Chief Cherokee

Chief Cherokee was the third member of what would become known as Marx's Best of the West toyline, after Johnny and Jane West. The action figure was introduced in 1965 for a handful of years, and reissued again briefly in the early 70's. This was the first 'bad guy' introduced into the line, although most kids preferred the Indians to the cowboys in their play.

The 12" figure was molded in light brown plastic, with its hands and head made from a softer, copper-colored plastic. Black braided hair was painted onto the head. The body was molded into a buckskin-type outfit with Indian motifs. The hands for the original release were of the 'straighter' type, updated later to accommodate holding accessories. Later body versions also more closely match the later Geronimo figure, though with the same color; and upper-body rivets were changed for support.

Chief Cherokee's accessories were molded, like Johnny West's, out of softer chocolate-brown plastic and (for the stiffer items) dark-brown plastic. These included a breastplate, headdresses, buffalo helmet, pony blanket, knives, bow and arrows with quiver, tom-tom, tomahawk, spear, etc.

The final, 1975 version of the figure was molded in a lighter color, with red soft accessories; a couple of the more ornamental items, such as the war headdress and shield, had white and blue highlights painted on.

A Canadian variant with light-green body and green soft accessories was apparently sold in that country.