1935 - Flash Gordon Signal Pistol By Marx

[Joe K.]

See:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1935-Christmas-Catalog...1QQcmdZViewItem

The dated catalog cover:

http://images.andale.com/f2/115/106/342524...1/ricestix1.jpg

This page section, specifically:

http://images.andale.com/f2/115/106/342524...1/ricestix4.jpg

Here's ToyMemories blueprint image:

Some books and websites date this pistol to the 1950s. Was it re-issued in the '50s, but originally released in 1935? There seems to be two color variations, green and grey. Does the color determine it's age? And what about the siren "grill"? Is it only on the left side of the weapon? Can anyone provide a box photo?

Doc, Fin, Phil, Justin...your input please?

The Buck Rogers Rocket Police Patrol has already been Timeline dated to 1935.

[Phil R]

Joe, here's the box but I can't answer your question about the siren placement at this time.

[dratomic]

This gun's date came up once before -- can't find the discussion. I'd found a listing from an auction of Marx prototypes, products, etc, and the guy selling it put the gun at 1935. I think this is pretty much a firmly established date, now.

As far as I've ever seen, the grill for every marx signal gun -- Flash Gordon or otherwise -- is always on the left.

There are actually three color variations -- green, red, and greyish-purple. Can't say if color reflects age in any way. And as far as I know, there weren't any reissues of the Flash Gordon gun. However, there is a 1940s version of the toy that's sort of a patriotic, non-space toy. It's got wings, actually, and is sort of odd looking...

[ToyMemories]

Yeah, Marx was good at recycling... :) and that gives us so much more to collect nowadays!

This further confirms my belief that the finished tech. drawings and assembly drawings run pretty close behind date-wise to actual production.

(also, when Marx recycled, they tended to change a little bit here and there. Could be litho, decal, color, or modified mechanisms, etc.)

They would tend to number whatever "prototype versions" (even if it was a slightly modified older item or modified competitor item) with a unique internal model number, date and factory location (Erie, Glendale or Girard).

I've seen "same as _______ except _______ is changed" many times in documents regarding updated or recycled items.

Doc- wasn't the prototype in question that weird one that looked like it was soldered a bit sloppy?

[dratomic]

I remember that prototype -- very weird.

But no, when I got the date for the Flash Gordon gun, it was from a guy who'd bought a whole bunch of stuff from the Marx auction of a few years back. He had a catalog from the auction for sale up on ebay, and it had a couple of the Flash Gordon guns. So I asked him what date they had listed for the toy, and he told me 1935.

Then I found something else that helped confirm the date -- but for the life of me, I just can't find it now!

I never had too many doubts -- the steel is really heavy and thick, like the Buck Rogers guns of the same period. As opposed to later metal guns, which were either die-cast like the Hubley, Hiller, or Atom Bubble Gun, or were a thinner steel (like that Daisy Pop gun that's based -- roughly -- on the XZ-31 Wilma Gun).

But with this time line listing, I think the question's been definitively answered.

[Joe K.]

There is a 1940s version of the toy that's sort of a patriotic, non-space toy. It's got wings, actually, and is sort of odd looking...

Doc, is it the one pictured in ZAP! on page 12?

[dratomic]

Yep -- however, the gun in that photo's incomplete. It's supposed to have small wings, if I'm not mistaken. I've only seen one complete one (sold on ebay a while back). Definitely a strange toy!

[Fineas J. Whoopie]

See:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1935-Christmas-Catalog...1QQcmdZViewItem

The dated catalog cover:

This page section, specifically:

Here's ToyMemories blueprint image:

Some books and websites date this pistol to the 1950s. Was it re-issued in the '50s, but originally released in 1935? There seems to be two color variations, green and grey. Does the color determine it's age? And what about the siren "grill"? Is it only on the left side of the weapon? Can anyone provide a box photo?

Doc, Fin, Phil, Justin...your input please?

The Buck Rogers Rocket Police Patrol has already been Timeline dated to 1935.

[Fineas J. Whoopie]

How about the heading "toys for real boys"?

Was there another page listing "toys for sissies"? :lol:

[Joe K.]

Or was it:

"Toys For A.I. Boys"? ;)

[Brian..]

The first sighting in the press is June 27th 1935, alongside another classic.