Marx Star Station Seven Playset No. 4115 from 1978

It's 1978 and Marx is on its last legs. Gone are the wonderful huge playsets of the '50s & '60's and the focus is on downsizing. Take odds and ends from prior years's sets, place them in a smaller box and call it a day. Marx produced a series of what collector's now call 'Cereal Box' playsets so called because they were contained in these small containers about the size of a cereal box. Of all the ones they offered I only ended up with two - this Star Station Seven playset and a Tactical Air Command playset. I simply couldn't muster up the enthusiasm to try and collect them all. "Another Marx Toy - Have You All of Them?" was their slogan. "NOPE! " was mine :-) No room, no money, no desire. Do you find yourself in the same boat? You'd kinda like to get it all but in the end you just can't do it.

It's been a long time since I've posted a Marx playset here on Toys and Stuff. I had this set for many years until recently when I sold it to a buyer in Spain(? I believe) so it was a good thing I set it up to take pictures. Marx's Galaxy Command playset has already been featured on this blog back in Oct 2013! and it has all the same pieces - plus more - so should the urge come about to do some kind of space diorama or just to goof around with I can always pull that set out. If you want to see more pics of all the different pieces (plus more) check out the Galaxy Command posts starting on Oct 8, 2013.

This really is a nice set, and the concept of compact-sized playsets was certainly a good idea, unfortunately it wasn't enough to keep Marx afloat in those last years of the 1970s. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

The rocket traile in my set had a broken hitch

The 18" x 24" playmat is the same one that came in the Galaxy Command playset