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Monday, May 13, 2002
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A
Passion for Marx
Gerry
Hopkins
“If
you build it, they will come!”
Some may remember those
oft-repeated haunting words from Field of Dreams. They
are the words that instruct a man to build a baseball diamond
in the middle of an Iowa cornfield. The words attest to the
power of faith, to do something that seems illogical and
almost silly. They symbolize an unknown yet unquestioned
passion.
These words also apply to premier
Marx toy collector Francis Turner of Moundsville, W.Va. When
his toy collection grew to the point that he had difficulty
figuring out where to display his toys, he decided to open a
Marx toy museum very near the old site of the Marx Glen Dale
factory.
“If anybody was going to open a
Marx toy museum in this area, it was going to have to be me,”
Turner said with conviction. One might say the height of
passion in toy collecting is to start your own toy museum.
Well, Turner is extremely passionate about his toys. But
moreover, he’s passionate about the Marx toy tradition and the
scores of people who worked at the Glen Dale factory. He
opened a museum last year not in honor of his toys, but in
honor of Louis Marx and all the Marx employees whose labors of
love touched most children of the baby boomer generation.
How did Turner develop such a
passion for all things Marx? For most collectors, enjoyable
Christmases and birthdays were filled with new Marx toys. As
the years passed, Marx toys were purchased to bring back
memories of childhood — but not for Turner. Turner didn’t have
Marx toys as a child.
“It’s hard to justify buying a new
play set for $12.95 when the car your family drives cost $10,”
Turner wryly remarked. “I had none of these toys when I was
growing up.”
Turner’s friends didn’t have Marx
toys either, so he didn’t get to play with these toys even on
a borrowed basis. The irony is astounding. Although Turner was
raised less than two hours away from the Marx Glen Dale
factory, he was bereft from the enjoyment Marx toys brought to
generations of American children.
The IntroductionTurner was first introduced to Marx
toys in 1982, after Marx held going-out-of-business auctions
to dispose of merchandise. Turner was a salesman for a nearby
machine shop and always thought of himself as an
“opportunist.”
“I’m always wheeling and dealing
in something,” Turner said.
At the Marx auction, he won a bid
for $500 for various items housed in three separate rooms,
many of the items sight unseen. He was looking to resell the
items, hopefully at a profit. His inspection of items from the
first two rooms yielded the usual industrial items left over
from a factory — workbenches, tools and the like.
In the third room, Turner found
boxes of Marx toys, many in Mint condition.
“The third room was full of toys —
cases of figures still on big sprues, Johnny West stuff and
more,” Turner remarked. To a true Marx collector, it must have
rivaled Howard Carter opening King Tut’s glistening tomb in
1922.
Unfortunately, Turner didn’t
understand the significance of his find at first.
“I either gave the toys to kids or sold the
items at flea markets, very cheaply. I didn’t know what I
had and really wasn’t interested in the stuff!”
In 1989, Turner talked with a
friend who happened to be a Marx collector and realized the
true value of his toys. He also discovered the “underground”
network of toy collectors through friends and friends of
friends, who had phone and mailing lists and who attended toy
shows and other collector events.
Between 1990 and 1992, Turner
became an avid collector of Marx toys and play sets. An
opportunity had turned into an avocation.
He started advertising his toy
sales, attending many national toy shows and becoming an
expert about Marx toys, history and pricing. At this time, he
also became friends with a play set group through the
now-defunct Plastic Figure and Playset Collector
magazine.
Eventually, Turner was a regular
contributor to this publication.
 In
three or four years, Turner amassed an enviable collection of
Marx play sets and other Marx toys. Since he lived so close to
the old Glen Dale plant, he frequently talked with former Marx
employees and found leads for vintage Marx toys. In 1994, one
of these contacts yielded a goldmine of Mint-in-Box play sets.
One other factor helped his collecting — a resurgence in
demand for Marx toys.
Taking Up a CollectionTurner’s collecting habits are
like many others — he buys some toys, tries to make a profit
on some and then invests in more toys.
“I buy two or three toys, keep one
for my collection and sell the rest. Then that money goes
right back into buying more toys.”
Further, he tries to upgrade as
the opportunity and bank account allows.
Turner continues to tinker with
his collection. By his count, he has more than 300 Marx play
sets, many of them Mint in Box. He has hundreds of other
vintage Marx items, with an assortment of high-quality Marx
tin and other plastic toys. He is the proud owner of many
other expensive play sets, including the Giant Blue and Gray,
Robin Hood, the Revolutionary War, Ben Hur and The
Untouchables.
Turner also proudly owns many
other items — Mint service stations, construction sites and
doll houses, complete with vehicles, figures and other
accessories.
A Personal TouchBut Turner’s favorite item is not one
of the expensive, highly-desired toys in his massive
collection. It is a Marx fire station, somewhat worn with a
little rust. It came with a note from 1954:
Dear Mrs. Sinram;
Thank you for your
letter of March 2nd. For many years we have considered
putting different Fire House Toys on the market, and, in
fact, had one out years ago where two cars were in a Fire
House, and you turned the crank of a firebox and they would
dash out consecutively, one after another.
About two years ago, we started
on an actual (new) Fire House in the way of a two story
building . . . I mention all these details so that you
acquire some idea of what it takes to really put just one
toy out, but it is interesting, your asking for the very
same thing that we have coming on the market.
No production will be available
until late in the year, but I am asking one of our young men
to note your name down, and if we do not overlook it, we
will send you one of the first production, with our
compliments.
Signed, Louis Marx
Marx Toy
Company
Louis Marx rightfully earned the
nickname, “The King of Toys.” Perhaps it was a simpler time, a
gentler time during the ’50s and ’60s, but it is hard to
imagine a president of a major toy company today sending a
personal response to a customer, let alone a complimentary
copy of a first production run.
 So what has been lost — the cherished
memories of youth and the Marx toy tradition — has been found
by Turner in his toy collection and museum. His collection
offers a chance to go back to those years when customers still
mattered.
“It’s the fact that someone like
Louis Marx would take so much time and interest for one
customer. It’s the toy and the letter together that makes this
play set unique and memorable,” Turner said.
Turner added that he doesn’t know
why he collects Marx toys; he doesn’t know how his passion
developed. Perhaps it is not the Marx toy but the Marx
tradition. His proximity to the Glen Dale plant and his
association with former Marx employees has slowly but
inexorably imbued him with the love of the craft and a sincere
appreciation for a time long gone. He preserves these precious
memories in his collection and his museum.
It’s as if Louis Marx himself is
whispering in Turner’s ear, “If you build it . . .”
You can contact Francis Turner at
The Official Marx Toy Museum at (304) 845-6022 or by visiting
http://www.marxtoymuseum.com/.
Gerry
Hopkins is a free-lance writer from Bayside, N.Y.
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