the detail. The doctor's satchel even opens (below).



The wagon comes with a separate seat to use if you don't use one of the two "canvas" covers.

Ambulance shown with the second cover, and some gear that hangs off the edge of the wagon - the box and the barrel on the tailgate.

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