anybody collect 1:6 Johnny west?

[fallensaviour]

I find myself getting drawn to these figures?I'm not sure why?
I had a couple as a kid but never liked them as much as my MEGOs but just recently I'm wanting more of them...Help me....LOL
If I decide to collect them what should I know about them?
I found a cool website called "circle x ranch" that makes new figures and replacement parts for figures so now fixing old ones won't be a problem but I think it's the idea of customs that is drawing me in.
Any advice or insight guys/girls?

[Drain]

post a link can you

[Captain]

I not only collect Johnny West, but live and breath Johnny West. All time favourite toy line ever....
Like Mego, some characters were produced in massive numbers (Johnny, Geronimo, Chief Cherokee) and as such are cheaper. Some are very rare (Zeb Zachary, Princess Wildflower, and Jed Gibson for starters)
Here is a web-site that should address many of your questions:
http://www.stewartsattic.com/Marx/figures/index.cfm

Tom Heaton published a book about Johnny a few years ago, and its pretty good as source material, but Tom was pretty stubborn about what he thought was "canon" and as a result he missed a bunch of stuff about some of the Canadian figures. Stewarts site does include this information.

Construction wise, you have to be cautious about cracks in the plastic. These generally appear near the riveted elbow and knee joints, and the shoulder holes in the torso were the plastic is thinner.
Also, the caramel colored bodies can have a tendency to crumble over time....something to do with the plastic used....watch for this. There's nothing sadder than having a figure literally dissolve in your hands!

Reproductions:
Marx Toys produced a couple of repro figures back in the late nineties. These were made by a Mexican toy company called Dynamic toys who actually bought up and own a lot of the old PlastiMarx (Marx Mexico) and Marx U.S. toy molds. Their quality leaves something to be desired. Many of the figures produced for the Mexican market are in odd colors, but seem a little better constructed than the stuff they made for Marx Toys. The Marx stuff has excellent accessories, but the bodies suffer from cheap plastic, resulting in tons of cracks!

Circle X does produce new bodies made in China that are ok. They also produce a ton of accessories....most are kinda rough copies of the original stuff. As you wade into the Marx collectors community you will find there is currently a huge fued going on. I wont get into it here, but if you want some details, and some things to watch out for, PM me and I'll fill you in.

If you want accessories from the original Marx molds (these are from the U.S. and Canadian plants, and are owned by a fellow named Jay Hororwitz) you should visit:
http://www.friendsofjohnny.com/

If customs are your game (and why shouldnt they be?) Johnny West has a ton of potential. I've made dozens of custom figures and horses. Stewarts site above has some great custom parts, as does the Circle X site. The one site you need to visit is Stevo's Toys (http://www.stevostoys.com/). Fantastic stuff. I've found myself building custom figures just to go with the hats and guns he supplies.


Hope this helps?

[Mikey]

I don't collect them, but I still have my originals from the 70's .....
Weird, somehow between then and now alll my Mego's, Joes, Jims and everything got gone --- but I still have my old Sam Cobra, General Custer, Johnny West and Geranamo.
I just couldn't trash them

[vulcan2074]

Those are Really Cool Looking
Sammy

[fallensaviour]

Thanks captain that helped out immensely!!!
I was not aware of the Carmel body problems so that is a huge potential money saver right there.I am aware of steve-o's I have used his stuff for my western MEGO customs.He is one of the main reasons I'm leaning towards the JW line.Plus the ability to get newer bodies.I was aware of the feud going on between the two factions.I understand some of what is going on but my main concern is parts and accessories so where I get them from I don't care to much.
I must say that Friends of johnny website was totally awesome great stuff there for sure.I am sure I will take the plunge into the frontier I just can't help it...
I think in the next couple months I will have to start cleaning out some(not all) MEGOs and comics to make room for some Wests.
Thank you very much for the info and will send you a pm in future.
Tony B.

[HardyGirl]

The only Marx figure I had when I was a kid was Safari Adventure Kim. My cousins had Johnny West, only they didn't know who he was. We all called him John Wayne, b/c he does bare a resemblance. I do have a few accessories, (hats, bags, canteens) that I got many years ago to go w/ my GIJoes and Big Jims.

[Drain]

The only Marx figure I had when I was a kid was Safari Adventure Kim. My cousins had Johnny West, only they didn't know who he was. We all called him John Wayne, b/c he does bare a resemblance. I do have a few accessories, (hats, bags, canteens) that I got many years ago to go w/ my GIJoes and Big Jims.

Do you have a photo of the Safari Adventure Kim. I ask because, we I was a kid, a local True Value Hardware Store carried at the same time as the Mego Comic Action figures, a safari theme set of toys that went with 8" safari dressed white hunter, black African dress gun bearer in their toy section.

[Captain]

Try this link Drain. It has pictures of most of the Marx action figure lines.

The Vintage Toy Room, History, Specializing in Marx Toys, Marx Action Figures, Johnny West, Louis Marx Toys from the 1960's and 1970's , GI Joe Stony Smith figures, Marx Best of The West Action Figures, knights Vikings, Playsets

As HardyGirl mentioned, the line was called Safari Adventure. Buck Hunter was the big white hunter character, Kim was the wildlife photographer, and Sgt. Kojo was..I think...a game warden. The vehicles and playsets were incredible, and were Mego scaled.

[Drain]

Try this link Drain. It has pictures of most of the Marx action figure lines.

The Vintage Toy Room, History, Specializing in Marx Toys, Marx Action Figures, Johnny West, Louis Marx Toys from the 1960's and 1970's , GI Joe Stony Smith figures, Marx Best of The West Action Figures, knights Vikings, Playsets

As HardyGirl mentioned, the line was called Safari Adventure. Buck Hunter was the big white hunter character, Kim was the wildlife photographer, and Sgt. Kojo was..I think...a game warden. The vehicles and playsets were incredible, and were Mego scaled.

Thanks, I check the site out, and the Safari Adventure photo that came up was the Sgt Kojo and his photo didn't match what I was remembering. I know the set had some wild animals to it. In fact the Tiger was still gathering shelf dust when the store closed in 84. I wish I had bought it because the back show the other items in the line.

[megoat]

I loved Johnny West stuff when I was a kid, me and my brother had a ton of it. When I first got into toy collecting in the early 90's I found a bunch of it for real cheap. The buzz wore off REAL QUICK and it was all sold within 6 months. As an adult collector, I find BOTW stuff mind numblingly boring to collect, but I have a general aversion to MOST western themed toys in general (mego included)........

[Mikey]

I still remember using kitchen chairs all lined up to make my Western towns

Did anyone ever notice some Best of the West's suffer from the zombie head syndrome ?

My Custer and Johnny West turned green about 15 years ago.

But, my Geranimo and Cobra are still fine to this day.

[fallensaviour]

I loved Johnny West stuff when I was a kid, me and my brother had a ton of it.As an adult collector, I find BOTW stuff mind numbingly boring to collect, but I have a general aversion to MOST western themed toys in general (mego included)........

Strange because as an adult collector I find myself gravitating more and more to the old west stuff toys,comics,books,movies...
I'm even drawn to making MEGO customs of western dudes.

[kryptosmaster]

I never had any JW stuff. A friend of mine had some of them and I used to play with them at his house but I never cared for them because their clothes were mostly molded as part of their bodies unlike GI Joes or Megos. They seemed more 'robotic' to me also whereas Megos & GI Joes felt more realistic.
Also that link that was posted above: I clicked on quite a few topics that interested me but some didn't work at all while most others directed you to buy the website owner's book.

Rich

[saildog]

I found a cool website called "circle x ranch" that makes new figures and replacement parts for figures so now fixing old ones won't be a problem but I think it's the idea of customs that is drawing me in.
Any advice or insight guys/girls?

I know someone on this board is pretty tight with the folks at Circle X Ranch. David Lee, possibly??? Anyway, I know they got some cool stuff from more than just the BOTW line.

One of these days, I'm gonna drag my stuff I had as a kid out of my parent's attic and get it cleaned up and displayed. Loved my Johnny West stuff as a kid and my Mom says she kept every bit of it.

Last time I met up with Garagesale, he gave me a complete set of tack for Thunderbolt, so I'm pretty sure I can make a decent display of some stuff.