This article was written for and published in "Toy Trader" magazine in approximately 1995. The author is also the editor of the OPF newsmagazine and writes a weekly "Popeye" related column for his local newspaper.
"AHOY THERE, IT'S (collectible) POPEYE"
By late 1931, Popeye was in the hearts and minds of just about everyone, including toy manufacturers. The Marx Toy Company produced an entire line of "tin" toys based on the seafaring swab. This originated with the windup "Walking Popeye." This toy featured the mighty mariner transporting
dual parrot cages. It is still probably the most recognized creation from the Marx Company. Sources say that Marx manufactured more Popeye-related toys than any other comic strip character. A few other examples would include: the "Dippy Dumper," "Popeye the Champ," "Popeye the Pilot" and the "Popeye Express." The sailor's overemphasized physical proportions made him a prime candidate for toy companies. Because Popeye was so popular with children William Randolph Hearst, Segar's boss, demanded that the sailor be toned down. He wanted Popeye to give up his bad habits like cursing, drinking and gambling. Segar reluctantly followed orders, and Popeye was transformed. The alteration made the sailor even more popular with children, their parents and toy manufacturers.
Marx is also credited with producing a prototype toy called, "Wimpy's Hamburger Stand." This design featured the fat hamburger moocher as the proprietor of his own eating establishment. A three dimensional Swee'pea sat atop the business, playing a saxophone. As far as we know, this toy never made it past the prototype stages. Too bad, because this
sounded like a fun item.
Marx was definitely the leader of the pack in tin toy
production, but they did have some competition. Chein Toys manufactured a line of Popeye toys which included the "Popeye Punching Bag" windup. This was another toy that displayed the sailor's abilities as a pugilist. When activated, Popeye would swing wildly at a punching bag. Of course, Segar's Popeye did earn some spending money as a "sprize fighter."
The Strait's Company manufactured an animated bank called "Popeye's Knockout Bank." Once again, the swabby was suited up in his boxing trunks. He was faced with a little known adversary, similar to Marx's "Popeye the Champ." To motivate children to save their money, Popeye put on a show whenever a coin was inserted into the bank. As the currency passed through
its slot, Popeye spun around and K-Oed his opponent. This toy contained beautiful lithographs on its sides, which makes this and so many other tins popular today.
Not to be outdone, the Hoge Company produced a windup mechanical rowboat that featured Popeye. This toy was produced in the
mid-1930's, and can be spotted in the 1937 movie "Stella Dallas" starring Barbara Stanwyck. Incidentally, this toy originally sold for $2.50. At one auction a few years ago, it brought about $20,000.00!
As you might figure, Popeye was also being produced in other forms besides metal. There were multiple manufacturers of wooden jointed dolls and composition dolls. The Cameo Company produced some absolutely stunning replicas of Popeye and his doglike sidekick Eugene the Jeep in the mid-1930s.
By 1932, most newspapers had dropped the title "Thimble Theatre" and renamed the strip "Popeye". "Bluto the Terrible" was introduced and defeated in a 1932 story, but the oversized ruffian would be immortalized the following year when he and Popeye would begin a film career.
In 1933, cartoon producers Max and Dave Fleischer came out with the first Popeye animated film, titled, appropriately enough, "Popeye the Sailor". Naturally, his lanky girlfriend Olive Oyl came along for the ride, and so did his number one nemesis, Bluto. The results were unanimous...Popeye was destined to be the first animated superstar. In fact, by 1935, Popeye was outranking Disney's animated rodent, Mickey Mouse, at the box office. This represented another green flag to the toy manufacturers.
Literally hundreds of products were created from the mid-1930's through the 1940's. More tin toys were put into production, more dolls and more banks were manufactured. Popeye party costumes were fabricated for children and adults. An entire line of "Big Little Books" were marketed during this period. Popeye Feature Books were published, prior to the production of comic books. The first of the Popeye Feature Books is worth a small fortune, because of its scarcity, due to the small number originally printed.
Popeye was very successful, and his creator, Elzie Segar, lived a comfortable lifestyle in his Santa Monica, California estate,
which was a long way from his hometown of Chester, Illinois. Unfortunately, Segar was not able to see his character truly flourish. In 1938, he passed away after an extended battle with leukemia. Several artists were called upon to continue Segar's legacy, but it was Forrest "Bud" Sagendorf who would eventually take over the reins. Sagendorf worked under Segar as his apprentice and was really the only man for the job.
In 1948, with Sagendorf at the helm, Popeye was introduced into his own line of comic books manufactured by Dell Comics. (Note: For more information on these comics, refer to "The Comic Books" section of this website.) Sagendorf was also responsible for the artwork on many toys of the 1940's including "Popeye's Game: Tiddlywinks Golf." Like so many toys, the artistry on the packaging adds much to the collectible. In fact, top dollar cannot be obtained without the original packaging. Popeye does have one quirk that is uniquely his own; his pipe. Many toys, dolls and other paraphernalia were produced with either removable or extremely fragile pipes. An example would be the Popeye Lamp of the 1930s. If Popeye's pipe is missing or broken, the collectability and price decrease dramatically.
By 1950, Popeye was riding high. He was featured in the newspapers, in comic books, on radio, in toys and in movie theatres. The Linemar Toy Company, (a division of Marx), was in full swing producing their own line of tin toys. A few examples would be the "Popeye Lantern," the "Transit Truck," the "Roller Skating Popeye" and a variety of other friction
powered toys. What could possibly be next for the seafarer? Why, television of course!
In 1956, Associated Artists Productions purchased the rights to the Paramount theatrical cartoons produced first by Fleischer Studios and later by Famous Studios, cycling this compilation onto the television screens of a new generation. By 1959, King Features Syndicate, (licenser of Popeye products), realized Popeye's potential possibilities and contracted multiple studios to produce 220 new Popeye cartoons for the 1960-61 TV seasons.
In these new adventures, Popeye sported a white uniform and was surrounded by his usual supporting players with one exception. Bluto was replaced by Brutus, a somewhat sloppy, but just as sordid counterpart. Naturally, toy manufacturers followed suit, and a new line of toys graced the stores' shelves. Colgate Palmolive generated Popeye and Brutus bubble bath dispensers called "Soaky Toys." This product was even hocked with a cartoony commercial using the vocal talents of Jack Mercer, Jackson Beck and Mae Questel. These people provided the respective voices for Popeye, Brutus and Olive Oyl in the cartoon series.
The metallic tin toys were quickly vanishing from the market. It seemed that plastic toys could be manufactured much more
economically, and parents were becoming more concerned about the sharp edges of the metal toys. The one exception to this rule would probably be the A.C. Gilbert Company's "Erector Set." Without its metal parts what would be left?
The 1960's were the pinnacle of Popeye's career. The status of superstar could surely be placed on his sparsely covered
head. He was everywhere. Parents antagonized their children to eat spinach, because Popeye ate spinach. The adoring moppets gobbled down the muscle fortifier by the truckload. Spinach sales were so magnificent, that a "Popeye" brand spinach was marketed by the Steele Canning Company (now Allen's Canning
Company) and is still manufactured today!
More Popeye toys were developed in the 1960's than in any of the previous or later decades. An updated version of the 1957 "Popeye Jack-In-The-Box" was released in 1961. A transistor radio shaped like Popeye's head (with a removable pipe) was produced by the Philgee company. Hasbro marketed a gumball machine in the likeness of the sailorman. There were scores of dolls and hand puppets. Mattel developed a talking Popeye hand puppet in 1968. Viewmaster marketed several Popeye reels for their handheld viewing devices. Give-A-Show Projectors featured the sailor on their boxes multiple times.
Most of us are familiar with Colorforms. This was one of those wonderful imagination toys. Flexible plastic figures were provided on special trays. These forms could be transferred to a playing board in any method that a child saw fit. The product could be used again and again. The user could build hundreds of different scenes with just one kit. Over the years, Popeye was reproduced a total of eight times in a variety of Colorforms playsets in small and large set sizes! This repeated usage of Popeye to sell products displays the extreme popularity of the character. In today's market, these playsets are still sought by collectors, and it is a challenge to find a complete set with all of the intricate pieces intact.
As Popeye continued to grow in North America, he was making a name for himself globally, too. A Japanese company produced an entire set of wooden figures for the 1964 Olympics. Each statuette featured one of the Popeye cast members performing a specific Olympic event. This set is highly collectible today. Cartoons and books were becoming just as accessible overseas as they were in North America. Therefore, the international market was expanding rapidly with a variety of their own versions of Popeye products. Satin dolls were produced in England, harmonicas were manufactured in Czechoslovakia, plastic figures were turning up in Germany and hot water bottles (in the likenesses of Popeye and Olive) were warming people in Spain.
The list goes on and on and on.
As the 1960's drew to a close, Popeye's popularity was beginning to wane a bit. Concerned parents were on the rampage again. This
time their target was not the sharp edges of the metal toys. Their new goal was to decrease the violence in children's TV programs. It seemed that "Popeye" and the "Three Stooges" were on the top of their "hit list." The Stooges dropped out of sight for a long time. Popeye was able to survive in reruns.
Popeye merchandise was harder to find in the 1970's. Many of the sailor-related playthings were now relegated to the rotating toy
racks in "blister packs." These items included paint sets and "Popeye Putty" (a "Silly Putty" knock-off). Talented George Wildman was producing Popeye comic books for Charlton during this period.
Popeye was revived in 1978. The "All New Adventures of Popeye" cartoon series hit the television airwaves. This was a "kinder,
gentler" version of Popeye. This cartoon series was created by Hanna-Barbera and was fairly successful. The sailor was ALMOST politically correct. He spoke out about the evils of smoking, alcohol and drug usage. Was this really Popeye? One good outcome happened, as a result of this series. Bluto was back! KFS realized that they had the rights to him all along.
In 1979, it dawned on a few people that Popeye was about to celebrate a birthday. The sailor had survived for 50 years! To commemorate this happy occasion, scads of new collectibles and toys were manufactured. The Vandor Company was working on a wide variety of ceramic figurines, coffee mugs and music boxes. Popeye clothing was in vogue, as tee shirt manufacturers jumped onto the Popeye bandwagon. Bud Sagendorf produced a best selling book about Popeye. George Wildman created a 50th anniversary comic book. Popeye was definitely on the upswing again.
The 1980's commenced with a Robert Altman film titled "Popeye". Robin Williams and Shelly Duvall starred in this live action photoplay. The film was not terrifically successful at the box office, but another wave of merchandise was generated by the release of the film. Several movie related toys were marketed. These included books, board games and a Colorforms playset, (with the likenesses of Williams and Duvall for Popeye and
Olive, respectively).
By the mid-1980's, Popeye had become immortalized in his own video game from Nintendo. This spawned card game and boardgame versions, besides a host of other Popeye possessions.
In the late 1980's, Popeye was placed into another television show titled, "Popeye & Son." It is truly a miracle that Popeye survived this series. The sailor and his pals might as well have been furniture in these cartoons. The action revolved around his son, Junior and HIS buddies. Whatever happened to Swee'pea? Fortunately for Popeye, this was a very short lived show. Regrettably, it wasn't short enough. Toy producers were able to get a few puzzles and assorted rack toys marketed before the plug was finally pulled on the series. True Popeye fans would just as soon forget the series entirely.
Regardless of his successes and failures, Popeye is still the record holder for popularity. He is the world's most popular cartoon star, with a career total of almost 650 cartoons! His newspaper comic strip is still appearing today. It is currently created by the gifted Hy Eisman. Popeye toys and collectibles continue to gain value at a remarkable
rate. eBay has also helped to make Popeye more accessible.
The sailor turned 75 years young in 2004. With a little luck and a lot of spinach, perhaps he will continue his trek into the world of collectibles well into the 21st century.
Reprinted with the permission of the author with our thanks.
By Mike Brooks
"The Thimble Theatre" began in 1919, a full nine years before Popeye's entrance. The presence of specific collectible memorabilia for the strip from this era is extremely rare, since very few toys and things were manufactured prior to Popeye's introduction. Most of these items were based on Olive Oyl's family. For automobile enthusiasts, one company produced a hood ornament patterned after Bernice the magical Whiffle Hen, but this shortage of memorabilia would change dramatically in a few years, when Popeye would come aboard.
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