Our very good friend Peter Evans has a question on the Marx figures. He has noted one sculptor seem to do better faces than the other sculptor. One of the sculptor did flat ‘eastern’ looking faces and one more realistic. Peter noted you can see it on the 60mm pirates.
For info on Marx sculptors check out PFPC No 56 Aug 98 , a wonderful piece written by Rusty Kern !
The MARX sculpture who did the 1:32 Japanese and the 6 inch Cowboys and Indians is my favourite toy sculpture who ever lived!
Christian,according to the article I mentioned above a man named Bill Lemon sculpted the Japanese,I assume he did the 1/32 and 6 inch because they are so similar in style ,Marx did have some wonderfully talented sculptors !Andre “Andy” Mack ( of Durham ans Associates )was apparently the earliest sculptor of plastic figures,Joe Ferriot,and Frances Barnum,Frances ( according to the article ) did the Ben Hur 54mm Pioneers and Vikings, I believe there were others such as HMS Associates and another man ( I think Floyd was his first name ) but I will have to look up his name to rember the last name,any more info I will pass it on to you,there is a website called Toymemories.com you can Google and under the section called the Marx files there are some great photos of protypes !
The other artist for Marx I was trying to think of was Floyd Chamberlain,I believe there is an article on Floyd in PFPC issue # 5
Mark — Joe Ferriot (the president of the mold foundry, AND head of his own affiliated artistic mastering studio, Joseph V. Ferriot & Associates), Bill Lemon, FrancIs Barnum (“Frances” is typically used as the female form of the name), and others, were contract sculptors, that worked for Marx, per job.
Joe “Floyd” Chamberlain was a Marx employee, working at the Glen Dale factory “Model Room,” and was primarily responsible for box artwork, and conceptual design. I’m sure he had modeling talent, too, however, the only figural sculpting work that he is given credit for is the Princess Wildflower sculpting (including head portrait, based on his niece), from the 12-inch line. He was an accomplished artist, counting the full-color Operation: Moon Base box lid among his works.
— Glenn Ridenour/ Fun House Toy Co.