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Stirring up an old thread, I've managed to collect four out of a range of six in near mint / boxed condition.
Passing through my hands en route was a Refuse Truck with a very browned rear and a rubbed chrome Reefer but these have been replaced by the ones in photo.
All cabs are GMC except the Pumper which is a Ford.
Still to collect are the Stake Truck (which if I recall correctly is the one I had as a kid) and the Tanker.

Good luck with searching out the last two which you will of course show us here when you have them!

Ghosthunter.

I haven't got hold of the last two yet but found this oddity at Buxton toy fair today. First take I thought it was a colour variation of the reefer truck but picking it up looked wrong. The body doesn't flip open to accept the AA batttery yet the tunnel between cab and body is there as though it does. There is no refrigeration unit fitted to the front of the body but is otherwise more or less the same. The wheels are different (and smaller), there are no marker lights on the cab roof, no details on chassis sides and the baseplate is different. The cab also looks a tad smaller and of course the headlights are non operating.
There is no makers name on the baseplate. I'm guessing that another company took over the tooling after the demise of Marx. Zylmex springs to mind but I really don't know.
Anyway, it makes for an interesting companion piece despite its condition..

Well I managed to get hold of a pair of reasonable condition Tanker and Stake Truck as well as a tatty Stake Truck that I have pulled apart.
It will be refurbished in a totally non standard cab and chassis colour and generally upgraded.

The "low friction" wheels were never a great idea although they kept a standard wheel look.
The thin wire axle was threaded through four coloured nylon bushes and the ends nipped over at 90 degrees.
The two middle bushes were trapped at the centre point between the chassis and the spring metal used to conduct power to the headlights.
The two outer bushes were pushed into the hollow wheel with a little glue. The outer axle was suspended in mid air to allow some crude suspension.
Whilst stripping the model down, I decided I would renew the grain of wheat bulbs (3mm diameter) and replace the wire and bush axles with brass tube.
You can see from pic in my previous post how poorly the original wheels fit on even a near mint / boxed example.
However, my brass axle idea, isn't a total success because I used tube the same diameter as the interference fit bushes.
The wheels rotate but need coaxing. A tiny bit of oil helps but a slightly smaller centre sleeve would stop the friction taking place under the conductor strip.
As it is, it will be on a display shelf so the wheels being a little tight isn't a problem for me.

Original wheel and axle diagram: Replacement axle diagram: Original axles ripped out ... one brass axle test fitted
(use pliers not fingers ... those axle ends are sharp): New brass tube axles fitted and body primed
(imperfections are battery leakage corrosion ... needs more work):

What an excellent addition to this thread with news of a few additional models to the collection and work illustrated with excellent diagrams of a rebuild on one of the trucks.

Thanks AJR, this is great stuff!

Ghosthunter.

Scratting around my paint stash, I decided on a light metallic blue over a grey primer for the diecast part. I left the plastic body as it was but have started to add black decal vinyl between the slats (would have been easier to file them out but irreversible if I changed my mind). New 3mm 1.5 volt grain of wheat bulbs were fitted as the old ones were shot. The silver badge on the front of cab is actually a rivet that holds the securing clip (clip missing on this one) which is a novel idea. Cab seats are also missing but I can cobble some plasticard there.
Interesting there are a lot of similarities between the Marx and Matchbox stake trucks .... same number of body slats and uprights / rear end shape / fuel tanks and battery boxes in same positions.
The top tarp was painted properly in brown, not just across the top as they come.

Very good work on the rebuild and interesting to note the similarities between the matchbox. I like the idea of decal 'Black' to simulate openess between the slats, fiddly but effective.

Colour scheme seems ideal as well.

Another tired model rejuvinated for the highways again!

Ghosthunter.

Regarding the one-off oddity that I found (four posts up), I still haven't found out what it is, BUT whilst browsing t'internet for clues, I found "TUFFY" trucks.
Same cab, similar bodies, headlights powered by an AA battery, but only four wheels instead of six.
Made in Hong Kong exclusively for McCrory - McLellan - Green stores.
Can't find much on them unfortunately.

Little bit here if you have not seen it already...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Walker_McLellan

Ghosthunter.

Interesting rare variation on the fuel tanker ...