Marx 1966 Batman Figure

1966 TV show type Bat-Items found on eBay, Collectibles, etc.

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John Mack
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Re: Marx 1966 Batman Figure

Post by John Mack »

I never saw any back in the day. I did have own this Canadian issued item that some how made it into an EJ Korvettes store in Chicago in 1968
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mwilbury
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Re: Marx 1966 Batman Figure

Post by mwilbury »

Such a fun item. I really love the packaging on the Ideal figure set, too.
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Yellow Oval
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Re: Marx 1966 Batman Figure

Post by Yellow Oval »

John Mack wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 8:04 pm I never saw any back in the day. I did have own this Canadian issued item that some how made it into an EJ Korvettes store in Chicago in 1968
John, those were figure pieces from the Sanctuary set issued way back in the day, but you might already know that.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1174/316 ... 2858_o.jpg

The Batman figure always looked to me like he was jumping over a mud puddle.

I think they may have also been part of Ideal's Batcave set which was pretty cool too. Hell, they should just re-release everything from the '60s!!!
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Lou Szabo
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Re: Marx 1966 Batman Figure

Post by Lou Szabo »

John Mack wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 10:24 pm Szabol and Batrunner: you both must have missed this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6257
Or you'd have been drooling then. Take a look.
Andy, back when I was doing my Batman Toy and Collectibles Price Guide, this was the number one item people wanted to see pictures of loose and wanted to know all about the pieces and their dimensions. Back then, as now, I have no idea about any of it. Like you, it's never come up for sale as far as I ever saw. This is my first photo I've ever seen other than the photoï on the card.
As for the pieces:
Aside from the figure, cape/cowl combo and scuba tanks, I have no idea what those other pieces could be. The red stuff at the bottom of the card have always baffled me.
As for the cloth cape/cowl combo, that in no way should be frowned upon. The 1965/66 Sears children's costume came with that set up, and from the looks of it, it's what Marx based Batman's costume on, aside from the chest logo not saying "Batman" on it. Now that I think of it, the Tonner Batman figure has a similar look about it. It's the first picture, the other two are of course from the Sears catalog 65/66
That cloth play suit is my favorite
The red at the bottom....drmrolll....skis and ski poles
Also the chrome at the top appears to be roller skates. I don't know what the blue in the upper left is, at first I thought it was scuba mask, but the scuba mask is just below. What's that under the cape?
Some days you just can't get rid of a ... SHARK!
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BatToys
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Re: Marx 1966 Batman Figure

Post by BatToys »

The seller told me he withdrew it because there was not much enthusiasm for it. I wrote him I planned to bid $150 but he said he rejected a bid for $1000 and decided to keep it.

A friend sold his Mint on Card for a little over $2000 several years ago.
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Lou Szabo
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Re: Marx 1966 Batman Figure

Post by Lou Szabo »

That's a Wayne fortune
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AndyFish
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Re: Marx 1966 Batman Figure

Post by AndyFish »

BatToys wrote: Sun May 27, 2018 4:01 am The seller told me he withdrew it because there was not much enthusiasm for it. I wrote him I planned to bid $150 but he said he rejected a bid for $1000 and decided to keep it.

A friend sold his Mint on Card for a little over $2000 several years ago.
He had the right idea by starting it low-- and who knows it might have gone to $1000-- the best way to get a true market value on an item is to start it low and watch it go. 90% of the time it meets or exceeds projection.

I'm not sure loose with no accessories would hit $1K-- Hakes had one Mint on Card many many years ago that went for at least $1500 if I remember correctly.
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BATWINGED HORNET
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Re: Marx 1966 Batman Figure

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

John Mack wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 10:24 pm As for the cloth cape/cowl combo, that in no way should be frowned upon. The 1965/66 Sears children's costume came with that set up, and from the looks of it, it's what Marx based Batman's costume on, aside from the chest logo not saying "Batman" on it.
Its still flimsy compared to say, the detail put into the Mattel Major Matt Mason figures and accessory packs, which as a marker of the era, were produced not long after the Marx figure. I know the Marx figure was a cheaper toy to purchase, but I believe another route would have been to make a hard, Pez-like helmet for the figure, and just add a vinyl cape like that seen on the cheap Batman parachute figures produced by AHI only a few years later in 1974.
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John Mack
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Re: Marx 1966 Batman Figure

Post by John Mack »

BATWINGED HORNET wrote: Sun May 27, 2018 4:39 pm
John Mack wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 10:24 pm As for the cloth cape/cowl combo, that in no way should be frowned upon. The 1965/66 Sears children's costume came with that set up, and from the looks of it, it's what Marx based Batman's costume on, aside from the chest logo not saying "Batman" on it.
Its still flimsy compared to say, the detail put into the Mattel Major Matt Mason figures and accessory packs, which as a marker of the era, were produced not long after the Marx figure. I know thw Marx figure was a cheaper toy to purchase, but I believe another route would habeen to make a hard, Pez-like helmet for the figure, and just add a vinyl cape like that seen on the cheap Batman parachute figures produced by AHI only a few years later in 1974.
All of the things about the Marx figure make it so unique, that it's so cool. What if Ideal had gone with vinyl capes for the figures I posted above? One could argue stiff plastic capes are silly, and they too, should have gone with vinyl or even cloth. Comparing a 79 cent rack toy that was probably made for about a year to a main toy line that MatteI pumped millions of accessories etc into for years, I feel is an unfair comparison. But I am biased. The Marx figure as with the Corgi Batmobile are such a big part of my childhood that I sometimes have trouble separating my emotions on the subject. Please know my criticism is based on that. Mr. Spock, I am not (sorta sounded like Yoda lol).
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BatToys
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Re: Marx 1966 Batman Figure

Post by BatToys »

Marx is said to have made a Sheena Queen of the Jungle doll based on the 1955 Irish McCalla TV show. Supposedly auctioned in Swansea. Has anyone ever seen that one?

Batman connection: actress Irish McCalla was a friend of Adam West that her son's called him Uncle Bill and Cesar Romero often invited her to Cuba.
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BATWINGED HORNET
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Re: Marx 1966 Batman Figure

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

John Mack wrote: Sun May 27, 2018 6:30 pm All of the things about the Marx figure make it so unique, that it's so cool. What if Ideal had gone with vinyl capes for the figures I posted above? One could argue stiff plastic capes are silly, and they too, should have gone with vinyl or even cloth. Comparing a 79 cent rack toy that was probably made for about a year to a main toy line that MatteI pumped millions of accessories etc into for years, I feel is an unfair comparison.
That's why I mentioned Pez heads as they were also cheaply made rack products, and the process to make the head could not have been so expensive for the budget for a rack toy that already had accessories. Regarding the cape, vinyl was cheap, but like the one on the AHI parachute Batman figure, it was shiny and held up in a way fabric would not.
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Lou Szabo
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Re: Marx 1966 Batman Figure

Post by Lou Szabo »

AndyFish wrote: Sun May 27, 2018 2:50 pm
BatToys wrote: Sun May 27, 2018 4:01 am The seller told me he withdrew it because there was not much enthusiasm for it. I wrote him I planned to bid $150 but he said he rejected a bid for $1000 and decided to keep it.

A friend sold his Mint on Card for a little over $2000 several years ago.
He had the right idea by starting it low-- and who knows it might have gone to $1000-- the best way to get a true market value on an item is to start it low and watch it go. 90% of the time it meets or exceeds projection.

I'm not sure loose with no accessories would hit $1K-- Hakes had one Mint on Card many many years ago that went for at least $1500 if I remember correctly.
I saw the Bowen Bronze Spidey statue and matching #s Peter Parker bust sell for over $6000 as an artist proof. The auction started low, $15 or so. I saw a #9 Spidey with Parker bust sell for $7500 before the recession. A matching #9 Batman on Gargoyle Bronze statue didn't do so well, maybe $2500. You just need the bidders. You can tell if they are bidding on it throughout the week. Too many come down to the last 15 seconds (snipers).
Some days you just can't get rid of a ... SHARK!
jimpagett
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Re: Marx 1966 Batman Figure

Post by jimpagett »

Incredible to finally see what that Marx Batman really looks like. Thanks so much.
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AndyFish
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Re: Marx 1966 Batman Figure

Post by AndyFish »

Szabol wrote: Wed May 30, 2018 12:38 pm
AndyFish wrote: Sun May 27, 2018 2:50 pm
BatToys wrote: Sun May 27, 2018 4:01 am The seller told me he withdrew it because there was not much enthusiasm for it. I wrote him I planned to bid $150 but he said he rejected a bid for $1000 and decided to keep it.

A friend sold his Mint on Card for a little over $2000 several years ago.
He had the right idea by starting it low-- and who knows it might have gone to $1000-- the best way to get a true market value on an item is to start it low and watch it go. 90% of the time it meets or exceeds projection.

I'm not sure loose with no accessories would hit $1K-- Hakes had one Mint on Card many many years ago that went for at least $1500 if I remember correctly.
I saw the Bowen Bronze Spidey statue and matching #s Peter Parker bust sell for over $6000 as an artist proof. The auction started low, $15 or so. I saw a #9 Spidey with Parker bust sell for $7500 before the recession. A matching #9 Batman on Gargoyle Bronze statue didn't do so well, maybe $2500. You just need the bidders. You can tell if they are bidding on it throughout the week. Too many come down to the last 15 seconds (snipers).
In our eBay store we've sold many things that go for several hundred dollars, sometimes even thousands. We've been on eBay since 1999 and we never start any auction above $9.99 and we NEVER put a reserve. If you can get people on board thinking they might get a deal you hook them.

Wavy Gilligan's Island type flashback; Many years ago I was at a live auction house which never really had anything cool in it-- although I've bought several antique guns from them over the years. So I'm walking the preview and lo and behold a Batman #11 sitting in the glass display case-- great Joker playing card cover from 1942. The book is in pretty good shape.

I get my bidder number and I sit in the audience and I wait-- the auction comes up and they start the bidding at $500 -- no bidders.
$400 -- no bidders.

They keep lowering and lowering the opening bid to get someone to start. Now I was planning my maximum bid would be $500 for this book-- so why didn't I open the bidding at $500? Because I thought I might walk away with a real deal here.

It goes ALL the way down to $50 and I bid-- counts down to 1 and someone else jumps in. It's me and this bald rolly polly guy going at it. No way is he getting this book. When the dust settled the gavel came down at $750-- $250 more than my max bid and I won it.

Because I wasn't going to let this guy get it. But I KNOW if I had gone ahead and bid at $500 that would have ended the auction because the mindset is such that people don't want to go above a certain amount, until the bidding gets hot and then we let emotion take over.

As an aside, all Joker covers are going crazy and that book is worth about $5600 now.
But start it low and watch it go-- and never have a reserve is how you get the best price on eBay (and make sure your auction doesn't end during a holiday or rush hour on either of the two coasts).
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Ben Bentley
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Re: Marx 1966 Batman Figure

Post by Ben Bentley »

Congrats! That must be satisfying to quench that thirst.
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