Bear Hunting

This ingenious battery-operated toy was offered for sale in 1963 by Louis Marx & Company. 

Marx was commonly known as the Henry Ford of the Toy Industry as he built his plaything empire on a single, yet simple, rule:  Give the customer more toy for less money.

The formula to his success?  He actually eschewed television advertising and relied heavily on high volume catalog sales and rock-bottom pricing.  

By the early to mid 1960s competitor Mattel revolutionized the industry by means of television commercials specifically directed towards kids as a target market rather than adults.  Recognizing the shift, Marx embraced television advertising and leaned heavily into dynamic, battery-operated plastic interactive toys.  Bop-A-Bear led the way during this transition.

Marx recognized the attraction of earlier shooting-gallery style games.  Even though they were huge hits they relied-upon fixed tracks and static targets.  Mark's engineering team developed a toy that was a marvel of scientific innovation inspiring real-time  unpredictability an entire generation before digital toy technology. 

The bear was constructed of molded plastic and included a mechanical trigger switch on its hind quarter.  Instead of a track it "walked" freely across the floor.  Hitting it with a rubber suction cup dart reversed the motor's polarity sending the bear shuffling-off in another direction while triggering an internal growling sound mechanism.  This was too cool beyond words.  How else could 1960s suburban kids bring a safari to the driveway, living room or basement rec room. 

In 1963 this was priced somewhere between $4-$6 depending-upon retailer; or about $40 to $60 in today's dollars.  Two D-cell batteries were extra. 

Bop-A-Bear had a relatively short life expectancy (pardon the pun) spanning 1963 to 64: yet, it set the stage for more Marx favorites like Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots (1964).  Nowadays, working examples of the original over-under dart gun and reversing motor bear are sought-after pieces of mid-century toy Americana. 

Just goes to show; even a Marx can become a wildly-successful capitalist....