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I've put this 'Timeline' together as a resource for Marx 12" figure collectors. It's always interesting to see / hear the history behind certain events or things. With the help of some other collectors, I've pieced together this little bit of information.
What a time it has been!
The 'hey-day' of Marx was truely in the 50's and early 60's. Marx made over 20% of the toys sold in the USA and had factories in ten countries, while licensing and exporting to others. The December, 1955 cover of Time proclaimed Louis Marx "The Toy King"!
Unfortunately, this golden period only lasted a few years. In 1972, Louis Marx retired and sold off the company to Quaker Oats. The next few years were typical for a company that had lost their inspiration. Mergers, acquisitions and failed products fortold the inevitable doom of Marx. 1978 was the last full year of U.S. production.
In the mid 90's the saga seemed to revive! Unfortunately, the legal battles and trademark wars are still quietly being waged. There are only a few people in the world that know what really happened behind those boardroom doors and what the immediate future of Marx may be... and they are not talking... yet! ;-)
Hopefully, Marx and in particular the Johnny West action figure line is not dead! I personally think it can and should come back - there are plenty of collectors from the late baby boomer generation just waiting to relive some childhood memories and if things are done right - a whole new generation just waiting to discover these great toys!
They intended to get the rights to do Fess Parker as Daniel Boone, 
James Arness as Gunsmoke's Matt Dillon, and others. Daniel Boone was produced but the other deals proved too expensive for Marx and they decided to produce their own generic line. Using the Daniel Boone they already had, they introduced Daniel Boone The Wilderness Scout in 1964.This figure was quickly followed by Stoney Smith 'The Battling Soldier'. Both of these figures had solid molded bodies with non-articulated legs. The shoulder rotated, the elbows bent 90 degrees, the heads turned a little and the open hands spun in their sockets. Needless to say, GI Joe with his '21' points of articulation blew these guys out of the proverbial water. What I liked most about these early Marx figures was that they were rugged! Many falls, drops, dirt-clod battles and bullet impacts from dart guns never phased these guys.
The only real problem was how the arm spring was attached to the arms. The arms were molded with a plastic eye or loop on the inside of the shoulder. These two loops were then connected inside the body by a metal spring that passed through the elongated neck of the head, holding the head in place. The design flaw here is that the metal spring would work on the plastic loops on the arms and eventually break through. This happened to my Daniel Boone, so dad screwed in a metal eye-hook to hold the spring. Worked great! This is the reason why the early figures you find on the market today almost always have some damage to their arms.
It is arguable that Marx copied Hasbro in the development of a 'boy' doll. But it can't be argued that Marx beat Hasbro with the idea of giving the 'good' guys some 'bad' guys to fight. Chief Cherokee hit the stores shortly after Johnny. I always thought that he looked like Mingo [Ed Aames] from the Daniel Boone TV show, so instead of battling western cowboys, my Chief was Daniel's sidekick in the mountains of Kentucky.
All the figures in 1965 still had the plastic shoulder loops and "open" faced hands. The knee articulation was a little bit of a concern for me during this period. The way the knee joint is constructed is solid but if it broke it was virtually unrepairable. The thigh is slightly hollowed out (to hold the ball at the top of the calf) with a semi-circle of plastic molded in the middle of this hollow. The calf has a rounded top with a slot cut in it to receive the semi-circle of the thigh part. These two pieces are then riveted together. Again, pretty strong, but if the semi circle broke there was no way to reglue it or to 'fashion' another piece to replace it. These broken knee joints show up as one of the most common problems in today's collector market.
Johnny & Chief's 1st boxes say the Action Cowboy (or Indian). This was later changed to read Moveable because these figures didn't perform any actions on their own.
In 1966 Marx added Jane West, and the black Thunderbolt. Could Jane have been the answer to Hasbro's GI-Jane Nurse?? This year gives rise to one of the first variants in the Johnny West line. Initially, Jane was introduced with a different head than later years. The reason for Jane's head change has two versions, 1) because the mold accidently broke and a new 'thinner' face was sculpted, or 2) Marx wanted a 'prettier' face to market better. I happen to believe the later. Too many different molds were made to have them all coincidently break at the same time....
So now comes the introduction of the Fort Apache Fighters (FAF) line of Marx figures. Until now, the figures were released in uniquely designed boxes and had no 'real' theme to unite the figures. FAF gave them their unity.
The Marx Noble Knights and Vikings hit in 1968 and were gone by 1973. This series included Sir Gordon the Gold Knight, Sir Stuart (obvious spelling mistake) the Silver Knight, Odin the Viking Chieftain and Erik the Viking along with horses for all. An interesting note here is that the UK produced Sir Cedric the Black Knight made only in Swansea, South Wales. Reportably, only 10,000 Black Knights were produced making it one of the hardest to find today. The Gold and Silver Knights also had different names in the UK; Sir Percival and Sir Roland respectively.
Princess Wildflower was introduced during this period under the BOTW line.
In 1996 they advertised a Stoney Smith figure in olive green and sand color. I immediately tried to order them but after a couple of months of delays the company informed me that they were cancelling production.
At this time 96-2000?, a Mexican license holder (unknown company) developed several figures including Johnny in grey, 3 knights (silver, gold and a greenish gold), Erik and another Viking with a orange haired Sam Cobra head. They also produced several smaller figures like those described in the General section above. I'm trying to get my hands on one or at least talk to the owner of one to get more details. These figures can be found on ebay today.
In 1998, KB Toys advertised that they would be selling the Marx remakes of the Gold and Silver Knights! My heart soared and I hoped they would be as well made as the vintage ones. The original issue date was to be in the fall of 98. KB's Web site at www.kbtoys.com had them listed in their Collector's Corner - Store Exclusives section. Then they updated the site and changed the release date to Feb of 99. They finally hit the shelves around Christmas of 1999. See my review section for a detailed look at these figures.
Then rumors started to flow, Marx was in negociations with www.stereoscape.com and in the summer of '02, the sale was done. I and other distributors were contacted and informed that Stereoscape would not be making anymore 12" figures and we were given the opportunity to buy out their stock. After further phone conversations with various folks at their New Jersey headquarters, By Dec, 2002 I didn't have a definitive answer to the future status of the company and decided that it was time to 'hit the silk'.
Wow, so much happened in just a relatively short period of time. I'll try to write down my 'thoughts' on this latest stage of Marx in a little while....
More information and research needed - If you know the answer please let me know.
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