History
The Louis Marx company produced dozens of models of miniature cap guns. Production began in the mid to late 1950s, partly in Japan. The peak production was from 1959-1963 in the United States. Two shorter runs were produced later, one in 1965 and one in 1974. Both of these later series used the early 1960s dies. The 1974 production was very brief. The Jan 10, 1975 issue of "Gun Week" magazine reported that Quaker Oats, Marx's parent company, had decided to eliminate gun and war related toys from the lines. Marx ended all production a few years later.

There are three groups of guns:

• The guns cast in Japan in the late 1950s. 
• The nine models that comprise the " Famous Firearms " and "Collector's Series ". 
• And the eight models that comprise the " Golden Guns " which were later recast as the "Historic Guns " in 1974.

The earliest guns were sold on small cardboard cards. The oldest were attached to the cards by string, later by elastic cord or rubber bands. Still later the guns were sold on cards held under small "blisters" of plastic or acetate. There were several boxed sets, and collections of several related guns on larger cards. Several series included extras such as plastic cases, accesories and holsters.

There are also three basic finishes to the guns. Black lacquer, silver chrome and gold chrome. The color of the black lacquer varies from dark gun metal grey to jet black. The gold is even more variable, ranging from a tarnished silver color to brassy yellow. The oldest guns made in Japan came in black painted or nickel plate, no chrome.

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