Putting It All Together: MPC's Iconic 1960s Giant Set U.S. Armed Forces Battle Front Playset No. 3002

Back on 7 Dec 2018 when I started this series of MPC military toys from the 1960's it occurred to me after the first few posts that I was putting the cart before the horse. Instead of presenting the set box and contents and then detailing them in following posts, I did it the other way around! Oh well. Either way works and maybe that's nice way to build up the suspense ("What's this guy up to anyway?").

I'm going to go out on a limb and say MPC's Battle Front playset was probably their most popular military playset. Coming out around 1963-ish, it seems to have been common enough that soooo many people remember it and it contained enough action toys and figures to make it an instant classic. Unfortunately, MPC as a whole has taken a backseat in the collecting community. It has become - as one noted collector has stated - the Rodney Dangerfield of the collecting community ("I get no respect."). Unlike Marx or T. Cohn, it's not likely you'll see mint-in-box unopened sets being featured in 'grand unboxing' videos. BUT WE'RE WAITING! COME ON COLLECTOR'S THERE'S GOTTA BE SOME UNOPENED SETS OUT THERE SOMEWHERE! It's for that reason that trying to pin down exact set contents is a real bear. The big stuff included in the set is easy - they're listed on the box cover. But those nitnoy little pieces aren't, so please take this post with a grain of salt. I had this set as a kid and that was a one of the driving factors in me starting to collect and post MPC but don't ask me to remember set contents from a toy I had 50+ years ago! What you see here today is a 'best guess' based on years of observation of playset sales and accompanying photos. Unfortunately sooo many of these sets were picked over, added to, taken from, and otherwise bastardized that it's been really hard to figure out exactly what was going on back in the day. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Okay, the set box proclaims the U.S. Forces Battle Front Giant Set (notice 'Battle Front' is two separate words, not one as in Battlefront) as:

“A COMPLETE

MILITARY ACTION

PLAYSET

REALISTICALLY

DETAILED

UNBREAKABLE”

MPC utilized stylized art in many of its box covers vs. using photo boxes. While the artwork is awesome on an artsy level it sucks when trying to pin down what's actually inside the box!

Set Contents as listed on the set box:

-Tank

-Weasel

-Exploding Bridge

-Missile Carrier

-Shooting Cannon (which of course included a sprue of shells)

-Personnel Carrier

-2 Jeeps and Canopy (1 canopy only)

-Army Truck

-Tents ('Tents' = plural: two each) (only one tent shown on box art but two tents was typical for MPC playsets)

-Barbed Wire Fences (x 4 Again, not shown on the box art but 4 fence pieces per set was also a typical piece count for MPC sets.)

-Drivers x 4 (I make out 4 sitting figures in the box art, maybe a fifth one - hard to tell with that artwork)

-Soldiers and Accessories (I make out 10 soldiers depicted on the box art in various poses.)

       NOTE: The figures included with this set were Ringhands and Ringhands only, 

not the standard one piece casting figures found in other sets

Not listed on set box:

-Instruction Sheet No. 3002

POSSIBLE BUT LIKELY:

-American Flag (this was a standard feature of MPC and Marx military playsets and was most likely included in this set)

-2 blue Stretchers (a big 'maybe' here but I include them awaiting verification

My box had homemade dividers. These are missing most of the time. Actually, they tend to be missing in most playsets, regardless of manufacturer.

This picture shows what I received in my set when I bought it from a gentleman who claimed to have had it for many years. Those blue stretchers came with my set but I need to verify if they were actually a part of the set contents

The drivers included were the 'peg butt' style

These are representative poses and right now it's impossible to determine the type and quantity of any given pose in this set

(one of these days I'm gonna have to get an OD version of this guy!)

As noted in a previous post, the belt on the left is actually Andy Gard, the one on the right is MPC. Also, some of the accouterments may be Andy Gard or possibly Marx

This extract from the instruction sheet helps pin down what type of ringhand accessories came with the set

I'm about 99% certain a flag was included in this set as it was a standard feature in MPC and Marx sets