THE RETURN OF FRANKENSTONY

A while back, I talked about the build-it-yourself Stony Smith I bought on eBay. Apparently, in the 90s, Marx Toys went into production on a new line of Stony Smith action figures when the buyer backed out, leaving them with a bunch of unassembled pieces. They’ve now resurfaced on eBay where you can get the pieces to assemble your very own Stony Smith, provided you cannibalize rivets and bungee cords out of other Marx figures (Marxman Bros. has since begun offering the hardware to build or repair Marx figures). The other issue was that the head and hands in the kit are not for Stony Smith, but for Marx’s other army guy Buddy Charlie. Since both figures are quite different, the head and hands don’t really work with the body parts. I ended up using the head and hands off an old, beat up Marx figure to complete my makeshift Stony, but I wanted to find some use for those head and hands.

The answer came to me as I sorted through the pile of action figure odds and ends that I have compiled. You see, the tricky part about acquiring pieces you want on eBay is that you often have to purchase auction lots which also contain stuff you don’t really want. Over the years, in my passion for collecting Captain Action stuff, I’ve built up a collection of random Captain Action body parts. The weird thing is that, while there are plenty of bodies, torsos, legs, and upper arms, the heads, forearms, and hands are extremely hard to find. The Buddy Charlie head and hands could fit nicely onto a Captain Action body, but I still needed forearms.

Through the Web site Cotswold Collectibles, I could purchase rivets, pegs, and bungee cords to assemble an action figure, along with body parts modeled after the vintage G.I. Joe figures. They had G.I. Joe-style forearms, but the issue was that, while G.I.Joe’s forearm was designed to receive a connecting peg from the upper arm, Captain Action’s upper arm was designed to receive a connecting peg from Captain Action’s forearm. Therefore, in order to connect a G.I. Joe forearm to a Captain Action upper arm, I needed a joint in the middle with pegs that would fit into each end.

Since I don’t have a lab in which to create plastic parts, I went to my brother who fashioned a wooden joint in his workshop. Basically, the joint was shaped like a bulbous vase, with a fixed peg that fit into the upper arm.

We then cut a slit in the rounded part of the joint which could receive a plastic peg. After drilling a hole through the joint to line up with the hole in the plastic peg, we were able to attach the peg to the joint with a rivet. This allows the plastic peg to move up and down. With the joint inserted into the upper arm, we could then attach the forearm to the plastic peg, creating a complete arm with articulation at the elbow.

Here's how the painted head and hands look attached to a mostly Captain Action body with G.I. Joe forearms:

Granted, the joint looks a little rustic and makes the arms slightly longer than they normally would. However, once you cover the arms with clothing, you really don’t notice anything. After attaching all the parts into a completed body and painting the head, I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do with my new creation. I was reminded of how Army hero Sgt. Fury was transformed into the quasi-spy Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and thought about creating Buddy Charlie, Agent of S.O.M.E.T.H.I.N.G.O.R.O.T.H.E.R.

Then I remembered that, in body anyway, he was more Captain Action than Buddy Charlie, so I decided to make him Captain Action’s red-headed step-brother, Commander Blaze!

How 'bout that?

BUDDY CHARLIE AND FRANKENSTONY

Buddy Charlie was Marx Toys’ strongest effort to compete directly with G.I. Joe, and I was not aware of the figure’s existence until just a few years ago. Unlike Stony Smith and the other Marx figures whose clothes were molded as part of the body sculpt, Buddy Charlie was a nude action figure with cloth uniforms. His body design and articulation were almost identical to the early G.I. Joes, except his hands were a definite improvement. While Joe’s hands were contorted in some arthritic tangle only good for holding a rifle, Buddy Charlie had hands that were formed in a semi-grip, so you could put just about any accessory into them and he would be able to hold it. The hands are very similar to the type that Captain Action would have a year or so later.

Buddy Charlie came in four different versions representing each of the armed services (Soldier, Sailor, Pilot, and Marine). This was similar to the G.I. Joes of the day. Marx was uncharacteristically skimpy with the accessories for Buddy, but I think they were trying to make him as much like the Joe figures as possible. Accessory sets were sold separately, featuring the same accessories that came with Stony Smith.

When I discovered Buddy, what struck me first was the head sculpt. G.I. Joe had the ultimate in bland faces. From what I’ve read, that was done intentionally so that a wide range of boys could relate to him. Heck, they used the same head sculpt for both the Caucasian Joe and the African American Joe and it works perfectly, so neutral are the facial features. But that very blandness was always a turn off for me. Buddy Charlie had a distinct face. He looked mature and battle weary, but also decent and kind. He reminds me a bit of the late Darren McGavin in his younger days.

So scarce are these figures that I never thought I’d own one. Luckily, I managed to snag one on eBay as part of a Marx toy lot for a reasonable price. He came cheap because he was not 100% original. His arms had been replaced with new ones taken from a repro Captain Action. With his clothes on, you can’t tell the difference…from a distance.

Speaking of Buddy Charlie and Stony Smith, there are some Marx Toy enthusiasts who have been selling what I can only describe as build-it-yourself Stony Smith kits. Apparently, in the early 90s, Marx Toys was asked to make Stony Smith figures for a special order, but the deal fell through and the parts sat in a warehouse. I purchased one of these kits and had a great time trying to figure out how to build it. I dismantled a busted up Geronimo figure to use his hardware. The head and hands that were provided with the kit were not of Stony Smith, but of Buddy Charlie. They didn’t fit the design of the Stony body, so I swiped an old Sam Cobra head and set of hands and put them on the body. I then repainted the head so he looked a little different from Mr. Cobra. Here is the result:

By the way, if you want to learn more about Marx action figures, go to this site.

MARX TOYS

One of the first companies to tackle Hasbro’s G.I. Joe success head on was Marx Toys. Best known for their elaborate playsets with hundreds of little pieces representing everything from historic battle scenes to futuristic space ports, Marx decided that they could use their plastic injection technology to make an 11 ½” solid plastic army figure similar to the mighty Joe. The result was Stony Smith – a 1/6^th scale army man with a solid body molded in olive green plastic. Only the arms had articulation at the shoulders and elbows. This soldier could stand guard forever since he couldn’t sit down! The head and hands were molded from soft poly-vinyl.

Since the figure had molded on clothing like a statue, there were no detailed costumes to buy. Nor were there elaborately detailed accessories – all accessories were molded out of solid green plastic with no painting. However, unlike G.I. Joe where most of the accessories were sold separately, Stony Smith came with dozens of accessories in the same box as the figure. What Stony Smith lacked in quality, he more than made up for in quantity. For about the same price or less than a G.I. Joe, you got Stony and a complete set of equipment and weapons to wage war anywhere in the world. No nagging your parents for more accessory sets; this guy came prepared!

My brother was actually the one in our house who received Stony Smith as a Christmas present from our Aunt Mildred. As I pointed out in an earlier post, my brother never really got into the action figure movement. His early psyche had been influenced by car and weapon toys, so while he was technically still young enough to play with action figures, he never found them appealing. I, on the other hand, was fascinated by these figures even while still in diapers. I provide proof with this photo:

The second Marx figure to grace our home was their answer to James Bond – Mike Hazard, Double Agent. This to me was the ultimate Marx action figure, providing no less than 62 (!) accessories. Mike was a rather benign looking figure, but he came equipped with disguises and numerous spy gadgets to mix and match to your heart’s content. Again, my brother originally received the toy during a Secret Santa at school, but I quickly appropriated ol’ Mike as my own. The picture above shows me putting a disguise on Mike Hazard, one of many variations you could put together. The guns could be outfitted with various silencers, scopes, and rifle stocks to turn them into exotic weapons like those seen on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. He even came with an exploding briefcase! Marx knew how to please rug rats back then!

Of course, the drawback to Mike Hazard was the very thing that made his so great: too many little pieces of plastic. As a rambunctious preschooler, there was no way I was going to keep track of all those bits for very long. One by one, the accessories were lost to the vacuum or the tall grass or my always hungry cocker spaniel. Once the accessories disappeared, Mike Hazard was no longer a double agent but an ordinary guy with a dumb smile. But in his prime, Mike and I saved a good chunk of the world from the communist menace.