Japanese, wooden, space, cork guns

[Nick Danger]

Now that I have everyone puzzling over my wooden Buck Rogers rocket ship on the other board, I thought I might share another research project that's been keeping me occupied during the pandemic.

 

After trolling through the archives, I came across this item that Justin Pinchot posted back in 2006 and was fascinated:

 

 

I was lucky enough to find a blue version on eBay and then pick up a double-barreled version from BigBang (thanks again, Richard):

 

 

I know that the consensus of the Alphadrome experts its that these are post-War, likely dating from the late 40s or early 50s, but I wondered if they might not be pre-War.  My suspicion began with the simplistic mechanisms and overall construction, particularly when compared to the all-tin ray guns that came out of Japan in the 50s (also, the use of wood is curious).  Additionally, the lines of the blue gun seem vaguely art deco, closer to something I would expect from the 1930s than the 1950s.

 

So, after combing through some old ads on eBay and other places, I came across a page from the 1937 Shure Winner catalog, which advertises a cork gun rifle that is quite similar to the full-rifle version of my blue cork gun pistol.  I used a little photo manipulation to show the ad, side-by-side with the Alphadrome image and another, similar rifle with different lithography:

 

 

I realize this image is far from definitive, but I'm hoping some other Alphadromer might have access to this catalog or others from the same time period to see if there's a similar ad for the pistol version.  A pre-War designation would make sense: after the stratospheric success of the Buck Rogers rocket pistol in 1934, I'm sure the Japanese toy manufacturers were anxious to capitalize on this new market.  With their eagerness to strike while the market was hot, it would be much quicker to change the lithography of an already-existing design than design a completely-new toy.

 

And, not for nothing, but if we can establish a pre-War date for these cork guns, that might qualify the full-rifle version as the very first space rifle toy.

 

 

 

 

 

[Roboto]

Great looking examples!

[Brian..]

They are charming space rifles. Their naivety appeals. I don't believe we have a date for any of these examples.  It's tempting to think the space themed ones are pre-war but there's no evidence. 

 

Could you enlarge that B logo on the Rocket Gun? Is it Bandai?

[6Stelab9]

They are beautiful. I like the mix of wood and tin and that they are so colorful.

[Joe K.]

3 hours ago, Brian.. said:

They are charming space rifles. Their naivety appeals. I don't believe we have a date for any of these examples. The search goes on!

 

Could you enlarge that B logo on the Rocket Gun? Is it Bandai?

I believe you are correct, Brian.

According to William C. Gallagher, Bandai used this style logo from 1950 thru 1961.

 

[Nick Danger]

Here is a better closeup of the "B" logo:

 

 

It's a bit faint, so I messed with the contrast a bit to bring it out.  I don't know anything about logos, so I appreciate Joe's expertise.  It doesn't surprise me to find out that this toy is later than the blue one.  The wood is more finished and the lithography more complex (Although, the edge work is sloppy; whoever made the blue one thought to crimp the edges of the tin, whereas the tin on the double-barreled one is simply cut, leaving a vaguely-sharp edge).  I should mention that the action of the mechanism is quite clever.  Each barrel is cocked separately, using one of the wood-capped levers (there's one on each side).  Pulling the trigger back halfway fires the right barrel, and pulling it the rest of the way fires the left, much like the action of most modern, double-barreled shotguns.

 

 

As a sidenote, I notice that that lithography on my example is slightly different from the example in the database.  Among other things, the logo is in a different location:

 

 

And while I was at it, I photographed the DKA logo on the blue gun, which matches the one in the database.  Any thoughts on this one, Joe?

 

[Joe K.]

William C. Gallagher's book, Japanese Toys - Amusing Playthings From the Past, Schiffer Publishing, 2000, ISBN: 0-7643-1129-8 does not include the DKA logo.

I've checked most of my other reference books and they too, lack the DKA logo.

The search continues . . .

Nick, can you see inside the tin barrels of any of these? I was just wondering if there was any original, left-over litho hiding in there.

 

 

[Nick Danger]

Yes, I can, and no, there isn't.  I've heard tell as well about these old cork guns recycling beer or soda cans.  I don't know if the tin in either of these toys is recycled or not, but if it is, they scrubbed it to bare metal.

[Nick Danger]

I came across another one of these cork guns with a "68" date stamped on it.  As you can see, the toy appears to be a souvenir of "Hemisfair," which was the World's Fair held in San Antonio, Texas in 1968.  So, my hypothesis that these toys are pre-War is essentially disproven.  My guess is that these single-barreled, DKA versions came after the more-refined, double-barreled, Bandai version, which Joe has established as being made between 1950 and 1961.  Actually, it occurs to me that we can narrow that down even more: doesn't the fact that the writing reads, "Made in Japan" and not, "Made in Occupied Japan" mean that it was made after 1952?

 

 

[Tinplate6]

Very neat guns...I have yet to add one of these to my collection. Congratulations.

[Nick Danger]

I picked up a second, double-barreled cork gun with lithography that matches the one in the database.  I thought it would be interesting to show both of them, side-by-side.  Along with the variations in graphics, the wood is finished with a much lighter lacquer.

 

 

 

And here's a closeup of the logo.  It's a little different than the first one, but presumably, it's still Bandai.  Any chance we can figure out which came first, based upon the difference?

 

 

 

[6Stelab9]

Very nice artwork and toys. As the graphics of the top one looks more naive, I would guess this is the first one ( but without any proof)