Marcel Jovine, 81; Sculptor Known for Visible Toys Series

Marcel Jovine, 81, sculptor, coin designer and creator of such educational toys as the Visible Man, the Visible Woman and the Visible Engine, died Jan. 20 in Greenwich, Conn., of unspecified causes.

Born in Naples, Italy, Jovine sketched and drew from childhood and worked at his art while a prisoner of war during World War II. After immigrating to the U.S., he began making toys, starting with a baby doll he made of rubberized plastic he cooked on a stove. The Ideal toy company marketed the toy as the Blessed Event doll.

Jovine’s best-known toys were the Visible series, anatomical models of men and women and of a V-8 automobile engine. Each could be taken apart to teach children about anatomy and engineering.

In the late 1970s, Jovine shifted to sculpting and coin-making, designing Olympic medals for the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, N.Y., the 125th anniversary medal of the American Numismatic Society and a $5 bicentennial gold piece for the U.S. Treasury. Jovine also made bronze statues of famous racehorses, including Affirmed, Seattle Slew, Spectacular Bid, Nashua and John Henry.