Monday, March 16, 2009

Marx Imagination house on ebay

While I do have several tin litho dolls houses, I've never really warmed to those produced by the American company Marx. Not sure why. But it seems that they also produced a plastic dolls' house in 1965 called the Imagination dollhouse. I don't have many reference books on 20th century dolls houses, so I've just discovered this house on US ebay, where there is one listed at the moment:
Wow.
I love the rich combination of colours, and the shapes in the window panels:


The house itself is made of transparent coloured plastic panels which can be assembled in different configurations - a bit like the Bozart Kaleidoscope house, with more scope for changing the layout of the rooms and shape of the house.
The ebay auction is listed with shipping to the UK, so perhaps they'd ship to Australia - but I suspect the final price will be very high, even without the cost of shipping it.

Update: The house sold for only US $204.49, which does not seem much considering it was fully furnished and came with original instructions.
I've just come across another Marx Imagination house, owned by Kathy, while browsing through minimodern's blog archive. Kathy has furnished hers spectacularly with wonderful retro furniture and accessories by a whole lot of different brands, rather than using the moulded plastic Marx Imagination furniture. I love it!

12 comments:

  1. I have an Imagination Dollhouse that is probably in fair to good condition. How much do you think it is worth?

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  2. I was searching for a Marx plastic house online and your blog came up. This was my house when I was a little girl!! I am so excited to see a pic of it. I still have some of the furniture, but the house itself cracked over time and I got rid of it at some point. Thanks for the pics!

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  3. Hi Anonymous 1, There are a couple of Imagination (or Ultra Contemporary) dollhouses on US ebay right now - one has everything still in the packaging, and starts at US$129, the other is in good condition and starts at US79.99. So I guess the seller of the first is hoping it will go a bit higher. It's hard to know, both not knowing how complete and undamaged your house is, and with the effects of the GFC, but maybe these will give you some idea :-)

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  4. Hi Anonymous 2, thanks for leaving a comment! Amazingly, you were looking just the day before a fellow blogger posted about her Marx Imagination house. You can see hers on http://myrealitty.blogspot.com/2010/02/imagination-house.html - and she would love to know what it was like playing with it when you were a kid. Did it wobble a lot when you touched it, so things fell over?
    Thanks for stopping by, Rebecca :-)

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  5. i would love this house. i had it as a little girl. if anyone knows where i can get one please post a comment. i will check back from time to time

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  6. I LOVED this dollhouse! It was awesome--it is exactly what the name says: Imagination Dollhouse because you could mix and match the chair legs and re-arrange the rooms how ever you liked. I got it for Christmas, I think 1967ish-- I spent hours playing with it. It's gone now but seeing pictures of it now brings back wonderful memories!

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  7. I had one of the doll houses as a little girl. Have been looking for one the past few years. Hard to find for sure!

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  8. I'm dying to buy this. If anyone knows where I can get one, please contact me at jcoburn@mascconomet.org. I had one when I was a little girl and it was one of my favorite toys.

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  9. I am selling a very complete, great condition one. Just want someone who will enjoy. contact at gcohen@wavecable.com

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    Replies
    1. Thank you - I have acquired one since I wrote this post. Perhaps someone else who wants one will see this.

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  10. I have mine from 1966 ...in very good condition if anyone interested

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  11. Hello! I collect 1920s-recent houses, and usually buy duplicates for restoration; I have 2 of these and am looking for the best way to set them up together. Do you have any suggestions? I have tried a few different things, but have been limited by a 36" shelf length. The dollhouse rooms are filled, so another shelf is not possible. Any ideas for joining them together?

    Deaun
    (Frustrated and I wanna go play)

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