I WOULD LIKE TO COLLECT THESE.

I have the entire set! I still have it sitting at home! my 5 year old son plays with it sometimes. I used to love playing with these, my brother and I used to take Johnny West and Sam Cobra tie our dad's ties around them and fling them to see who went farther. I miss the good old days and playing with toys...

I love cowboys and horses!!!! I would love to add these to my toy collection!!!!

I was a little old when I got my first Johnny West "action figure". But I had a blast in the short time I did play with those guys. I had Johnny and Thunderbolt along with Captain Maddox. Also had the buckboard along with another Thunderbolt that had coasters on his hooves making it easier to pull the buckboard. My brothers and sister also had a few figures. I had mine until the mid 80's and then they were accidentally destroyed. About 1999 I looked into starting to collect these things again, was in on an Ebay price war for a buckboard back then, I dropped out at $500. A pricey hobby to get into today but I think well worth it. These were great durable toys.

I loved the Johnny West Figures My two older brothers had one along with Geronimo and Thunderbolt. I'm happy to say Johnny west is back and its new and improved. It's almost identical as the old version but looks more polished and I ordered two from a company in Kansas.

The Saga of Johnny and Jane West. Late in 1965, Johnny was married to Jane. By Mid 1966, Jane evolved into Johnny's teenage niece. Why? While Johnny West was always molded to look 35+ years old, boys didn't care. Young girls, however, showed little fondness for the original mold of Jane, which made her look 35+. Marx Toys remolded Jane to look 16 years old, thus selling much better.

From the Saturday morning cartoon vault: A commercial for the Best of the West Circle-X Ranch play set (corral included), aired on the "Casper the Friendly Ghost" show from 10/8/66 on ABC-TV. The Circle-X brand was part of Marx Toys logo at the time.

My next door neighbor had Johnny West, Thunderbolt, and Chief Cherokee. I am not sure if he had Jane or the kids. I grew up loving all things western and really admired all of Johnny's removable accessories like his bandana, hat, vest, chaps, pistol and holster, and rifle. I even liked his camping gear like the saddle for a pillow, cowboy coffeepot and mugs, etc. I wanted a Johnny West of my own, but I would have to wait for Christmas for something that expensive. A new series of 'The Best of the West' came out just in time for Christmas, wouldn't you know it? The new set featured a play set called Fort Apache. It was a stockade style fort with gates, lookout tower, barracks, and a jail. They introduced a new character to go with the set. He was an army scout and Indian fighter named Bill Buck. I told my parents I wanted Bill Buck and the fort. I picked Bill because I thought the scouts were cooler than the soldiers because they were more rugged, dressed like mountain men, and knew the Indian ways. I am ashamed to say I was disappointed because my parents really did go all out. I got the fort, but the Toys R Us was sold out of the Bill Buck figure except for one that had been vandalized for all his accessories. In his place they got a figure I didn't even know existed. It was General Custer. He was kind of cool with his long blond hair and mustache, he had a double breasted molded on uniform and sword, but he didn't have the buckskin jacket and all his accessories were military issue and not cowboy style. his pistol, for example, was in the high waisted holster with the military flap that covers it, not low on his hip for a fast draw like Johnny's. They also gave me a Private for the General to give orders to. His name was Zeb Zachary. I had never seen him before either, but he was a new face, designed to look younger than Johnny, Bill, or Custer. I had the same problem with his gear, all military. Instead of Winchester rifles, the soldiers had the old Springfield rifles that fired only one shot at a time. Zeb had one wide brim hat, that was turned up in front, and one cap like they wore in the civil war. They even got Custer's horse, Commanche. This was a new innovation advertised with posable legs. Unfortunately, the joints were too loose and free moving to support all the tack and a soldier without collapsing, so the original Thunderbolt with the stiff, stationary legs was better. The saddles were, of course, the small calvary style instead of the western style I loved. They even included an Indian for the soldiers to fight. I don't remember his name, but he was a new one with a Mohawk haircut and was actually kind of cool. I was not enough of a brat to complain and act like I didn't appreciate all the gifts. I thanked them and I played with them. I hope they never caught on to the fact that I was initially a little disappointed. Thinking back, it is obvious they put a lot of time into it and got the newest and latest in the line. Like I said at the beginning, I am ashamed now and I will never say I was disappointed again.

Blankend made several good points. In 1965, the boxed Johnny West retailed at $11 to $12. Toward the 1970s, closer to $16. The smaller accessories included were the spurs and money bags (which were easy to lose). I recently found a loose Johnny figure in a Wisconsin antique store, selling for $50. Problem: One arm was dangling by the rubber band, away from the body. In a way, Johnny's molded face sort of resembled that of Eric Fleming, the actor who co-starred with Clint Eastwood on "Rawhide."