1951 Marx, City Sanitation Truck in Original Box
Besides being an incredibly scarce toy to find, the Marx City Sanitation Truck is notorious for showing even the slightly amount of wear or scratching. A combination of a baked on enamel pressed steel body with a tin litho rear hopper, the truck was manufactured in versions of brilliant white and mint green. Both are light colors and will show the most minute points of wear. This is why I knew this to be a truly "rare find" when I saw this amazing example. "Spectacular" would not be over doing it when you see it in person. Easily grades in unprecedented near mint condition and is, by far, the highest grade I've seen since I started collecting. Most likely what sustained this lofty grade was the protection offered by its original box. The box, like the toy, is incredible; complete with every section including the rarely seen endflaps, it grades excellent+. This is not only a toy, but a work of art. Only when you see rare high grade examples like this do you get an idea why a large, heavy, all-white vehicle was conceived. The blazing white surfaces contrasted against the black outlined plates complimented with rivet heads spaced at regular intervals makes it look cleaner than a Wyandotte ambulance. In addition, not only was embossing used to give the flat metal a three dimensional effect, but shadowing was used to give the surfaces an appearance of depth. To accomplish this gray shadows were lithoed below the roof tabs (along the upper edge of the refuse compartment). This not only made the tabs looks more realistic, but also made it appear that the tabs were part of the truck design and not just there to hold it together. In fact, I'll bet that most people who've looked at this truck have never notices the gray shadowing effect. It's so natural that it blends right in. Other things like the double embossed rear fenders with a precisely centered Marx logo on each one is something I've not seen in any other Marx toy. Yes, it has two Marx logo's, not one, which improves the symmetry. And of course the smattering of red litho on the text and lights gives it an even cleaner, brighter overall appearance. Additional "features" only add to its beauty; pressed tin lithoed balloon tires (black with white sidewalls and red centers), polished and embossed tin grille assembly with separate hood divider, split front windshield, and the sloping rear compartment door all add to its attractiveness. One word about the rear door. It's never been opened. Raising it even an a fraction would scuff the metal edges....and the edges on this toy are in mint condition. The box is all text. "Sanitation Truck" printed in bold block letters against a red background appears on every panel, along with the Marx logo, name , and address. This information was printed again on the endflaps. However, the style of endflap used is rarely seen intact. Instead of two locking tabs inserted into slots, it uses a large die cut cut tab which fits into slots located on the lower flap. The space between the edge of the die cut is less than ½" wide. It's almost always torn off the box, but in this case both of them (one each end) are 100% intact. Size: 13". Sold: Jun. 2008
Price Sold: $ 1836
