Toy Ray Guns Fire Up Landry Pop Auctions
A recent sale at Landry Pop Auctions was a showcase for mid-century sci-fi toys that zap, click, spark, shoot, and flash.
The emerging technologies of the Atomic Age and Space Age fueled the imaginations of adults and children alike, and few items capture this spirit as well as the toy ray gun. The online “Vintage Ray Guns” sale held by Landry Pop Auctions on February 25 was a walk through the bold designs, thrilling tales, and sheer fun of the era.
The first metal ray gun toy was the Buck Rogers XZ-31 Rocket Pistol, introduced in 1934 by the Daisy Manufacturing Co. and based on the popular radio show and comic strip. A lot consisting of two rocket pistols, one with the original box, and a Buck Rogers holster, sold for $445.
The year it was introduced, the XZ-31 caused a shopping frenzy. Daisy continued making Buck Rogers toys, and more manufacturers jumped on the ray gun trend. There were plenty of sci-fi stories to inspire them. A set of two printed-metal click repeater pistols by Marx, consisting of a Tom Corbett Space Cadet Space Gun and a Flash Gordon Arresting Ray, each depicting its respective spacefaring hero, sold for $244. The toys appear to have the same design, just with different graphics.
The toys don’t have to reference a character to be desirable. The top lot was a Pyrotomic Disintegrator pistol by the Pyro Plastics Corp., which more than doubled its $3,000 high estimate, selling for $6,710. The auction called this exceptionally rare toy “a grail for space and ray gun collectors.”
Manufacturers around the world made toy ray guns. A plastic Air Gam dart gun, made in Spain, sold for $336 with its original box and three suction-tipped darts. A lot consisting of eight Japanese tin ray guns with colorful graphics, boasting names like “Astroray Gun” and “Space Jet,” sold for $732, more than twice its $300 high estimate.
For those who prefer nonviolent toys, several ray guns in the auction were made for peaceful purposes. According to its packaging, the 3-Color Space Ray Gun by the Ideal Toy Corp is “for interplanetary space signals” and flashes green, white, and red lights. One of these toys sold for $153 with its original box.
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