Hi Jerry!
Glad you're enjoying this thread with me!
Bantam Book:
Yer gonna' love it. Lots of cool nostalgia resides therein.
Your Marx set:
IF you can scan/post your picture that includes your Marx set, I'll bet our (OGR's) Marx Maniacs can identify it for you! They helped me to know what I had as a youngster, and once I knew, I was able to find a complete set in very good condition on The Bay!
Of your first layout, you said:
"It wasn't great, but I did it all by myself, and I was proud to have friends over and run it with me."
Bingo! Those are two key points: You made it yourself and interacted with your friends because of it.
That right there is why I am SO glad I was raised during the era I was raised in. I pity kids today that are so engrossed in a virtual existence (texting, Tubing, Twitting, FB, etc, etc,) that they don't know the joy of hands-on creating something one's self, or the fun of interacting with your friends with a common interest, playing games, using one's (or corporate) imagination (like "Cowboys n' Indians", or "Army", etc), on and on. Our culture at that time encouraged imagination, developing motor skills, systematic thinking, problem solving and such as that. Aren't you glad you were raised during that time?
Andre
