Best of the West / Johnny West commercial BY MARX!

[SpaceOdyssey56]

I hope Johnny West wasn't with General Custer at the Little Big Horn. That one didn't go well for George...

[e178453]

always thought playing with dolls kind of sissy

[gblan]

"Will they escape? It's all up to you!" I say no, indians capture them all, rape Jane and scalp the men alive.

[davidpiksi]

Do these figures have articulation ?

[technofarmkid10]

My Thunderbolt horse is black; did they come in different colors? Please don't tell my Johnny has been sitting in the wrong horse all these years!

[gangsterjosh]

JOHNNYYYYYYYYYY WEEEST #Nightmarerh

[Buzzbay44]

Wasnt there a Butch Cavendish figure, I spent many hours with custer on his horse with the wagon

[rattywriter]

I had Custer and Jay West and 3 horses. My cousin had all of them and we would play in the flower bed outside of his house for hours. I thought he was a genius because he would get mercurichrome and put it on them for real looking blood. Boy, did we have fun!

[clintonearlwalker]

@rattywriter "mercurichrome" it's been a long time since I've heard that word. My mom always used Merthiolate, it burned like hell.

[tdelamont]

Sam Cobra and his gadgets (billiard ball bomb, hidden derringer, etc...) were supposed to be "Wild, Wild West" spy gadgets. Sam Cobra was going to be Jim West (the body cast in Jim's purplish suit) but the deal fell through. They re-used the head sculpt for colonel Maddux (yup, it's Robert Conrad alright) and re-cast the body in black and did a new head for Sam Cobra. "Wild", huh?

[Gorbachenko]

These were the best action figures by far, and believe me, I had em all!

[MrDeCorey]

Great one back wen commercials rocked!

[paok1900]

back when cartoon had balls

[itstonyc]

I loved the larger action figures... I miss those days!

[Whammer79]

Who else had Johnny's Circle X ranch playset? I had so much fun with that!

[elc1960]

Yeah, here I go with another comment! Does anyone out there remember an action figure Marx had that was a spy? He came with disguises, an attache case and valise that you could load with caps and throw it, and it would explode when it landed. I can't remember his name, but I had one. He was marketed to jump on the spy bandwagon shortly after James Bond became popular. I can't believe I'm the only one who remembers him.

[TCMHitchhiker]

@elc1960 Mike Hazard, Double Agent

[elc1960]

@TCMHitchhiker YES!!!! Thank you, "Hitch"! Figures that it would take the one who posted this clip to tell me that answer. I kept thinking it was something like "Mike Hammer", but knew it wouldn't be anything that "Raymond Chandler"-ish.

[driver3464]

@elc1960 I remember it, but damm me if I remember what it's name was.

[driver3464]

@elc1960 I remember it, but damm me if I remember what it's name was.

[stevevandien]

@elc1960 Sure:). He was Mike Hazzard. Came with everything you mentioned, plus a trench coat in which he could conceal a ton of weapons:) --

[elc1960]

@stevevandien Yeah, the memories . . . loved them all. I recalled bizarre play scenes my friends and I had in an earlier posted comment here. We had vivid imaginations and came up with all sorts of weird stuff,like Spider Man fighting the Vikings. Mike Hazard was cool too. The 12" action figures of old truly ruled.

[MrShoeguy]

Can she control the covered wagon? ha ha Not very likely. Woman driver.

[retropirate1]

Wow those figures are big

[elc1960]

Me and my friends had a Western posse scene where we had Johnny West, Custer, two GI Joe's and Ken out on the trail looking for Sam Cobra and one of the Vikings. We had Ken go out ahead as "bait" and the bad guys caught him and beat the shit out of him for dressing like a fruit. Of course, while he was getting beat up he was screaming for help, but the good guys just let him get pummeled. He was rescued finally, but by Geronimo and Chief Cherokee. They burned him at the stake.

[lobo81865]

Oh man. I loved these figures. I got a new one every year on my birthday. I had Johny West. Thunderbolt, Sam Cobra, Geronimo, and General Custer.

[blooddripsdown2]

I had Johnny West and Thunderbolt and my sister had Jane West and a horse named Flame. We used to have so much fun with these toys. I actually still have Johnny. Thunderbolt and all the accessories are long gone now.

[djx64]

Brilliant toys.. I recently bought the boxed Gold and Silver Knights to ad to my collection.. Ebay rules.

[elc1960]

If you had lots of action figures like this, it was common to see kids having wars with Johnny West and GI Joe slogging it out with Charlie in the rice paddies of SE Asia, or to have GI Joe and Ken in the Old West in a posse with Johnny West looking for Geronimo and Sam Cobra, or maybe one of the Vikings or the knights in the cavalry with Custer. Maybe even that "spy" figure Marx had for a bit, or Captain Action (as Spider Man or Iron Man to make it truly bizarre). Ah, the '60s . . .

[PappyHab]

These were the bomb when I was a kid. I had Geronimo, Comanche and Captain Maddox.. friend next door had Johnny and Custer and another horse.Horses were frustrating cause after several months of bending , the legs would eventually have no more tension in the joints and they couldn't stand up. All loose and floppy like they were drunk. By the time I was old enough to figure out that this was fixable....I was drunk... and I gave it all away to my nephews.

[stevevandien]

I loved these "action figures" (back then, I just called 'em "my guys"). Having collected the "Best of the West" made me interested in history, because I wanted to craft reasonably accurate stories about these characters. That interest quickly became a passion:). 40-plus years later, history remains one of my passions, thanks to Louis Marx and Co.:) --

[gsdurbin]

i just dug my old set out of the attic. man the memories...

[ftsjr]

A friend of mine had some of these characters. Unfortunately, I never did. To buy the whole set must've cost a fortune.

[seddeel]

I used to play with them back in the seventies, and now my daughter is still playing with them! Great toys!

[austinarnold18]

the johnny west series of action figure are the best action figure of all time

[atlanticsoldat]

Bellissimi giocattoli.

[stashnut73]

I had them all and also this cardboard fort apache set up. Had a stockade fence etc. Great toy

[mainecolbs]

Hey! my dad still has his Johnny West and Thunderbolt toy!

[Punktowner]

My brothers and I had these -- wow, the memories!

[elc1960]

All the old Marx toy ads used the same announcer, whether it was the shooting gallery, Mr. Machine, or Johnny West. I don't know the man's name but he was on their payroll for the entire decade of the 1960s.

[Goblues1980]

I have the entire johhny west collection and it will be going on ebay within the next week!

[stardaddyo9]

my parents spent a fortune on this stuff. i had all of them

[stardaddyo9]

had them all. for those of you wondering why you got rid of them, it's called adulthood.

[savammy]

had johny and geronimo and thier horses.loved this toy when i was a kid .loved them.wish i could find themagain.dont know what happened to them.bet they are expensive if i could find them.

[SageAsuka]

I have them all, still, since I was a kid. Up in my attic

[ZebZachary]

@savammy

Ebay my friend.....Ebay.

tons o this stuff on there.

[dividedbyzach]

Thank you so much. I wish mom didn't give them all away.

[cooksontrains]

Totaly forgot about Johnny westLOL..Had thunderbolt with the turning head.Great toy it was.

[kathydillon]

I still have my collection and my daughter LOVES to play with them!! Johnny lost a leg (rusted off) recently, so all the Wests and their peices went up into the attic for safe keeping. We didn't have alot of money when i was growing up, so every Christmas and birthday I got another West member. Best made toys I've ever seen.

[testodude]

My next door neighbor had Johnny West and the bad guy, Sam Cobra (he was about an evil looking character with murderous accesories). We stage scenes where Johnny would track down Sam, and then we'd hang him. Usually, six million dollar man and maskatron action figures were in the posse.

[regtoyz]

@testodude I LOVE IT!!!!!! That's what boys are missing out on today. Cool action figures coupled with out door adventures. Man, all we needed were a few action figures a mound of dirt or a backyard. Then it was ADVENTURE TIME!! Take a video game or a computer away from a kid today and they're lost.

[ldyreal]

I had this set.

[Lagomort]

Ah, remember the good ol' days when General Custer was still considered a hero, and Indians were the bad guys? Sorta sucks that reality had to kick in...

Oh, I thought the large size of the toys was my imaginative memory, but damn, they were huge weren't they?

Finally, was there ever an add for the Marx Prehistoric play-set. I do not recall one.

[stevevandien]

@Lagomort You know, I never imagined the long-haired blonde as Custer. I called him something else, though can't recall what all these years later:). After all, if you compare the Marx action figure to Custer's photos, well, there's a lot to be desired:) --

[Ungadewey]

This sure is a flashback for me. My older brother and myself had every one of those. Man, wish i still had it all.

[shmann44]

Me 2 We had all of them except the girl . Wish Icould find some of them now.

[StratocasterHarry]

Anyone know what the General custer action figure would be worth today in good condition ?

[ldhorricks]

Who started it...of course it was the savage indian...man the shit we were fed as kids in the 60s...

[slkypt]

agreed.

[slkypt]

blame the indians? total BS. wow things were better but theyw were worse too.

[jph0917]

OMG - I loved playing with these action figures as a kid! I still have them, but the boxes are long gone!

[rigli62]

DAM! I had so many of these as a kid, and kept all their boxes & pieces(geeze, they came with a ton of stuff). Geronimo was my favorite. They also got thrown out by my parents, along with other classics like the original Barbie. I wonder what these are worth now? I used to have a 'Beverly Hillbillies' mobile with the whole family riding in it that was about 2' long & 2'high. Nobody has heard of this.

[Abbyness94]

I only knew one kid that had the Beverly Hillbillies' truck and most of the West collection. A one in 6 billion chance you're the same 40 something kid. Anyway, that was a great time to be a kid. The last time I saw that toy(B.H.truck) it was beat to crap and laying in a dirt pile. Oh, memories.

[rigli62]

Well maybe I'm one in 6 billion! First of all, why does ur page state that you are 14 yrs old? How could you possibly remember these times, with all due respect?! And yes, I'm a forty something young woman who ended up with all hand-me-down-toys being the 'baby' of 5, and they were all beat-to-hell and half sunken into mud holes in the back yard.I also had a naked Jackie Kennedy doll that stood about 2 1/2 ft tall, anyone heard of that?

[LastTree]

These were my most favorite toys. My friend and I would play all day with them. We had a horse farm and invited Barbie to visit. Talk about using your imagination!!! I still have my Thunderbolts in every color...

[madog20]

marx & mego had the best action figures ever.

[noonoobaggins]

Thanks for sharing. My brother and I played with these for hour's, no for year's.

Happy memories. Thanks.

[gypsyhippie71]

Me and my sis used to play with those.

[DavesWorld56]

I got Johnny West, Thunderbolt, Chief Cherokee and Lightning(?) for Christmas one year in the late 1960's. When I went away into the Army in 1974 my parents gave away all of my toys (all of which were still in the box, and most of which we still MINT condition) to younger cousins. I was pretty ticked off I'll have to say.

I saw a Sears Wish Book page the other day, and I think it said Johnny West went for $5.97.

Dave

[RattlerMan33]

These were the best action figures. Not made like that anymore.

[mrgermans]

He was a favorite.

[VandalStork]

A couple of years after the series was discontinued (I think it was 1977) my mother bought me General Custer and Fighting Eagle, and my sister Jane West and Princess Wildflower. They were a Blue Light Special at K-Mart. If I remember correctly, they were a dollar each, though they may have been a buck-fifty. NOTE: They'd have been more (I think three-dollars?) durring the production run. They came with an acre of stuff!

[SkorpionOne]

Does anyone have any idea how much these toys went for back then? :)

[TCMHitchhiker]

The figures and horses were about $4.00 each, give or take a buck depending on where you bought them, and what year.

[Henriette100]

=)

verry good

[Journeyman107]

Johnny West is my username in most games :D

[fromthesidelines]

Claude Kirschner, "the voice of Marx Toys" {and the one and only "Ringmaster" of "SUPER CIRCUS"} is the announcer!