1935 - 33 Repeater, Belt & Holster Set By Wyandotte

[Joe K.]

(See below for the 1935 date. The first post is the previous earliest listing, a 1936 catalog....Ed)

 

 

Let's begin with this two-page spread which provides the 1936 date for the Marx line of mechanical toys that year:

 

http://www.whentoyswerefun.com/57555.jpg

 

Here's the DATABASE photo for the Marx Rocket Racer pictured:

 

http://www.danefield.com/data/albums/bh7/n...-1201146437.jpg

 

and the Buck Rogers Rocket Police Patrol (already TIMELINE dated to 1935):

 

http://www.danefield.com/data/albums/userp...normal_rt13.jpg

 

This next page appears to be from the same catalog and shows the Wyandotte Rocket Fighter:

 

http://www.whentoyswerefun.com/57559.jpg

 

Here's the DATABASE photo of same:

 

http://www.danefield.com/data/albums/userp...mal_rtalk25.jpg

 

Finally, also apparently from the same catalog, this page depicting six ray guns:

 

http://www.whentoyswerefun.com/57558.jpg

 

They are:

33 Repeater by Wyandotte (All Metal Products)

Gun & Holster Set (It looks like this is the 33 Repeater with a holster)

Buck Rogers Rocket Pistol by Daisy

Buck Rogers Liquid Helium Water Pistol by Daisy (already TIMELINE dated to 1936)

Buck Rogers Disintegrator by Daisy

Flash Gordon Radio Repeater by Marx

[Phil R]

The ray guns. I've never seen the Wyandotte gun with a holster.

 

 

 

[dratomic]

Here are the pics, Joe. I've never seen the Wyandotte holster before, either.

Also, this listing establishes a new, much earlier date for the Wyandotte gun (1936). The version pictured in Ray Gun, by Gene Metcalf, lists the gun as "1940s." (However, that's the version with the painted front barrel and sight.) I find this very exciting.

Catalogue Spread

Wyandotte Ship (bottom left of page)

Various Space Guns (including Wyandotte and holster)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Joe K.]

dratomic said:

Also, this listing establishes a new, much earlier date for the Wyandotte gun (1936). The version pictured in Ray Gun, by Gene Metcalf, lists the gun as "1940s." (However, that's the version with the painted front barrel and sight.) I find this very exciting.

I agree, Doc. These three "unidentified" 1936 catalog pages are a real wealth of "NEW" TIMELINE information.

I think Gene's "1940s" date is accurate. Here's another TIMELINE thread started by Phil R that dates the ZZ Ray to 1941 by way of an A&P Food Store advertisement:

http://danefield.com/alpha/forums/index.php?showtopic=7098

The answer to your question at the end of this thread, as to which version of the Wyandotte gun is older, is now obvious. The ZZ Ray is newer (1941), preceeded by the "non-litho tip" version (1936).

While the two guns bear striking similaries, they should be considered two separate weapons. Thanks to Phil's photo of the box for this gun, it's true name is now known. The box identifies the 1936 piece as the 33 Repeater. Five years later, Wyandotte recycled the stamping, added colorful litho and a name to the front site and released the ZZ Ray gun. Only a photo of the box for this later version will confirm the ZZ Ray name, but until that comes along, it would be safe to assume that this is the name of this 1941 release.

I've gone back into my initial post and changed the name of the "Pop Ray Gun" to 33 Repeater.

A couple questions still remain...

Can anyone enhance the ray gun section of the page to make the ad copy more legible? There may be more details lingering there.

And, can the same be done to the bottom of the pages to determine the name of the catalog these pages originally came from?

[dratomic]

Joe --

Actually, the name "33 Repeater" has been ID'd for a while now. However, I always forget it because it's sort of boring.

It does make me wonder though... Is it possible that the 1936 date is not the first appearance of the gun? Might it have originally come out in 1933, hence the name? Or perhaps "33" refers to something else entirely... maybe the day they first thought of making the gun, the birth date of the owner's kid, etc. etc. Just speculation.

Oh, and the name "ZZ Pop" is confirmed -- you can only barely see it in the photo originally posted by Phil, but it's written on the gun's front sight. I believe it was named after some spacemen with really long beards... (Great. Now I'm making puns...)

[Joe K.]

It does make me wonder though... Is it possible that the 1936 date is not the first appearance of the gun? Might it have originally come out in 1933, hence the name? Or perhaps "33" refers to something else entirely... maybe the day they first thought of making the gun, the birth date of the owner's kid, etc. etc. Just speculation.

Perhaps, Doc, the gun's designer was a Rolling Rock fan ;) :

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_number_33...ock_beer_labels

Your 1933 release date makes the most sense to me. We'll just have to keep looking, eh?

[dratomic]

Rock and roll, beer, futuristic firearms... Those Wyandotte guys sure had their priorities straight! :D

[Joe K.]

.

As seen in this Wards (Montgomery Ward) 1935 Christmas Catalog:

"Pop-pop-pop! Just as fast as you pull the trigger

it cocks and shoots ... but the cork stays right in

the barrel. New type futuristic metal pop pistol

brightly colored ... 71/4 in. long; handsome tan and

red leather Holster set with 30-in. belt and 8-in.

holster with tabs. Ship. wt. 1 lb. 4 oz." 45 cents

Other space guns pictured on these two interior pages:

Buck Rogers Disintegrator (listed as "new"), Flash Gordon Signal Pistol, Buck Rogers Rocket Pistol

and Flash Gordon Radio Repeater Pistol (previously Timeline dated to 1936. See link below.).

And, elsewhere in the catalog, the Buck Rogers' Rocket Police Patrol ship.

This sighting confirms the 1935 Sears catalog sighting seen here:

This 33 Repeater & Holster Set sighting moves the Timeline date back one year, from 1936 to 1935.

Here's the previous 1936 sighting:

.

[Brian..]

The earliest press sighting is now back to June 1935:

 

[Joe K.]

A full-page ad from the January 1935 issue of Playthings magazine:

According to the ad copy, the gun could be purchased separately, the holster could be purchased separately, or

both the gun and holster could be purchased as a set.