Toys & the King

In Manhattan this week, workmen on Gimbels' toy floor were putting the finishing touches on a 30-ft. space ship, outfitted with an "artificial gravity generator," a "viewport" (windshield), "radar bridge" and "teleceiver." As every Space Cadet knows, these marvels enable the pilot to see as well as talk ship-to-ship, ship-to-earth, ship-to-planet. Across the street in Macy's toy department, the normal sales staff was boosted from 200 to 1,000. In Atlanta, Rich's department gave its toy department 15% more space than last year, and put in a special department just to sell doll clothes.

With the help of such come-ons, U.S. toy sellers hope to push sales well over half-billion mark this year, the highest ever. Among the huge assortment of new and ingenious toys are dolls that speak Spanish and French, dolls that say "Mama" when tilted one way and "Papa" when tilted the other, dolls that clap their hands, suck their thumbs, wet their pants ; dolls that sleep, smile or screw up their faces and bawl ("Hedy the Three-Faced Doll"). There are miniature race horses called "Phony Ponies," which are powered by Mexican jumping beans, cows that can be milked, a cowboy costume which, turned inside out. becomes an Indian suit.

A Touch of Genius. The busiest toymaker of all is a Santa-Claus-shaped gadg-etman named Louis Marx, who is considered by most toymakers (who keep their sales figures secret) to be the world's largest. With sales estimated at around $45 million this past year, Marx's thousands of low-priced (5-c- to $25) toys captured some 15% of the wholesale market.

A hustling bundle of energy who sometimes memorizes bits of the dictionary while running around the roof of his office building to keep in condition, Louis Marx carries a pocketful of toys to give friends. He hobnobs with Army brass (at war's end he toured the German toy industry at the request of General Eisenhower), gets a kick out of sending his latest gadgets to such bigwigs as George Marshall, a longtime friend. Says Retailer Bernard Gimbel of Marx: "He has a touch of genius."

The touch was first felt at 16, when Marx went to work for Manhattan Toymaker Ferdinand Strauss, who is credited with making mechanical toys popular in the U.S. Within a year, Marx was head of a Strauss factory. He left to become a toy seller, and soon had enough money to buy Strauss's factories and his most successful mechanical toys-"Zippo the Climbing Monkey" and the "Alabama Coon Jigger," a tap-dancing minstrel. Most competitors thought these two items were finished. Marx proved them wrong: he sold 16 million. Now he has 14 factories spread from Erie. N.Y. to South Africa. Marx has the knack of picking "hot" new toys, and mass-producing old standbys to cut the price and broaden their markets. Samples: roller skates for $1.60 (v. $4 for some other brands); electric trains for $8 (v. $17.75 and up for Lionels).

Marx likes to concentrate on familiar toys-then add a fillip. One Marx truck sold slowly for a year, until Marx added some fake ice and a tiny pair of tongs. It became a hit. His greatest success was with the Yoyo. He first saw it in the '205, put it into mass production, and sold 100 million. His latest model: a Yo-yo that shoots sparks (69-c-).

Poodle & Playpen. Developing a new toy is expensive. On some items. Marx must sell half a million before he makes a profit. This year, for example, Marx has an improved all-metal five-room doll house (retail price: $10.98) which cost $200,000 to develop. The house is complete down to a baby's playpen, a vacuum cleaner, a French poodle, a Rolls-Royce. Other new Marx toys: plastic penguins that toddle down a ramp (50-c-), a 100-piece army training center for $6, a mechanical space ship ($2) and ray gun ($2).

Except for the Yoyo. Marx has never done much advertising, and has no salesmen at all. Buyers come to him. Says he: "You don't sell toys by buying drinks for the buyers. It's like yesterday's ball game -you've got to get a hit today."

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