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Monday, February 28, 2011

Marx Glendale Depot w/o Light

Today on Marx Monday we continue with the tin buildings which Marx made for their line of 3-rail O-gauge trains - The Glendale Depot. The size was big enough so that it could be used comfortably with the Standard Gauge trains popular during the era. This depot first came out in the 1930s and would have included several accessories like a bench, hand truck, lithographed travel trunk, etc. There was one more piece which I failed to photograph alongside this building (but will include in a future installment). It is the track actuator bar. It's a long bar which connects to the crossing gate near the bottom. The bar is bent such that it will fit underneath the track so that as the trains roll over that piece of track the weight of the train causes the crossing gate to go down. There was also a small wire handle which, when turned, would lower the gate as well.

This particular version of the depot has no lamp post or warning sign attached to the base, only the station itself and the crossing gate. All Glendale Depot's have latch operated doors on the front allowing a child to place figures and toys inside. The depot itself is designed to fit on the OUTSIDE of an 0-27 curve. At first this may seem unusual as we have become accustomed to building tables for our trains and having the track extend to the outside edges of the board. But back in the day it was normal to set the trains up on the living room or dining room floor in which case there was plenty of room to place the depot on the outside of the curve. The base has a depressed roadway to the side of the depot structure so that kids could roll their toy cars and trucks over it. From my observation, most depots appear to have either a red or green base (this particular example appears to have a repainted base on top - but the original color underneath the base was clearly red). This was a sturdy little toy with lots of play value. Enjoy!













Sunday, February 27, 2011

Corgi #77330 1940s DC Comics Batmobile

Today's posting may give some regular readers a bit of deja vu. The 1/43 scale Corgi #77330 1940s DC Comics Batmobile featured today is the same vehicle as the #77309 1940s DC Comics Batmobile featured on 5 Dec 2010 except in blue. The #77309 was in black. I have no idea why Corgi chose to offer two separate colors unless the 1940s comic books were actually drawn in two different colors. As I no longer have any comic books I'm in no position to research it properly. Doesn't really matter though, it's still a cool toy! Enjoy!












Saturday, February 26, 2011

AOME LOTR Morannon Orc on Warg #2

Today being Saturday, we continue with our Sc-Fi and Fiction theme with Play Along Toys Armies of Middle Earth Lord of The Rings figures. There are several series and the one we've been looking at the during the pasts months has been the 'Warriors and Battle Beasts' line. This time it's out we're looking at one of the bad guys, the Morannon Orc on Warg #2. The '#2' designation is mine as this was the second 'Morannon Orc on Warg' offered by Play Along Toys. I don't have complete information as to when this was released but this is one of the last releases of the AOME LOTR Warriors and Battle Beasts. These later issues had a more realistic flat finish to them that I like, unlike the waxy finish of the first few Waves. Enjoy!


Morannon Orc on Warg
Wave 5
Issued by: Play Along Toys
Assortment: 48000
Item #: 48010
Issue Date: ?
Issue Price: $7.99











Friday, February 25, 2011

'Kellogg's Fire Dept' Pumper - Hose Truck Cereal Premium

Today is our last installment for the Kellogg's cereal premium fire engines: the 'Kellogg's Fire Dept' Pumper - Hose Truck. This too has the appearance of an American LaFrance #700 type engine. One of the neat things about these tiny vehicles is that they don't exist in a vacuum as there are so many other tiny houses, vehicles, and other stuff that they can be paired with for play and dioramas.  One of these years I'll have to pull some out and see what I can set up as a sort of 'tiny town' display, I think that that be kinda neat.  Enjoy!









Thursday, February 24, 2011

Marx #151 34 PIECE RAILROAD and VILLAGE CONSTRUCTION SET Pt 4

OK, so today let's pick up the thread again on the Marx #151 34 PIECE RAILROAD and VILLAGE CONSTRUCTION SET. This time we'll feature the railroad station. Enjoy!

Front Wall


Side Wall 1


Back Wall


Side Wall 2


Roof


Monday, February 21, 2011

Marx #1440 Crossing Shanty and Man

Today on Marx Monday we continue with our chronicling of Marx tin-litho structures. I've been concentrating on the train related tin because I've also been updating accessory photo albums in the 'MarxTrains' Yahoo Group but the other Playset stuff will come in a couple of weeks (or three or four weeks - whenever). Today we feature the #1440 Crossing Shanty and Man. Marx made two versions of this shed, a lighted and unlighted version.  Today we'll be looking at the lighted version with cut-out windows having frosted plastic in them to allow the light to show through. Enjoy!