Marx Battleground, Training Center, and Other Military Playset Pieces - No. 41 Tank (M46 Patton) - Dark Olive Green SP

This next round of posts will be covering the Armor Group (also referred to as the WWII Vehicle Set), which consists of one each of the following:

-No. 41 Tank

-Halftrack

-Jeep

-Field Gun

-Landing Craft

NOTE: Marx offered a larger No. 51 tank that appeared in some playsets. Unfortunately, it goes for premium prices and I have yet to acquire one.

Courtesy: Toy Soldier HQ

General Info

Training Center Sets: Prior to the Battleground sets, Marx offered Training Center playsets chocked full of cool military gear, but with an emphasis on training - not actual combat. As far as my posts goes, I'm afraid I haven't yet photographed many of the Training Center playset contents, so I'm gonna put the cart before the horse and hit the combat sets before I do the Training Center sets - sorry!

History or Mystery: Like other toy companies, Marx played fast and loose with historical 'accuracy'. They placed Marines, helicopters, and Nike missile launchers in their playsets that appeared to be meant for WWII European combat scenarios. The combat playsets themselves came out a few years after the hostilities of the Korean War ended in 1953 and are really more appropriate to that conflict than WWII.

Marx produced specific WWII European Theater, North Africa, and Pacific Theater sets, but they had a bunch of generic sets suitable to any period from WWII onward. Battleground is their most popular named series of sets and so I used it to title this series. 

Colors: To make things more confusing, the Armor Group / WWII Vehicle Set, came in a variety of colors specific to certain playsets. There were light olive green, dark olive green, dark green, olive drab, and tan that I'm aware of. In addition, there were bright waxy finishes as well as more dull finishes.

My Armor Group / WWII Vehicle Sets: I have two armor sets; 

-A hodge-podge group with pieces that are a mostly dark green (which I believe came in the Iwo Jima sets) with a couple of olive green pieces. This is the result of collecting bits-&-pieces vs. buying whole, boxed sets.

-A color matched Navarone set 

The Tank

The No. 41 tank Marx offered appears to be based on the M46 Patton medium tank, which entered service in 1949 and remained in use until the mid-'50s. This tank only saw combat during the Korean War.

Pinterest

1958 Sears Wishbook

As a kid looking at this ad, my mind would automatically go to WWII, but that would be wrong as there is a Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave Helicopter which didn't enter service until 1956 - three years after the end of hostilities in Korea.

As well, the Nike missile launcher shown became operational in 1953 and was never meant to be a deployable asset, remaining at Stateside locations at fixed sites.

Marx No. 41 Tank