The Marx No. 41 tank is quite popular among collectors and was included in several of their playsets. My example is kind of a hybrid. It appears someone had replaced the turret on it because it's slightly mis-matched in color. The turret is a lighter color than the body, but overall it's still a nice piece. I had a nicer piece in my old Marx Navarone playset but then sold the set off. oh well. There were at least two actual color variations: the darker green shown here and a lighter olive drab color (shown along with other accessories in the Marx Giant Navarone set below). The tank measures 6" (15.24cm) L from barrel tip to back while the body measures 5 1/4" (13.33cm) L x 2 5/8" (6.66cm) w x 2 1/8" (5.39) H. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina
Here's a No. 41 tank (to the upper right of the' beach') on this Navarone playset.
A bunch of Auburn and Marx tank comparison shots
I love that it has a tow hook! Reminds me of G.I.Joe: Real American Hero vehicles that almost all of them had tow hooks to pull a variety of towed artillery. It's particularly reminiscent of the M.O.B.A.T., the early Joe tank. Similar form, OD, and a tow hook! Except the M.O.B.A.T. electrically rolls on rubber treads and has a space for a G.I.Joe driver.
ReplyDeleteIt also reminds me of a Tank I got when I was a kid. You may even know more about it than I do. It was a similar "Green Army Man" style construction except larger, about 3 3/4th inch scale. It has rotating turret, elevating cannon, and a storage area where the engine goes in a real tank. It also has a opening hatch that reveals a non-removeable, sculpted-into-the-body driver.
I'm gonna have to get me a Guns of Navarone playset eventually. I've wanted one ever since I discovered that they existed.
Aric, tow hooks were fairly common back in the day on army man stuff and you could definitely mix and match gear. I never got into the modern day G.I. Joe line (having had the originals back in the '60's the modern ones just never appealed to me)
DeleteI'm not familiar with the tank you mentioned. I remember the various large motorized tanks that shot ammo out of the barrel though. One possible source for finding out more on these is the O'Brien's series of collecting books. I do have a couple buried in The Cave somewhere, I'll to dig 'em out one day...
...also there is a nice facebook group called ALL AMERICAN VINTAGE TOY GROUP whose members might be able to help. BTW it's not exclusively American toys, just toys in general - mostly vintage though.