I had a dime store ray gun when I was a kid that threw sparks inside. Those good old toys; the ray guns, the M-16s (I grew up during Viet Nam) or the made in Taiwan metal planes that cut you before you even got them home. I'll take the 70s.

Cadet Chuck

Just heard a news report that some grade school kids got suspended from school for playing "cops and robbers" with IMAGINARY guns!  Pointing their fingers, I think.  Better hide your vintage toy guns, guys!

Has this whole world gone nuts, or what?

Yes, yes it has.

Just heard a news report that some grade school kids got suspended from school for playing "cops and robbers" with IMAGINARY guns!  Pointing their fingers, I think.  Better hide your vintage toy guns, guys!

Has this whole world gone nuts, or what?

Those vintage toys look really cool. I'm not into the space stuff but would like to get the Johnny Eagle rifle and pistol sets that came out around 1963-64. I think Marx came out with 3 sets, a hunter set, a military set and a cowboy set. I had the hunter set called "Magumba" consisting of a neat looking auto pistol, a scoped bolt rifle and an oval wall hanging plaque. Both fired plastic bullets. I've seen them in Ebay now and then but not for cheap.

HEY ! TD 4438 !

Do I have to go to the ship's armory to get that ? WOW , That is nice . Thank You for showing us how you did that . Tanker - builder.

YES !  and YES again !

 The thing did have that inflatable collar and those tanks !  Did you know that many of us have trod the surface of MARS ? and the other planets  in unforgettable hordes ,This , long before our fledgling " SPACE PROGRAM " ?

    Wasn't that awesome .My "raygun " ? was silver in color , made weird noises , depending on how you set it .You know , stun  , disable and oops ! etc.

         I had , for the longest time  , something nobody has mentioned yet , I had a spaceship lamp that was actually a " LAVA " lamp on finned steroids . Well , don't fret , I still use it , as a nightlight !

      I got it for seventy five cents and four boxtops from  , I believe , CHEERIOS . Seems our past is catching up with us . It looks like the spaceship from " WHEN WORLSD COLLIDE " sitting on it;s tail .

   That darned lamp has "SPACE PATROL " markings on it that my son did long ago .He thought it looked better that way .

    I ran across the " Raygun " in storage . I had forgotten I even still had that stuff ! Did you know , the clear helmetted " SPACEMEN " are starting to show up at flea markets around the country . Sometimes complete with an undamage clear helmet ?

  I ran across some here in TEXAS . I didn't buy them , but , the seller still has them , think I'll go see her Sunday . well , that's about it for me . Anyone else got some old " SPACE STUFF " ?      Tanker - builder

TD, you are right.  Han's gun was indeed based on the broomhandle Mauser!  Thanks for the correction.

Here's a very rare photo of the actors who played the original Buck Rogers and Wilma Deering on a radio show serial, in the early 1930's.  That's Curtiss Arnall and his wife, Adele Ronson.

Note the guns they are holding- that is the first one issued by Daisy Manufacturing Company.  I have acquired a fine example of that one, too.  That is the large "Buck" gun, similar to the smaller "Wilma" gun shown earlier in this thread. 

Han's blaster (DL-15) was based on the broomhandle Mauser.The one I modified wasn't vintage.Every so often they are re-released.

Very nice job of modifying and painting that gun, TD!    A few years back, I picked up a Star Wars blaster, the kind Han Solo used, which looked very much like a Luger.  It had this really lame factory camo paint job on it (after all, it was just a kids' toy) so I decided to give it a realistic gun metal look.  I didn't add new parts like you did, but I used various shades of Testor's Metallizers and finished off with a black wash, and it came out looking quite realistic.  Sorry I don't have a pic.

Those old Star Wars toys will be more valuable as collectors' items as time goes by.  My son has a bunch of his stashed away, which I bought him in the 70's when they first came out.  Unfortunately, they have been played with and most of the packaging is long gone- but he's hanging on to them, mostly for sentimental reasons.

I modified this Hasbro E-11 for costuming.

Now that you mention it,I have a boatload of Star Wars blasters and lightsabers for the nieces and nephews to play with.

Hi, Tankerbuilder-

Sounds like you had the very popular helmet from the TV show "Space Patrol"-  I always wanted one, but they were pretty expensive in terms of 1950 dollars.  Did it have an inflatable plastic collar and a couple of small inflatable air tanks hanging down in back?  If so, that's the Space Patrol helmet!

Spaceman's luck, and "Stand By to Raise Ship!"

Chuck

HI:

   YEAH , that's what I am talking about .Mine looked like a fish bowl on steroids . I believe there were at least four or five different designs . I don't remember what brand mine was , but , the back part of the bowl was not clear and the thing kept turning to one side or the other during play .

  I will say this , I kept mine clearer and cleaner than my buddies . We got what back then was considered a great spaceship. They used to pack refrigerators in a cardboard box framed with wood . What a great space-ship ! CADET CHUCK , are the engines warmed up ?  We have to go to warp NOW ! !      Tanker-builder

Cool and cool!

Somebody mention space helmets?  Here is the Captain Video helmet that you could get for sending in a buck or two with a proof of purchase of the sponsor's product.

Here are two of the Marx figures that came with the playsets.  I put them in this shadow box, along with Space Patrol "Space-O-Phones" (string telephones) and the "Cosmic Smoke Gun".  These were featured in the plots of several "Space Patrol" TV shows and you could get one by mail order by sending in a cereal box top and 25 or 50 cents!

Yes, I do have more!  Here is the Buck Rogers Sonic Ray gun, with original box and code card, from about 1950.  It used 2 C batteries and was actually a flashlight with a buzzer.  Many variations on this style were produced over the following years, but this was the original and best looking of the bunch.

I also remember the Marx playsets and toy spacemen.  I had the Tom Corbett Marx playset, and I still have all of the figures to this day, including the little removeable clear space helmets!  Glad to know you folks remember this stuff fondly, too!

Good stuff!

I'm a sucker for the old "pulp" type sci-fi weapons. Ever seen Dr. Grordbort's collectible weapons? If not, you should check them out. Not vintage, but definitely fun. Here's a link to the Pomson 6000 Sub Atomic Wave Gun.

Happy New Year!

Tim

They look in pristine condition.  Cool toys.  Thanks for posting them.  Got any more?

HEY , CHUCK , did you remember that MARX did a whole line of that stuff ? When you got it ,it also had some ,about 1 1/2 inch tall "SPACEMEN " too ? I think at one time I had about forty "SPACEMEN " and gobs of the little green SOLDIERS too .     Tankerbuilder

GEE !

I remember those . Do you remember the funky space helmets they had back then too ? I remember one birthday , one of my uncles was fascinated by the " BUCK ROGERS " stuff and gave me this neat "RAY GUN "a "UTILITY BELT "and a funny looking helmet.That helmet never would stay on straight ! AH , But that was fun , oh I miss those days .     Tankerbuilder

I forgot to mention, as a point of interest, that both of those metal Buck Rogers guns were made by Daisy Manufacturing, the BB gun people!  But these guns shot nothing, they just made noise.

Ohhhhhhhhhh both are cool but that disintegrator is the cat's pajamas!

And here's the Buck Rogers Disintegrator, from the mid- 1940's!

Here's one of the Buck Rogers pop guns from the early 1930's.  It was called the "Wilma" gun because if was smaller than the similar Buck Rogers gun.  You could get these anywhere for 25 or 50 cents.

That's awesome Chuck, or should I say swell! I had a few toy guns growing up in the late '70s - early '80s but nothing that cool looking.

There is a very brief scene in the movie "Redtails" where the pilot, Ray, displays one of them to another pilot before a mission.  He mentions it is his "lucky Buck Rogers gun".