1935 Marx, G-Man Sparkling Pop Pistol in Original Box
This example of Marx's short lived G-Man Sparkling Pop Pistol is in fantastic excellent+ to near mint condition. It sparks beautifully and comes complete with its original box. The box is incredible. It probably grades slightly higher than the pistol; just shy of near mint, and is one of the nicest I've seen for this toy. The entire line of Marx G-Man gun toys included cap pistols, rifles, machine guns, and target toys. They were all very popular, but produced for only a short time. The Sparkling Pop Pistol was the largest "G-Man" hand-gun in the series and by far the heaviest weighing nearly half a pound. It's all pressed steel with baked on black enamel finish. The trigger is heavy gauge steel and it has no trigger guard. The gray metal clip on the underside of the barrel tip is made from galvanized zinc. It's used to keep the flint centered in place and is removable. As a result it's quite often missing. The toy features a large colorful decal applied only to the left side of the frame. It represents the perfect G-Man; clean shaved, hat pulled down slightly over his eyes to one side, black suit, and red tie. The bright yellow hat color was purportedly a reference to the tough, yet compassionate, Dick Tracy. The grips have lightly stamped cross-hatching on both sides. It's interesting to point out that the Marx logo was not included, although I have seen examples which did have the logo. A single squeeze of the trigger produces a single loud "snap" and a brilliant flash at the barrel tip. Again, the sparkling mechanism works great! The box features a full-panel illustration of two youngsters playfully firing their pistols at one another. The kid on the left wears a white shirt with red tie. The one on the right is dressed in a a child's sailor suit which was popular at the time. I guess you'd call it dressed to kill. A red, white and blue striped design symbolizing the American Shield of Honor was printed between the two boys. The manufacturer's name and address were also included on the main panels. An extensive list of three directions were printed on one of the side panels. The remaining panel and endflaps include the name of the toy. This same box was also used for the non-G-Man version of the pistol which did not have a decal. Size: 8" x 4" x 1". Sold: Mar. 2009
Price Sold: $ 345
