REX MARS PLANET PATROL SPARKLING SPACE TANK - MARX - USA

1950s large tinplate wind up tank. Driver emerges from inside. The pressing is a reworking of an earlier military toy (a series of "doughboy" tanks with a similar action) - shown below. The addition of a space litho makeover turns an old style toy into something more futuristic. USA X-1. Rex Mars is the in house (license free) space hero created by the Louis Marx company. Widely on sale in late 1953.