Many collectors list the Great Garloo electronic toy from Marx Toys as one of their most sought-after Holy Grail toys. This massive 2-foot-tall toy was released in 1961 with features that had not been seen before. Thus, Marx was justified in calling it an “out of this world movie monster” in their advertising.
Aside from the various catchphrases from the commercial, there is no backstory for the Great Garloo. So, no one knows exactly what sort of monster he was meant to be. No matter where the creature came from, he was advertised as yours to command.
Marx designed the Great Garloo as a green, scaly monster that resembled some of the creatures from Universal’s old films. He wore a leopard-print loin cloth around his waist. He also wore a medallion with his name around his neck. Notably, this medallion is often missing on used Great Garloo toys. His arms were molded so that they could close around objects and pick them up. However, the legs were molded as a single piece, so they had no articulation.
The toy came to life thanks to a battery-powered remote control. When players used the control, they could make the Great Garloo move forward, stop, and turn. Furthermore, its switches activated a function where he would bend down and pick up items between his hands. To achieve this functionality, the Great Garloo’s remote control had a small wheel at the top of it as well as three other switches.
While the Great Garloo can go for hundreds in the second-hand market today, its original sticker price was $17.98. However, it is rare to find one of these toys with the medallion. It is even rarer to find one in mint-in-box condition.
The legacy of the Great Garloo lives on with various companies featuring the toy. For instance, Funko has created a Pop! figure of the vintage toy. This toy was released in 2021 with the Festival Fun and New York Comic-Con stickers on the box. Funko only created 1000 pieces for the New York Comic Con release. They also produced a Chase Glow-In-the-Dark figure and a toy for their Vinyl Soda Cans.
Super 7 has featured the Great Garloo in their Reaction figure toy line. Like the rest of the Reaction action figures, this toy was scaled down to a 3 ¾” size. It also did not feature any of the remote-controlled actions that the original had. It also was positioned in a standard standing position usually found in other action figures.
Nacelle Company has made remakes of this classic toy. Even though the toy shares the same name, it is a completely different mold. Unlike the original, who grasps onto items with his inward-facing hands, Nancelle’s toy drags his knuckles on the ground. It also will be considerably smaller than the Marx Toys action figure. Instead of standing at 2’ tall, it will be 3” tall.
In addition to a standard figure, the Nacelle company plans to release two more The Great Garloo action figures for 2023’s SDCC. Both of these toys will be considered a PX Exclusive. However, one will be glow-in-the-dark while the other will be greyscaled as if it came from a classic monster movie.
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How to use the Identification Tool to find your action figures and toylines
Do you have any vintage toys you are trying to identify? Don’t know the name? No problem! We can help you out with this useful identification tool.
Using our Identification Tool is simple; you can easily search for any toy in your collection. For example, type “jet” into the figure name field and hit search. You’ll see all the toys that are jets. Otherwise, you can try “car” and select the color “blue” and a list of action figures with matching results.
Even if you know the name of your toy but do not know its proper spelling, our tool will help you. For instance, you can type “Wheljck” and still find the results for various Wheeljack action figures.
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Our Identification Tool will help you locate the basic information for each action figure and much more. For instance, you may discover whether or not your action figure came with a sticker sheet or instructions. Our identification tool includes detailed information on which accessories and weapons were included with the toys. We will even help you determine the release date of your toys.
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