Operation Moonbase
This playset was, in my opinion, the absolute BEST playset Marx ever made. It came out about 1962 or so and had tons of playtime loaded into the box. As you can see, it contained dozens of astronauts, gadgets, moon vehicles, and rockets. Note that some of the accessories go all the way to Tom Corbett playsets of circa 1952!
I have only seen one of these in person, and I was 7 years old at the time and could not fully appreciate the grandeur. It did, however, leave a lasting impression.
I especially liked the guys in the can-like bell moonsuits. The bell moonsuits were two piece and you take the astronaut out of it for when he came “indoors”. Like most of the stuff in the moonbase it was patterned after real concepts.
This vacuformed moonbase had an open back with a tin-litho core called a “Silo”. Because it appeared “sturdy” I’m sure it got sat on a few times after the space station tower was removed. Turning a crank make the space station rotate neatly, but also torqued the top of the moonbase plateau and many cracked because of it. The moonbase terrain rarely survived being played with, and a lot of the vehicles also were broken from lots and lots of play. I have seen bits and pieces at flea markets from time to time. Unfortunately I did not recognize what they were at that time and was unable to acquire them.
The last intact moonbase I saw on E-bay was going for two thousand four hundred dollars.
So my friends, at that price we aint gonna buy one any time soon cause most of us like to eat regular and pay our bills on time. So until we all become rich and famous and can afford our own Moon Base heres how I built a cheap paper and card stock replica.
The Moonbase terrain play sheet the plateau sits on.
You can Email me at
All serious email will be answered.