Antique Popeye Toys

As a young child in the 1970's and 1980's, I often watched re-runs of Popeye and was inspired to eat spinach with the hope that one day, I would grow big muscles just like Popeye the Sailor Man.  First introduced as a comic in 1929, it was added to the Thimble Theatre comic with great success.

	Vintage Harmonica with Popeye The Sailor image c.1929 $9.99
	MARX TIN WIND-UP POPEYE W PARROT CAGES INCLUDES BOX $203.50
	RARE COPYRIGHT 1936 POPEYE MODELING CLAY TOY $10.00
	ANTIQUE 1930's HARLEY Motorcycle POPEYE Original Hubley $201.50
	Popeye Wind-up Toy Parts or Restore $19.95
	Vintage Popeye push toy figure $0.99

A 1933 Betty Boop cartoon was the film that the Popeye cartoon first aired and the famous I'm Popeye the Sailor man theme song was written for this film. Also in 1933 Popeye made it to the TV screen in a number of short films made for Paramount Pictures by Fleischer Studios. At one time during the 1930's, Popeye became even more popular than Disney's Mickey Mouse.

The character of Popeye the Sailor was based on a middle aged sailor with incredible strength, which was fueled by his love for canned spinach. During World War II, Popeye enlisted in the Navy and traded his regular civilian attire for an official Navy uniform, which went on to be used into the 1960's. Popeye was everywhere; Comics, TV, Movies, Toys, Video Games, Books and even a 1980 action film.

Off course every kid wanted a piece of Popeye at home and toys were produced to satisfy this Popeye fascination. Some of the first Popeye toys were wind up Popeye dolls as well as cast iron Popeye figurines. Marx created some unique Popeye wind up toys including cars and figurines as well as a very interesting and valuable wind up boxing ring called Popeye the Champ. This is one of the most sought after antique Popeye wind-up toys on the market today.