Plastimarx was the Marx company's Mexican toy manufacturer which was founded by Manuel Diaz Barreiro as Artefactos Plasticos S.A. in 1948. Louis Marx purchased 55 per cent (a controlling interest) of the company in 1955, after which the company traded as Juguetes Marx until 1957, at which time the name changed to Plastimarx. The products of the company were distributed within Mexico, mainly plastic toys, as the name suggests, until Marx US shipped tooling for metal toys, particularly trains, to Mexico. The tooling was the original Hafner tools which had been sold to Wyandotte in 1951, then purchased by Marx in 1956, following the closure of All Metal Products Co, the makers of Wyandotte toys. Louis Marx also shipped older Marx tooling to the Mexican plant.
Plastimarx worked closely with Fisher Price, manufacturing Fisher Price toys for sale in Mexico. Fisher Price was purchased by Quaker Oats in 1969, becoming an indepedent company again 1n 1991. Louis Marx sold his Marx business to Quaker Oats in 1972 and, in 1976, Quaker Oats sold Marx to Dunbee-Combex-Marx, who had bought the former British Marx subsidiary in 1967, and, in 1972, British manufacturer Hornby. Meanwhile, Plastimarx continued as a subsiduary of Fisher Price (then owned by Quaker Oats) from 1972, but was not part of the Quaker Oats package of companies (including Fisher Price) sold by Quaker Oats to Dunbee-Combex-Marx in 1976. Coming full circle, Quaker Oats sold Platimarx back to the Barreiro family who had formed Artefactos Plasticos S.A. in 1948. Plastimarx prospered, using Hafner, Marx and Fisher Price tooling, even acquiring additional Marx tools following the collapse of Dunbee-Combex-Marx in 1980. During the 1980s, Plastimarx production was exported to USA and sold there by Great Lake Productions and Model Power. Plastimarx continued until at least 1991, although the date of final closure is unknown.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
page views since 1998