1939 Marx, U.S. Army Sparkling Airplane in Original Box
This beautifully lithographed tin litho Sparkling Airplane by Marx was produced in several variations. This khaki colored version with U.S. Army on the fuselage was also known as the Army Pursuit Plane. It comes with its original box. The box has a pre-1939 Marx logo which helps date the toy. I've seen this toy come in boxes marked as Army Pursuit or Sparkling Airplane. Both are correct. Actually having the box (at all) is a bit of a wonder. I've only seen a handful of them over the years. The irregular outline of the plane will usually destroy the box within a short period of time. The airplane is powered by strong spring wound clockwork motor with four step down gears. It's a fairly complex mechanism which allows the motor to unwind only when the front wheels make contact with the ground. This allows "da kid" to wind up the plane and not have it unwind before its set down on the floor. Complimenting the khaki color is a an ocher yellow. Each wing was lithoed with an early Army Air Corp. "star within a circle" insignia. These are trimmed with blue. Each wing also has eight blue vertical lines along with its 712 number designation. A single sparkling machine gun protrudes from the center of each wing. As the plane moves forward sparks are emitted from these two guns. Best of all they work!! The fuselage was ornately designed with khaki/yellow coloration and is delineated with black lines. The tiny black dots represent rivet heads. Although two pilot heads are shown, it's actually mean to convey a single pilot. Each image being the right and left halves. If it were two pilots, one would be seated in back of the other. The rear upright stabilizing wing is made from a heavier gauge metal and was enameled bright red. It extends down through the fuselage forming the support for the rear third wheel. It can randomly tilt allowing the plane to move at angles in addition to straight ahead. The front wheels are balloon type, while the rear is polished plate. Lastly, the engine cowl and propeller are polished tin. The box was printed with all text. "Marx Sparkling Airplane" was the simple moniker used to identify the awesome toy inside. The logo, address, toy name, etc. were printed on the endflaps and front panels. The two side panels, front and back, were left blank. Size: 8" wingspan, 7" fuselage. Sold: Jul. 2008
Price Sold: $ 1027
