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- - - - - One of Marx's most ambitious sets was the BEN HUR set based upon the Charlton Heston movie (novel by Lew Wallace).
Ben Hur red and white tent pieces listed with Captain Gallant tent pieces at Marx Jungle ID page.
From Russia very nice 54mm copies of the old Marx Ben Hur emperor and empress.
In addition to the three Ben Hur character figures Marx made a nice series of 16 different figures for the set. Soldiers, Citizens, slave and gladiators are all represented. Original figures were made in flat gray, flat tan and cream. The above pictures are of a recast set in a waxier gray.
Ben Hur wild animals
Ben Hur Accessories
Ben Hur blister card, NONE. Picture courtesy David Schafer.
Slave Market and food market (awning broken in half in picture + missing hanging items).
Tan cart with blue wheels
Ben Hur Amphitheater Parts
ROMANS
The Roman Warriors of the World were painted in more than one pattern so collecting them all can be a challenge. Like other Warriors of the World figures they were sold individually in small boxes with fictitious names and biographies on a small card. In addition they were packaged with other figures in larger sets. Unpainted soft plastic figures were sold as bin toys and are hard to find. They were made in silver, red, green & blue.
- Flavius Stilecho
- Gaius
- Maximus
- Tiberius
- Marius
- Septimus Pius
- Marcus Gaius
- Laelius
Copies of Marx WOW Romans in 4 poses, factory painted, closer to 54mm in size.
Gold Marx 6 Inch hard plastic painted figures.
Gold Marx 6 Inch hard plastic painted figures.
The Viking Warriors of the World were painted in more than one pattern so collecting them all can be a challenge. Like other Warriors of the World figures they were sold individually in small boxes with fictitious names and biographies on a small card. In addition they were packaged with other figures in larger sets. Unpainted soft plastic figures were sold as bin toys and are hard to find. They were made in silver, red, green & blue.
- Haakon
- Gustaf
- Olaf
- Thorfinn
- Ketil
- Eric the Red
- Leif Ericsson
- Bjorni
Reissue Viking figures
Six Inch Vikings
Gold Marx 6 Inch hard plastic painted figures.
Knights
Never officially produced as part of the Marx Warriors of the World. Made in the Ukraine.
Reissue Knights
Above two photos courtesy Doug Cusic. 3rd Knight missing visor and weapon for right hand. 4th Knight has a short index finger.
Gold Marx 6 Inch hard plastic painted figures.
Picture Christopher Wallintine.
In the mid 1960s Marx made a wide selection of miniature playsets with hard plastic painted figures about an inch tall. Collectors sometimes call them "HO" scale but they are a bit larger than 1/72.
Photo courtesy Christopher Wallentine
Example 2. Photo courtesy Christopher Wallentine
Picture courtesy Clark Haberman & Billy Hill.
Picture courtesy Clark Haberman & Billy Hill.
The 54mm knights were first made without bases like most other 1951-53 figures made by Marx. Marx then reworked molds to add bases for stability. Earlier Castle Fort sets get these baseless figures while the later Prince Valiant set got figures with bases.
Cream tend to be a bit dirty.
Castle Fort & Prince Valiant playset parts
Picture courtesy Clark Haberman & Billy Hill.
Photo courtesy Steve Thompson.
Incredible as it sounds Marx made three sets of Robin Hood character figures within a year of each other. The rarest set (60mm) was designed for the special "Richard Green" TV Robin Hood series with the characters looking like the actors in the show. Then another "standard" 60mm set of five figures was made followed shortly by a six figure (with added Minstrel) 54mm set. The 60mm sets were always made in a pale green and four of the 60mm merrymen were place in the same mold with them. The 54mm figures were made in cream for playsets and silver for bagged sets. They were made in tan for the Canadian market.
60mm Robin Hood Figures
60mm Richard Greene Robin Hood character figures
60mm Robin Hood generic character figures light green
Friar Tuck holding staff; Little John holding staff across front, Robin Hood with bow, Maid Marian, Sheriff of Nottingham.
Rushed into production Marx simply re-positioned one arm on each of the four green merrymen to make a "new" pose that was then molded in brown plastic.
The 60mm knights were made in two molds. One mold made 11 knights in 10 poses with a duplicate of the man shooting crossbow. The 11th pose mounted with separate lance was made in a separate mold.
"60mm Castle Accessories"
Medieval Accessories used in both 54mm & 60mm Robin Hood sets
- Stag, SP.
Catapult with yellow wheels. 
- Partial sprue of catapult rocks.
- Reissue black Catapult with different wheels + rock pile.
54mm Robin Hood Figures
Playsets sold in the US got the characters in cream while those sold in Canada got them in green. Header card bags got the characters in silver. The 54mm character figures & merrymen were all copied in one mold and used as cereal premiums and will be marked CANADA under their bases. See premiums page for their availability.
This was an interesting grouping. Rather than two of each pose in the 16 cavity mold Marx made three poses only once while three others three times with only two poses being in duplicate. The 54mm merrymen & characters were copied in Canada and used as cereal premiums.
"54mm Castle Accessories
Vintage pieces.
Robin Hood castle gate with all plastic and chain as seen in picture above.
The 54mm Knights and Prince Valiant character figures with some slight variations were made in hard plastic factory painted by the Marx subsidiary Charmore in Germany and Holland. Some were also made at the Marx factory in the UK. The UK examples have a hard to read logo while the German and Holland examples are clearly marked. The mold seems to have been sold to Heimo a German toy company.
Picture courtesy Mark Hegeman.
This small set was made in 1964 with metallic blue and silver knights and a small cardstock battlement.
The Sleeping Beauty castle playset was canceled but it's high wall castle was used in 1959, 63 & 64. It's new thin keep building was used for all but one of the castle playsets made from 1959-1975. The same 54mm 1st version knights were used but could now be found in metallic blue, metallic green and gold in some sets.
Picture courtesy Clark Haberman & Billy Hill.
Later years (1963-75) sets came with playmats.
- 15.00 Knight & Viking castle set flag with pole. (NONE)
Picture courtesy Clark Haberman & Billy Hill.
Marx 4733 Knight and Viking Set;
The Fighting Knight Carryall playsets were made 1968-1974.
The second series of Marx 54mm knights consisted of 7 poses. The mold had 18 cavities and each half held two each of the first two poses as seen above and one each of the other five poses. Playsets then had one or more groups of nine knights depending upon size.
The 54mm Viking mold had 18 cavities and made two each of the nine different poses. Play sets then had one or more groups of nine Vikings depending upon size. The originals were only made in light green.
The metal carryall knights & Vikings sets was enhanced with a plastic gate and two towers that clipped on the walls of the case. Original pieces are in gray while the later reissues were made in brown.
- Low stone walls also used in American Revolution and Civil War sets.
Sleeping Beauty & Viking castle playset parts
Thin (Sleeping Beauty) keep turrets, flag pole and pennants. The flag pole and pennants are the same as used with the Robin Hood Castle.
The metal carryall knights & Vikings sets was enhanced with a plastic gate and two towers that clipped on the walls of the case. The mold for these pieces was used in the 1980s by Toy Street to hold together a heavy card stock castle used in one of their playsets.
Reissue Marx Noble Knights playset. This set has a lot of stuff; 90 figures, 10 horses, two catapults, 30+ small accessories, trees and stumps, play mat heavy card stock castle with plastic battlements.