Give Me a Gun or Somethin'! The Monster's At the Door!

[Hepcat]

And Hep....how about when the deal has gone down and they lay the " I'm so glad they are going to someone who is a collector and not a dealer" line of junk on you. That, after having bargained like a used car dealer to squeeze every available penny for the comics.

Oh but they really are glad they sold whatever to a collector and not a dealer! Had they sold the item to a dealer, they know the dealer must think he can realize an even higher price for the thing and that's a thought they cannot abide because it means that they did not squeeze the very last penny out of it which was their only interest.

And I always hate that the first question that comes out of the mouths of the great unwashed when they see a collection of cool stuff is "How much is all this stuff worth?"

"What the bloody hell does that matter?" is always my instant response. "It's not about the money to me. And I'm not selling it anyway."

[bigbud]

This is for the flying monsters.....will knock em right out of the sky, or give em a good fright just having it pointed at em! This is the Maco Anti Aircraft Gun and Helmet Set. I'd date it to late 50's-early 60's. This thing is big! With little doubt I can say there can't be many of these around...Though the machine gun is plastic with metal barrel, and the cone type base is good solid plastic, the center pole is a thick rolled cardboard and the protective L-shaped armour surrounding the machine gun is of a super thin plastic (very similar to the thin plastic of many Halloween masks). That an example of this gun is complete is amazing. One play-time would do this toy in! It's that fragile. But man, does it ever display well! And it shoots blue plastic bullets from the blue magazine attached to the side of the machine gun.       Buddy

[bigbud]

Wow..just took a look at my own pictures.....makes it look like I live in a park or something....ha!  Not so true, but it looks cool.     Buddy

[Hepcat]

This is for the flying monsters.....will knock em right out of the sky, or give em a good fright just having it pointed at em!

That thing is absolutely freaking awesome! Even low flying crows should beware.



Pity about the cheap flimsy construction though.

[bigbud]

Hi ya Hep! It really is the kind of toy that drove kids our age to play WAR with the neighborhood kids. I didn't know of this gun as a kid, but boy, if I had, I'd have been beggin' Mom for one big-time!

[jimm]

Thanks again for sharing, the majority of your stuff I've never even seen a pic of!

[Kal-El]

Those R some pretty kool stuff you guys have.

[bigbud]

the majority of your stuff I've never even seen a pic of!

Not sure I ever saw a Maco brand toy as a kid....regional distribution must have had a part in what was sold where. Lots of times I find something out in the sticks here in Kansas and wonder...where in the heck did these people go to buy this?!  Ya just never know what or where or when....sometimes it's just luck..... Buddy

[Hepcat]

Here's an old Daisy BB gun ad from the back cover of Black Cat 15 that would have been on the newstands in late 1948:

[bigbud]

Several years ago I passed on buying the original box for the Red Ryder BB gun....and I mean THE original box to the 1st Ryder rifle! I still kick myself. The guns are always popping in, but the box! ARGH!

[bigbud]

 Here's the bad-boy most of us remember as the backyard weapon of choice....if Mom would buy us one. This is the Deluxe Reading/Topper Toys Johnny Seven OMA (One Man Army). Even Sinbad, the crazy mailman in Jingle All The Way, wanted one. The pistol detaches and fires caps.....it fires white bullets....all kinds of bombs and grenades.....and has a pull back bolt so OMA rat-a-tats like a Mattel tommy gun. The bi-pod folds and secures under the barrel. Very cool.......Also included is a cardboard tank to set up....yea, right, we didn't need no cardboard tank when little brother was such a great target! Johnny Seven is dated 1964 and was THE top selling boy toy of that year.........

[Hepcat]

Here's the bad-boy most of us remember as the backyard weapon of choice.... Johnny Seven is dated 1964 and was THE top selling boy toy of that year....

'Nuff said! Putting these right in the supermarket above the frozen vegetables where both you and your mother would see them every week was absolute marketing genius on the part of Topper.



Does anyone remember whether they were also sold in the traditional mom and pop toy stores of the time?

[bigbud]

 

Does anyone remember whether they were also sold in the traditional mom and pop toy stores of the time?

Now that would take some research. Actually, being one of the Topper Toys (Deluxe Reading still refered to on the box) I thought that Johnny Seven OMA was strickly a Sears/Wards/Dept. store item.     Buddy

[Hepcat]

I know that supermarkets started out as Deluxe Reading's market niche. Perhaps the company broadened its marketing horizons at about the same time it changed its name to Topper.

[vintagehalloweentoys]

If monsters come knocking at your door, and you're fresh out of bullets or expensive weapons to deal with the threat, try these! Blow the monsters up with these cool Werewolf Firecrackers from the 1950's! Guaranteed to make your zombies dance (and blow up).

I found these at a holiday collector group this past Spring. I really liked the artwork!