Fineas J. Whoopie Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 OK I have a guess. Is it the Tom Corbett Space Cadet Atomic Rifle?It doesn't have the fluted band above the bullet-like detail as seen in the teaser pic, but it is after all a prototype. My hunch has been from the outset (knowing you, Toymemories) that it would be a raygun, most likely by Marx . I must have looked at each and every plastic raygun made in the 1950's by US companies and still couldn't find anything with that fluting. The Atomic Rifle is not an exact match but it's the closest I could come up with. Am I warm? :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyMemories Posted November 3, 2007 Author Share Posted November 3, 2007 OK I have a guess. Is it the Tom Corbett Space Cadet Atomic Rifle?...Am I warm? :rolleyes:Hey Fin,Do you really want to know? :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fineas J. Whoopie Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 Hey Fin,Do you really want to know? :rolleyes:Duh!! :P Unless you don't want to say just yet..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyMemories Posted November 3, 2007 Author Share Posted November 3, 2007 Duh!! :P Unless you don't want to say just yet.....Ok... the answer is..............FINEAS J. WHOOPIE IS THE WINNER!!! The GRAND CHAMPEEN! Take a bow Fin! :D For this great accomplishment, FJW is now an official honorary Commander of the Space Cadet Corps and he wins...An all-expense paid trip to the beautiful Martian Umagi sands! :blink: (this is one of the photos I saw, and I fell in love... I trimmed it to post here to remove the non-space items that had been in the pic. This is where the clue pics came from)Congratulations, Fin!!! Nice work... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fineas J. Whoopie Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 Whoo Hooo!!! What an amazing lost treasure!!! Congratulations Toymemories! You must be seriously over the moon at getting your hands on this piece. WOW!It certainly went to the right guy. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 Nice Job FJW !!!!!!!!!!!!! I would have never got it. Now that I look at the clues..............I would have never got it !!! :P But I could restore it ! :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fineas J. Whoopie Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 For this great accomplishment, FJW is now an official honorary Commander of the Space Cadet Corps and he wins...An all-expense paid trip to the beautiful Martian Umagi sands!Hey, I'll gladly take a trip to ther Martian Ugami desert if there are any more tresures like this one to be found! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fineas J. Whoopie Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 Nice Job FJW !!!!!!!!!!!!! I would have never got it. Now that I look at the clues..............I would have never got it !!! :P But I could restore it ! :rolleyes: Thanks Eagle. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyMemories Posted November 3, 2007 Author Share Posted November 3, 2007 Whoo Hooo!!! What an amazing lost treasure!!! Congratulations Toymemories! You must be seriously over the moon at getting your hands on this piece. WOW!It certainly went to the right guy. ;)Thank you, Mr. Fin!!!Oh, man... I almost soiled my drawers when a friend sent me a pic of various prototypes, and I saw that sitting there in the pile... First I was like "geez, what the heck happened to that poor rifle..." which quickly became "wait; is that really what I think it is??? No... No way!" And I fell in love... Then came the never-ending negotiations :o Would the wife kill me, or send me away when all was done? Would the deal not work out, especially since it was a multi-item deal with some difficult to place pieces? Oh, it was agony... But finally... finally... it all worked out (it was really meant to be, I think). I believe it pretty much has not been seen (except maybe by a couple of people) since it left Marx.Thanks again, there Fineas... I've been so dying to show it, and I'll post a picture of it cleaned up soon.Here's the particulars; it is all hand-made, carved plastic (metal mechanism), and inscribed with the experimental model number. The area with the name/logo was masked off for painting, and name/logo are hand-painted there. It originally was a working prototype, but is not working now (pretty common problem with similar items, especially after 50 or so years, and as it was not intended for long term use). The paint-wear is sadly pretty common on these type of prototypes (I have 3 different Mare's Laig rifle prototypes all with similar wear :( )This would be the initial prototype, the one that would be shown to prospective buyers at the showroom around Toy Fair to determine interest, and if there was enough interest and/or orders it would go on to production.Apparently it was broken in half somehow while still at Marx, and the missing discs and scope have never been found. This early plastic has a strong tendency to warp, and sometimes warp pretty extreme; that's not the case here. Now comes the dillemma about repairing the break :( still undecided on if/how.It does look a lot better since I've cleaned it at least! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyMemories Posted November 3, 2007 Author Share Posted November 3, 2007 Hey, I'll gladly take a trip to ther Martian Ugami desert if there are any more tresures like this one to be found! :DHahaha... Let me tell you, Fin, I was such a pain in the butt with this guy, constantly bugging him for rayguns, and the answer was always "NO! Don't have any!!!" But I had this nagging feeling... I think this piece was long-forgotten, and even he was surprised it turned up. I really doubt my Ugami desert there has any others! (if he did, I think he would have zapped me with one!) :blink: Soon I'll reveal the clues and where they are located (if anyone is interested).Ah, Eagle... when I reveal the clues, you'll see! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 I have always felt that Fineas has one of the best 'eyes' in the hobby - the proof is in the pudding!What a great find and yes it is in the right hands. I love the different coloration of the prototype vs the production model.I would not have guessed this in a million years!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 AWESOME!It's been tough keeping my mouth shut this whole time -- especially when I knew that, if someone guessed it, we'd finally get to see the picture! I couldn't wait to see what the prototype looked like. (ToyMemories had called me up a few days ago to tell me he had this prototype, and to ask me a few questions about the original Tom Corbett Space Cadet Rifle... so I knew he had it, but I hadn't actually SEEN it... TORTURE!)It's fascinating to note all the differences... The two biggest changes between the prototype and the original that I can see are:1. The lack of scope on the prototype2. The placement of the cut outs above the trigger. On the original, they're JUST ABOVE the trigger, while on the prototype, they're higher up and further back behind the trigger. They're also horizontal on the prototype, not vertical like on the production model. Very interesting.ToyMemories -- you'd asked me about the missing knobs on the gun... I wonder if the prototype HAD the knobs. They would have been roughly where those cut outs are located. I wonder if in this prototype version, the knobs just weren't there. It seems like a tight fit, design-wise.Anyway, thanks for posting this picture. Of all your prototypes, it's (perhaps obviously) my favorite one yet. Really a fantastic treasure, and an amazing addition to your already amazing collection! CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe K. Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 I, too, had to sit this one out, as TM had called me last week as well and gave me the news. A really great find!!! Congrats, Mike!!!And congrats, too, to FJW for his winning answer! Good goin', Don!!!Note to BotStock-V Special Exhibits Co-ordinator: Wouldn't a display of this piece along side the production model (backed up with the original blueprints) make one hellava "special exhibit" at B-V? See what you and TM can work out, Dr. A. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkrobot Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 Well done Fin!!! Great research,,,,,,,,,,,While I'm here can I say Toy Memories idea of posting his find as a quiz was a brilliant idea ,,even though I dont think I would have ever guessed the answer,it was nice to have a little stab at it :rolleyes: Maybe we should all try and post some of our finds in quiz form B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 Indeed it would, Joe. Indeed it would... Don't forget to add the original box to the display! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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