Marx Marines
How many different types of plastic toy soldiers did we play with as kids? I know I had at least a bucket
full, by I don’t know how many different kinds of manufacturers. Some were good, many were downright cruddy…oh
well, all plastic army men are equal when they are melted by the flame
emanating from a can of WD-40.
So now that I am all grown up (well…I’m still a kid at
heart), I wanted to find a really good plastic army man figure that could fit
the bill for some WWII wargaming. I think
we have a winner…Marx Marines. The Marx
Toy Co. is the gold standard for plastic army men…their poses were copied by
many, many other toy companies…and these little green men were (in my opinion)
the most prevalent in your stash and/or sandbox. So why are the Marx marines good? Well…they have a phenomenal selection of
poses…12 different ones…with only one of them being kind of sketchy and sort of
unusable (unless all you wargame are beach landings). Here’s another plus, most of them are
carrying M1 rifles. Unlike regular Marx
army men that seem to be carrying a prevalence of M1 carbines, the Marines have the real
goods, so they can be used for any WWII battle from North Africa to Iwo Jima. While I
like Marx’s army men…the M1 carbine was not issued to the rank and file
private…unless you jumped out of a perfectly good airplane (paratroopers got
all the good stuff…especially the M1 carbine with a folding stock).
With Marx marines you get some riflemen advancing, some reloading, a
guy throwing a grenade (and he has a Thompson SMG…very nice!), a LT saying “get
your ass over here private!”, a rifleman in the prone position, another
crouching and looking for that Jap or Natsy to plug, a radioman sporting a .45
and yelling to the LT that their backsides are “hanging out” and reinforcements
are “on the way” (wink, wink), a grunt humping a .30 caliber MG with another
huffing the ammo, and last but not least, the most unusable figure in the group
(but my personal favorite), Captain Smith walking ashore in his life vest with
a look on his face that just says “Lord, I’m too old for this ****!”
All in all…Marx’s marines are a good choice for your
low level infantry. They are 54mm so
they fall into the 1/35-1/32 range of scale, and come in a fairly good color
range…tan, forest green, waxy green and grey.
I know absolutely no one who would want these in grey (other than
collectors), and if you want tan or forest green, you’ll have to get originals,
which can run $50.00 or more for all 12 poses (and yes…that’s 50 bucks for just
12 plastic toys). There is hope
though…they have been recast in light green.
Light green has a real nice “utilities” feel about it…and retains a toy
look…which is just fine for what I’m doing with them. A good grouping of recast marines should set
you back about $12.00…not too bad…and you won’t cry a tear as one is blown
apart on the battlefield by a firecracker mine!
So now that I am all grown up (well…I’m still a kid at
heart), I wanted to find a really good plastic army man figure that could fit
the bill for some WWII wargaming. I think
we have a winner…Marx Marines. The Marx
Toy Co. is the gold standard for plastic army men…their poses were copied by
many, many other toy companies…and these little green men were (in my opinion)
the most prevalent in your stash and/or sandbox. So why are the Marx marines good? Well…they have a phenomenal selection of
poses…12 different ones…with only one of them being kind of sketchy and sort of
unusable (unless all you wargame are beach landings). Here’s another plus, most of them are
carrying M1 rifles. Unlike regular Marx
army men that seem to be carrying a prevalence of M1 carbines, the Marines have the real
goods, so they can be used for any WWII battle from North Africa to 
With Marx marines you get some riflemen advancing, some reloading, a
guy throwing a grenade (and he has a Thompson SMG…very nice!), a LT saying “get
your ass over here private!”, a rifleman in the prone position, another
crouching and looking for that Jap or Natsy to plug, a radioman sporting a .45
and yelling to the LT that their backsides are “hanging out” and reinforcements
are “on the way” (wink, wink), a grunt humping a .30 caliber MG with another
huffing the ammo, and last but not least, the most unusable figure in the group
(but my personal favorite), Captain Smith walking ashore in his life vest with
a look on his face that just says “Lord, I’m too old for this ****!”
All in all…Marx’s marines are a good choice for your
low level infantry. They are 54mm so
they fall into the 1/35-1/32 range of scale, and come in a fairly good color
range…tan, forest green, waxy green and grey.
I know absolutely no one who would want these in grey (other than
collectors), and if you want tan or forest green, you’ll have to get originals,
which can run $50.00 or more for all 12 poses (and yes…that’s 50 bucks for just
12 plastic toys). There is hope
though…they have been recast in light green.
Light green has a real nice “utilities” feel about it…and retains a toy
look…which is just fine for what I’m doing with them. A good grouping of recast marines should set
you back about $12.00…not too bad…and you won’t cry a tear as one is blown
apart on the battlefield by a firecracker mine!