eBay Roundup 2009.08.17

Super Rare Marx Jane Apollo Astronaut figure MIB No res


eBay Auction #250471263557
Ending Bid: $241.47
End Date: Aug 02, 2009 18:30:00 PDT

Description:
Hey Major Matt Mason and Billy Blastoff collectors, check this out. Offered here is a rarely seen vintage Marx #1723 Jane Apollo astronaut figure. The figure has absolutely zero scuffs, scrapes, dings, melts, or ANYTHING that I would list as wear. She comes complete with all her parts, including her un-used decals and her instruction sheet, which are just as bright and new as the figure itself. The box is also clean and bright with no tape and only one corner that is about 1/2 way split. The lid has a slight indentation near the top and bottom (see in the picture near her name along the top) which really only makes this box a 9 instead of a 10. The only other problem (you knew there had to be something) is that at some time while this figure was on display in my collection, one of her two air hoses neatly snapped in two. If I had left her parts sealed like they were when I bought her years ago, it would have never happened. Both halves are included so maybe a repair could be made. For my part, I mostly have tried to down play the condition of the toys I have sold on Ebay to help insure that my customers are not disappointed. But in this case, I feel I can rave alittle because this toy is so nice and so rare. It is just part of a large group of space toys I'll be selling from my own collection over the next few weeks and I will be offering all of them at no reserve. Due to current Ebay rules, I accept Paypal only and due to my own choice, I only ship to the USA, so no foreign bids will be accepted. Shipping is just $5.00 ( or $8.00 if you win both the Johnny and Jane figures) and is done via USPS Priority Mail. Insurance is extra and is recommended. I will send an invoice out shortly after the auction ends with your discounted shipping cost and insurance info. If your not interested in the insurance, or only win one auction, you can go ahead and Paypal as soon as you determine you are the winner. My auctions always end on Sunday nights and if you send your Paypal payment before noon the next day (Monday), at least for now, I can mail your package the same day. In all cases, I would like to receive your payment within three days from closing and for my part, I always try to have everything mailed by the end of the week. Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions and don't forget to check out my other listings for other cool stuff, as I will always combine your winnings from my other listings to save you on shipping. Thanks in advance and happy bidding!!!

My Take:
This is just a rare figure, period. I'm not sure why it's such a difficult figure to find - sales must have be abysmal as I'm guessing that Jane didn't appeal to most girls and few boys had them. I've only seen a handful of boxed examples (I'm lucky to own one) and as you can see from this auction, premium examples go for good money - this is also the only boxed example I've seen on eBay since I last reported on them (see my post on January 14, 2008. Sales are very strong on Jane.

Rare Marx Johnny Apollo Astronaut figure MIB No res


eBay Auction #250471267734
Ending Bid: $110.06
End Date: Aug 02, 2009 18:35:00 PDT

Description:
Hey Major Matt Mason and Billy Blastoff collectors, check this out. Offered here is a vintage Marx #1724 Johnny Apollo astronaut figure. The figure has absolutely zero scuffs, scrapes, dings, melts, or ANYTHING that I would list as wear. He comes complete with all his parts, including his un-used decals which are just as bright and new as the figure itself. His instructions are however starting to show a little bit of tanning. The box is also clean and bright with no split corners or tape. The only problem (you knew there had to be something) is that at some time while this figure was on display in my collection, one of his two air hoses neatly snapped in two. If I had left his parts sealed like they were when I bought him years ago, it would have never happened. Both halves are included so maybe a repair could be made. For my part, I mostly have tried to down play the condition of the toys I have sold on Ebay to help insure that my customers are not disappointed. But in this case, I feel I can rave alittle because this toy is so nice. It is just part of a large group of space toys I'll be selling from my own collection over the next few weeks and I will be offering all of them all at no reserve. Due to current Ebay rules, I accept Paypal only and due to my own choice, I only ship to the USA, so no foreign bids will be accepted. Shipping is just $5.00 ( or $8.00 if you win both the Johnny and Jane figures) and is done via USPS Priority Mail. Insurance is extra and is recommended. I will send an invoice out shortly after the auction ends with your discounted shipping cost and insurance info. If your not interested in the insurance, or only win one auction, you can go ahead and Paypal as soon as you determine you are the winner. My auctions always end on Sunday nights and if you send your Paypal payment before noon the next day (Monday), at least for now, I can mail your package the same day. In all cases, I would like to receive your payment within three days from closing and for my part, I always try to have everything mailed by the end of the week. Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions and don't forget to check out my other listings for other cool stuff, as I will always combine your winnings from my other listings to save you on shipping. Thanks in advance and happy bidding!!!

My Take:
As you can tell by the description, this was from the same seller as the Jane above. I'm not too surprised at the winning bid, however it is a bit above the average sale price for these. I'm guessing that the winner of the Jane wanted the pair and one of the under-bidders choose to go for this as a consolation to loosing out on Jane, which drove the price up a bit. The "Johnny Apollo" boxed figures seem to demand more than the "Kennedy Space Center Astronaut" boxed figure - from experience the Kennedy box is the most common of the variations with the Johnson Space center being the rarest (only seen 2 of these) and the Mark Apollo being scarce (UK/Europe distribution).

Both figures were very nicely displayed - kudos to the seller!

-- John

Some Interesting Johnny Apollo related eBay Auctions

There have been three auctions recently that reflect the interest of Marx's Johnny Apollo (and crew). I thought I would post:


1968 MARX Johnny West Toy Astronaut JANE APOLLO-Org.MIB

eBay Auction #120207294723
Ending Bid: $$338.33
End Date: Jan-03-08 19:43:00 PST

Description:
Vintage 1968 LOUIS MARX & Co. Jane Apollo action figure toy (similar to the Johnny West series but smaller) mint in the original box UNUSED! NOT A REPRODUCTION, This space toy features a working Jane Apollo in a blue space suit with perfect painted facial details! All joints work easily with no breaks or cracks. The white, plastic accessories are mint and sealed in the clear bag so you know they are complete and unused! Even the decal sheet and instructions look mint with NO YELLOWING. The figure measures 7-1/4" tall in a wonderful, photo-illustrated box that measures 5-1/8" x 8-3/8". There are no split corners or edges but one corner (top-left) has a small sliver of hanging paper that looks to be a victim of a careless employee's box-cutter when stocking the store shelves long ago. The boxtop has a piece of clear adhesive tape on the tip of the rocket and the "T" of "ASTRONAUT". There is also an upsidedown-bird shaped white surface tear (top-right) that is in the blue sky area. The top picture shows a crease that runs vertically through the image of the air tank she is holding. The right side panel has a 1-1/2" diagonal tear as well. These flaws I mentioned are hard to notice and really look minor when you consider how thin and cheap the box cardboard is. Multiple purchases always get a combined shipping rate. Postage will be $7.00 within the usa and $15.00 to most overseas locations. Insurance extra (if desired for domestic orders only). Please ask any questions within 2 days of the auction closing to allow us time to respond. This item is being sold as described and we will not be able to take returns based on condition unless defects were overlooked. PLEASE WAIT FOR US TO NOTIFY THE WINNING BIDDER. We accept Personal Checks (held for approval), Cashiers Checks, Bank Cheques in U.S. Funds and Money Orders ONLY (other means of payment will need pre-approval). Sorry, we DO NOT accept Pay-Pal. Thanks for checking our other auctions from time-to-time.

My Take:
This is indeed one of the most difficult boxed pieces to get - it always goes for a lot. I had to have been short-packed in an assortment (the usual ration males/females for these types of toys if 4:1) but I haven't seen any doc on it. OSS versions of any JA items are extremely rare - seems a lot of kids actually played with these toys. Even the instruction sheet is tough with this set.

JOHNNY WEST 1960'S MARX UK MARK APOLLO ASTRONAUT

eBay Auction #120207294723
Ending Bid: $$338.33
End Date: Jan-03-08 19:43:00 PST

Description:
Vintage 1960's Marx UK Mark Apollo astronaut doll. He has red hair (compared to the US Johnny Apollo which has brown). Mark has the same head mold as Johnny, with Marx Great Britain stamp on back vg. cond. Vintage UK Marx, not one of the recent Mexican reissues! Check my other auctions!

My Take:
This is a really unusual variation of Mark - he's usually found with an orange moulded body and a different head (with the same red hair). The best thing about this auction is that he looks complete with all the white accessories.

1960s MARX JOHNNY WEST 8" JANE APOLLO ASTRONAUT DOLL

eBay Auction #120207294723
Ending Bid: $62.01
End Date: Jan-13-08 17:08:44 PST

Description:
Original 1960's vintage Marx Jane Apollo astronaut doll. FACTORY DEFECT, SHE HAS TWO LEFT LOWER ARMS AND TWO LEFT HANDS, SOME IDIOT AT THE MARX FACTORY RIVETED A LEFT LOWER ARM IN PLACE OF THE RIGHT ONE, AND GAVE HER TWO LEFT HANDS? Otherwise good condition. Check out my other auctions!

My Take:
This is a fairly typical price for a loose Jane with as many accessories - usually loose good figures go for $15-25 - I think the number of accessories brought the price up to normal, even with the defective arm.

-- John

Romania and Gypsies - Some Interesting Discoveries

Recently I was speaking to my next door neighbor who happens to be from Romania. We had a very enlightening conversation from which I got the following:

1. I don't really know very much about Romania, other than that Transylvania is part of the country and my impressions are those conjured by Bram Stoker and countless vampire movies.



2. She was extremely literate about the history of Romania, especially the Roman conquest, able to provide information on Trajan's conquest of the region, etc. I'd say that she knew more about her own country's history that 95% of Americans about this country's history - I was very impressed - I also got the impression that what she knew was instilled in most of her countrymen at an early age. It's funny to me how history has so little prominence in our educational system and rather disheartening - after all, how can we prevent our own history from repeating past mistakes, if we have so little knowledge of it?



3. The Romanian language is romance (Latin) based - I had no idea. It certainly doesn't sound much like the Latin (Italian) that I'm used to hearing, nor does it sound like the other romance languages (French, Spanish, Portuguese, etc) that I've heard. It surprised me and caused me to listen when she spoke to other Romanian friends and I started to pick out words that ended up having similar if not the same meanings. I always thought their language was more Slavic.



4. Romania comes from "Rome" or "Roman" - duh it's obvious once one knows the history and the use of language. It seems that Romania is full of precious metals and so it was a prime target for conquest - learned about his from the wikipedia listing.

So the conversation led me to wikipedia, where I came across "Roma" as a people - a reference to what we call Gypsies (as seen in any number of movies, also called "Travelers" in the UK and the "Romani" in a recent novel I read). Seems a rather large portion of Romania is made up of the Roma or descendants (one statistic showed 9% but this is disputed - seems most Gypsies are hesitant to be identified as such due to the persecution). So this is what I learned about Gypsies that I didn't know:

1. The term Gypsies comes from the thought that the people once originated (incorrectly) from Egypt - this ties into the Pullman "Hit Dark Materials" novels where they are called Gyptians.



2. Seems there's some evidence that they originated in northern India (mostly from the language roots), probably near Punjab - this is also supported by genetic evidence. There's conjecture that they were a disposed group that may have been taken west as slaves or subjects, who started the nomadic life once they got away.



3. The Gypsies were treated by the Nazis in the same was as the Jews - put into concentration camps and murdered. They are also disliked in many countries and subject to a lot of discrimination, sadly, even going so far as segregating children at schools.

Interesting where the info stream takes us, no?
-- John Out

Trivia: Origin of "Bread" when describing Money

I'm the type of person who is always wondering where an expression comes from. Or in an even broader context, where a "common knowledge" idea comes from - I mean there are many things we accept as true or factual, but someone at some point had to have either experienced an event, had an epiphany or researched the origin of just about any/everything at some point. In this context let me wax poetic on the idea of language as a trivia topic.

This is one of those "take it for granted" things that I usually don't think about too much - the use of "bread" meaning money. The first time I heard it was during the 60's and I was quite young - it sounded "cool" and "hippie" so I just took it for how it was used, figuring out what it meant in context. I mean I guess at some point back when I was in school I just accepted that at a very base level, we all need money to live because be all have to buy food - knowing a little history it made sense to me that "bread" could be a standard of every one's capacity to "work for a living" - what I mean is, everyone has to eat, and in Europe at least, everyone was eating bread so it was considered a staple ("let them eat cake" is in at least the same class and could be grouped in the bread category since it's also made from flour). So in my mind, substituting "bread" for food made sense cause I could imaging people bartering loaves for work, goods, etc.

Recently I came across an interesting website that explores the history of the English language and there was this little pop-up on English Cockney - now I had always heard that Cockney was a language developed in the East side London jails so the inmates could talk openly in front of guards and not be understood (I understand that this is now being disputed but that's irrelevant for this monologue). So through a very good description of how Cockney is derived, I now understand that it's actually word substitution - basically a common word is replaced by the first word in a short phrase (usually 2 plus words) when the last word rhymes with the replaced word - confused? As an example, I'm sure you've all heard the expression "put up your dukes" - ever wandered where that comes from? It's a cockney expression that comes from "Duke of York" which rhymes with "fork" (which is another name for "hand" or "fist") - get it? So "put up your dukes" means "put up your fists" through the twisted logic of Cockney - there are many other examples, and many of them would be readily recognized by someone in the UK, but not at all in the US. Another example you may have heard, the reference to a "dickey" as a shirt? It comes from "Dicky Dirt" which rhymes with "shirt." I always thought the term came from a label or something - oh well the misinformed-but-now-corrected.

Now that we all, hopefully understand the Cockney Rhyming technique, let's get back to "bread" and the association to "money" - it turns out it doesn't have anything at all to do with my idea of "bread and barter" but rather to the expression "bread and honey" which rhymes with "money" - so now anyone out there that cared to read this post not only knows the origin of "bread" as "money" but also knows a little bit about the Cockney Rhyming slang. If you'd like to learn more, I like this site - click the Resources link and then the link to Cockney Rhyming Slang from the pop-up: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words04/

Also perhaps a better explanation in wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockney_rhyming_slang

-- John

Another Johnson's Space Center Astronaut on eBay

So soon after my previous discover of a Johnson's Space Center Astronaut comes this second, incomplete one on eBay, selling for a bit more than I paid for mine. I guess the word is out on these.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260168382322

-- John

Charlie Brooker

Wow!

John's Dictionary: Oblivian

I've got a new segment for the blog - basically I've created a dictionary of new terms, that either haven't made it into Webster's New World Dictionary, or have been derived from several meanings - some of these I've just overheard in common usage.

oblivian - /əˈblɪviən/ [uh-bliv-ee-uhn]
–noun
1. Psychiatry. a pervasive developmental disorder of adults, characterized by impaired consciousness, excessive unmindfulness, and lack of awareness.
2. a tendency to view life in terms of one's own needs and desires.
3. one of the oblivious people

From the word:
ob·liv·i·ous /əˈblɪviəs/ [uh-bliv-ee-uhs]
–adjective
1. unmindful; unconscious; unaware (usually fol. by of or to): She was oblivious of his admiration. 2. forgetful; without remembrance or memory: oblivious of my former failure.
3. Archaic. inducing forgetfulness.

So basically the new word "oblivian" applies to all those people one encounters driving on the Interstates, or in grocery stores, or even on the streets, that are so self-absorbed that he/she doesn't notice anything around him/her; i.e. that he is inconveniencing your movement, she is blocking an aisle, he is drifting into your lane, etc.

I first heard it applied during conversation in describing a driver in the fast lane doing 50 MPH while talking on a mobile phone. The driver had no idea of the impact that action had on traffic around her. The driver completely ignored the honking horns, raised fists and general havoc being caused by not paying any attention to her surroundings. An oblivian of the first order.

-- John