As promised, should I come up with any new info on the Marx dinosaur series, I would post that here. Back on December 8th of last year when I posted notes about the revised vs. original Brontosaurus, I only had the original to go by...
...or so I thought. After digging out the Dinosaur playset, there was a nice revised Brontosaurus in the box! Enjoy! Opa Fritz
In 1958 Marx revised a number of their dinosaur figures:
-Allosaurus
-Ankylosaurus
-Brontosaurus
-Dimetrodon
-Stegosaurus
-Trachodon
-Triceratops
-T-Rex
all got a bit of a makeover. Most of the revisions were quite minor but the Trachodon and T-Rex changes were very noticeable. Unfortunately my collection of revised figures is quite incomplete but I cane attempt to show a couple of the changes. Because I have to take and edit more photos, this portion of the Marx dino series will be a tad slow in posting. I'll do what I can in the meantime. Enjoy! Opa Fritz
I don't have a revised Brontosaurus but the changes are easy to explain. Here is the underside of the original mold Brontosaurus. You see those circles under the feet? On the revised version, those circles are much smaller, perhaps one-third the size seen here.
Marx Mold Group PL-749 - also called the Large Mold Group - from 1957 has only three figures:
-Brontosaurus
-Pot Bellied Tyranosaurus Rex
-Kronosaurus
IMO, two of the three figures in the group represent the most popular dino figures of all time: the Brontosaurus and Tyranosaurus Rex. Marx's first T-Rex - with its big belly - looks like he just finished eating a big Bronto Burger and that would be corrected when Marx put out their revised mold group.
But for now let's first look at the Brontosaurus (meaning: thunder lizard), classified as a quadruped sauropod. This poor guy has seen its ups-&-downs. First he was called Brontosaurus, then the pundits said, "no that was a wrong classification" and changed his designation to Apatosaurus, but then in 2015 a new group of scientists said those earlier 'experts' were wrong and changed the fella back to Brontosaurus! When I was growing up he was BRONTOSAURUS and Fred Flintstone ate 'Bronto burgers' not 'Apato burgers' phhhhht - take that 'experts'! hahahahahaha Of course, that's a vast oversimplification of the whole process, but that's it in a nutshell.
This is the only instance I'm aware of that the dino figures in one mold set were all from the same era, in this case the Mesozoic. The herbivorous Bronto's ranged during the Late Jurassic epoch in what is now Colorado, and by its end were extinct. Marx's Brontosaurus is shown walking with its tail dragging the ground and neck held high - a common pose for this dino during the early period of dino toys - but later studies have shown that it more than likely walked with both its neck and tail extended, each serving as a counterbalnce for its massive frame. Marx's Bronto measure's 7.5" (19.05cm) L x 3" (7,62cm) H. Enjoy! Opa Fritz
Mold Group PL-749
