Marx Boy Scouts Of America 54mm figure

GAmerica, America … no this is not a post about the Women’s World Cup.

My battered Marx Boy Scout finally gets some paint after forty plus years. Still some gloss varnish and finishing touches needed.

To celebrate the 4th of July, here is a short blog post on the Marx Boy Scouts Of America figures. Of which I have exactly – one. No idea why I have it, it’s just part of the family collection.

Researching early Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts for my Wide Games on the tabletop, I frequently come across references to the American branch of the scouting family. They developed in different ways in a different culture than how scouting and guiding happened in Britain.

After 40+ years I have finally painted a fragile survivor in my family / childhood collection, what I discovered to be a Marx 54mm to 60mm Plastic Scout. He used to hang out with the Cowboys in my childhood games, his fragile scout hatchet long gone.

The whole range of these American figures, the Boy Scouts Of America, can be seen individually here on this great  Marx Collectors site including a superb tin litho club house: https://www.marxwildwest.com/boy%20scouts.html

This fragile old figure needs a final coat of gloss acrylic, to get that toy soldier look, then final varnishing. There are some good details to pick out such as a torch or rope loop on the belt.

Rear details of Boy Scout equipment and my metal Boy Scout moulds.

I could drill through the hand and insert a Boy Scout staff or stave but I think he is probably too fragile for this. Part of one foot and the base have already gone.

I often wonder how we acquired just a single American plastic scout figure. I never remember any others as a child.

Coming from a scouting family, he might have been bought by or given to my cub master Dad. He might also have come from a 1960s / 1970s job lot of odd plastic figures that my late Dad bought for us all (c. Very Early 1970s) from a neighbouring family when their boys were grown up and beyond such childish things. (This stage thankfully hasn’t happened to me or many of my blog readers yet).

Copyright image: Marxwildwest.com website

Here is a glimpse of the gorgeous tin club house, a tiny part of a large and interesting Marx website. Looking through this website, I realised that I have or had no other Marx figures in my childhood toy collection. This makes the single Marx Boy Scout more of a mystery!

An American flag for the 4th of July. The Marx tinplate Boy Scout log cabin

https://www.marxwildwest.com/boy%20scouts.html

Repeat to myself: “I don’t need one of these”

I don’t need one of these.

I don’t need one of these – as I have some lovely genuine American log cabins from Christmas 2018.

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/12/27/roy-toys-usa-log-cabin-set/

My Fimo polymer clay 20mmish American figures and Paines Log Cabins.

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/12/29/more-log-cabins/

Down at the old log cabin in the woods: my single Marx Boy Scout Of America hosts a visiting  Britains Boy Scout with spare replacement Dorset Soldiers bush hat head.

Look out for my July 4th part two blogpost. https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2019/07/04/july-4th-part-2-vintage-airfix-acw-battle-of-pine-ridge-revisited/

Posted by Mark Man of TIN, 1970s Cub Scout (Bronze Arrow, Retired) June 2019.

 

Roy Toys USA Log Cabin Set

Attractively retro packaged Roy Toys cabin building set  

A well built log cabin lasts several generations …

Safari Toob Jamestown Settler pioneer figures (plastic 54mm) make suitable cabin builders. 

Safari Toob Wild West figures including Annie Oakley 

You can get your Little House on The Prairie geek on  with this log cabin building set! 

Like those grainy old black and white western log cabin photos.

Roy Toys?

I had heard of Lincoln Logs building Toys as I have some of their metal toy soldiers and civilians.  Roy Toys however were a  new company to me, thanks to a surprise kind family gift for Christmas.

I  like the retro packaging, I like the simple product and the story behind its creation and remarkable family revival.

The history of the product, maker and company are given here

https://roytoy.com/about-roy-toy.php

Blogposted by Mark Man of TIN on 27 December 2018. 

B.P.S. this log cabin was apparently sourced through quirky British supplier Labour and Wait in London – they have some still reduced in their sale.