1931 Marx, Automatic Reversing Road Roller in Original Box
Spectacular clockwork tin litho "steam roller" complete with original stand-up driver plus its original box. Construction toys sold during the early Depression era were not popular and so today are extremely difficult to find. This toy is no exception. It was modeled after the Huber Road Roller; lithoed in blood red and offset with jet black details. It's all original, works beautifully, and is in near mint condition. Marx produced two versions of this toy. This one called the "automatic reversing road roller" moves forward and will automatically reverse its direction. It'll then move forward again followed by reverse. This back and forth motion simulated the actual working motion of a real road roller. The wind-up key is attached to the underside of the chassis. The second version of the toy is simply called "The Road Roller". It's identical in appearance, but moves in one direction only.....forward. The boxes for the two toys are completely different. The reversing model is all text. The forward only design has an illustrated, two color box (see below). A third version was also produced by Marx, but it was only 6" long and did not have a driver. The toy features a double sided tin litho driver standing in front of a flat horizontal, lithoed steering wheel. The cab consists of four 90° upright columns supporting a corrugated roof. The two rear oversize wheels are embossed with red and black litho design. Their rims are wide solid black. The front roller has similar side wheel design, but is nearly as wide as the entire toy. The roller section does not turn to the side. The pre-1939 Marx logo was lithoed on the left front section of the body. The text only box includes the full toy name on the two main panels accompanied by the manufacturer's name and address. The remaining panels were printed only with "road roller". The end flaps have the early Marx trade mark and their ever-unchanging motto. It's complete with all eight original end flaps. Size: 8½" long x 6" tall x 4" wide. Sold: May 2008
Price Sold: $ 1700
