When I was around 5 or 6, my mother one day bought me a YOGI & HUCK ramp walker (made by MARX TOYS) from WOOLWORTH's. If you placed it at the top of an incline, it would toddle down to the bottom in a hypnotically comical way. It had a loop on the front through which a weighted cord could be tied, allowing the toy to walk on flat surfaces too. If you hung the weight over the edge of a table or ledge, it gently pulled the toy along as the cord descended to the floor. (Later versions were released without the loop at the front.)
The toy you see in the above photo is a replacement I acquired over 20 years ago. I stripped off what remained of the original paint and completely repainted it - to a higher standard than when it left its Hong Kong factory in the '60s. I used medium brown for Yogi, who has worn many shades of the colour in various incarnations over the years, but my original toy had such a dark shade of brown that I often used to wonder as a lad if it was black.
Over the years I sometimes wondered if my memory was accurate about the colour, but recently I saw one for sale on eBay which was of the exact same colour as the one I had as a boy. I trust the seller won't mind me using two of his pics to show you what my original looked like, in comparison to its replacement acquired back in the '90s. Most other versions of the toy I've seen (and I now have 5 of them) have been of the medium brown variety, but Marx toys always had variations in the colour schemes. Maybe one day I'll buy a darker one to complete the set.
(Or repaint one of the toys I already have.)
I had a wind up Godzilla toy that I found particularly humorous. Marx toys also made a great line of Knight toys which came with armor you put on the 12 inch tall knight. Wonderful toys looked great. Except the plastic tabs which held the armor on we're infamous for breaking. The first time you used it. It's impossible to find a vintage Marx knight in one piece unless it's unopened in the box.
ReplyDeleteI've got quite a few Marx toys, PS, from Johnny West figures, to wind-up robots, Yogi Bear figures, Daleks, etc. They were a great company.
ReplyDeleteYogi and Huck here remind me of Flanagan and Allen! I wonder if that was intentional?
ReplyDeleteI doubt that either Marx or Hanna-Barbera even knew who Flanagan & Allen were, JP. The design is dictated by the need for four legs to toddle - Marx did a lot of these ramp walkers, Fred & Barney included.
ReplyDeleteI had one of these Kid. I LOVED that toy! Where is it now? No idea, gone the way of many of our childhood objects, now mere pixels on a page! Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteI loved it too, Norman, which is why I eventually sought out a replacement. The last 30-odd years of my life seem to have been devoted to acquiring toys, comics, books, etc., from the the first 20-odd years of it. It's a funny old world, eh?
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