Original Item. Only One Available. This is an exceptional set of two (2) Louis Marx & Co. toy vehicles, a 1950’s era truck and a functioning 1930’s era mechanical tank with a pop-out rifleman. The craftsmanship is remarkable, and it is evident that the creator took great care in every detail of both pieces.

The first toy, the 1930’s toy tank with a pop-out rifleman, is fully mechanical and functions very well. It measures 10” long, 4” wide, and 5” tall. The design is a classic inter-war style tank on caterpillar tracks. There is a small red hatch on the roof that, when opened, brings out a small American rifleman in a red uniform with a helmet and sergeant stripes. There is a small lever to the right side of the tank with two positions, STOP and START. When moved to START, the tank roars to life and begins lurching forward. It is a very old toy, so it is advised to not run the tank too much so that no pieces break loose inside. The back of the tank is marked MADE IN U.S.A. MARX TOYS PAT’S PEND’G.

The second toy, a 1950’s style Army truck, is not mechanical, and is gutted on the interior. It measures 13” long, 5” wide, and 4” tall. There is an Army star on both doors and the roof of the cab, with a long yellow cargo hold in the back. The sides of the truck read U.S.A. 41573147, and the back reads HQ. CO 819 BN. There is also a small metal hitch at the back. All four wheels function perfectly. The maker’s mark is below the right side door, for MARX TOYS in New York, NY.

The toys came to us from the American Armored Foundation, Inc. Tank and Ordnance Memorial Museum. The AAF Tank Museum was a living memorial dedicated to the Tank and Cavalry soldiers of the world. Before 1981 some of the artifacts that make up the AAF Tank Museum was a private collection belonging to Mr. William Gasser. Mr. Gasser felt that his collection would be beneficial in educating present and future generations to the sacrifices made and the technologies gained during war. Therefore, in 1981 the AAF Tank Museum was established as a non-profit charitable organization, and Mr. Gasser donated his private collection to the Tank Museum. Mr. Gasser is still active as Volunteer Director and Curator of the Tank Museum and his knowledge of military history has been a great asset to the museum. Unfortunately after 20 years of operation it had to close its doors, which is when this tank was acquired.

Louis Marx and Company was an American toy manufacturer in business from 1919 to 1980. They made many types of toys including tin toys, toy soldiers, toy guns, action figures, dolls, toy cars and model trains. Some of their notable toys are Rock'em Sock'em Robots, Big Wheel tricycles, Disney branded dollhouses and playsets based on TV shows like Gunsmoke. Its products were often imprinted with the slogan "One of the many Marx toys, have you all of them?"

Marx is well known by collectors and some kids for making good quality toy soldiers. These sets were often known as ''Battleground'', offering Germans and Americans. Though there also were Pacific sets, which had Japanese soldiers and combat planes, such as the Zero.

Some of their most popular sets were ''Navarone'' (basing on the film), ''Iwo Jima'', ''The Alamo'' (basing on the film) and more sets based in movies and series, such as The Gallant Men, specially in John Wayne and the films he was in.

This is a wonderful opportunity to add a fantastic pair of collectible toys to your displays! Comes more than ready for further research and display.