dratomic Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Well said, Fin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian.. Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Just to tidy up the information from previous posts, here are the photos of the Ferriot masters for the Tomik in its space cannon form. They completely alter the scale and perception of the gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Nice pics, never seen before! Thanks. It looks made of metal. No trigger or mechanism? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fineas J. Whoopie Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 The metal cannon and astronaut figure are incredible! The base looks to have an extra slot to accommodate a trigger on the gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinplate6 Posted August 11, 2014 Author Share Posted August 11, 2014 Wow! That would have made quite an impressive toy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 To fill in some blanks for those who've never seen these before: These pieces are metal mold masters, and they were used to create the mold cavities that were then used to make the production pieces. The gun has no trigger because this mold master is only for the outer shell -- not the inner trigger/rubber band mechanism. That would have had its own metal piece (which, come to think of it, I've never seen...). Companies would often use metal mold masters, but sometimes companies would use hard plastic sculpts as guides to cut the molds. Ferriot Bros. was a company used by toy manufacturers to make mold cavities. But they also carved final sculpts, created mold masters, etc. They were the best of the best. I'm lucky enough to own a mold cavity created by them for one of the targets in the Rex Mars target game by Marx. It's likely they carved the final sculpts, too. Thomas Toys never put the Tomik figures or gun base into production. Which is really too bad -- they're super cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Thanks doc! Who is the owner of this rarity? And... am I the only one here to see a phallic shape in this gun? :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 It was sold privately a couple years ago -- I don't know who currently owns it, though it came out of the hands of a long-time prototype collector who I believe got it directly from Islyn Thomas -- founder of Thomas Toys (the two were friends). It was listed on eBay a few years ago for waaaaaay more than I could spend. It's one of my favorite pre-production pieces, something I'd love to own, and to this day I wish I'd found a way to scrape together the money. Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Doc the right place for this thing is you collection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fineas J. Whoopie Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 I'd like to see the owner make a run of the bases and the spacemen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 It'd be expensive to do plastic figures. You'd have to cut steel molds using these masters and those cost some serious cash. Not to mention the potential risk to the mold masters... On the other hand, it'd be relatively safe -- and certainly less expensive -- to make silicone molds and then cast the figures in resin. Not that hard to do for someone who knows what he or she is doing. (If I could pull it off with those Alphabots and Alphanauts, anyone can do it!) Still... Sometimes it's nice to leave the unproduced stuff as unproduced. There's something cool about toys that never happened. The "what if?" scenario that romantics and poets are so fond of. Maybe they exist in an alternate universe. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 This "bronze" Tomik is on ebay, but I think it's just a painted silver gun.http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Thomas-Toys-Tomik-Space-Ray-6-Rubber-Band-Gun-1950s-Bronze-/381197756580?pt=UK_Toys_VintageToys_RL&hash=item58c12828a4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Looks like bronze plastic to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandro Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 There are chips on the wing edges, I see the grey under the paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fineas J. Whoopie Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 I was chatting with Doc last night and I mentioned my red version. I didn't realize it was a rare color. How many color variations are known? Sorry for the poor photography and unfortunately I don't remember if I got this from an American seller or from overseas. I can't see any difference between the red version and my blue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.