Non Adjustable Sonic Ray?

[perigee]

Ok - newbie thing, I guess: Here we have a Buck Rogers Sonic Ray gun, but no fiddly brass knob, and no cut in the fin for a fiddly brass knob. I've nosed around, and I can't find any reference to this thing sans adjustment control - heck, even the instruction manual that comes with the full box explains how the adjustment thingie works.

So what do I have here? Some reproduction? Did I just fish out an old boot?

- Bob

[dratomic]

Could you post a picture? I need to see it to better determine what you might have. It does sound unusual, though.

I know that during the Seventies (possibly Sixties) some knock-offs came out of Hong Kong. They didn't say Buck Rogers anywhere on them, though, so they're usually pretty easy to pick out...

[Kilroy]

I picked up a pair of the sonic ray a while back and haven't done anything with them yet (eeew dirty!) because of space issues. I see I got one of each.

[dratomic]

I found a picture of the gun in a 1950 timeline entry. See this link:

 

danefield.com/alpha/forums/index.php?showtopic=5467

 

Note that it shows the gun from the correct side -- you can't tell if it has the brass knob.

 

However, the description for the 1949 catalog entry makes no mention of the knob. It says you pull the trigger for light and buzzing noises. Unfortunately, the type is too small to read on the 1950 entry.

 

My theory is that the original version of the gun required no knob, but for some reason, it was added later. Maybe to increase functionality... though the rule of thumb has always been that toys became simpler over time, not more complex. I checked, and all three of mine have knobs. I don't have a black one, though, just the red, green, and yellow ones. We've always been pretty certain these color variations came out later, anyway, so that's really not much of a help.

 

So for the moment, my inclination is to believe that you've just got an older version of the gun, one produced somewhere between 1949 and... well... whenever the heck they added the knob. (Actually, the catalog appearance was in 1949, so yours probably dates from 1950 onward...)

 

Do we have an entry showing the gun with the knob, or making mention of it?

[Electric Robot and Son]

I looked at my 3 guns. Two have the metal knobs one doesn't. All three say patant pending, although the one without the knob has a bigger font. I have two boxes, but I don't know which guns came in which boxes.

The box artwork is the same but one of the boxes is marked Norton-Honer Mfg Co Chicago 7, Illinois Pat Des No 149113 C1952

The Other box is marked Commonwealth Utilities Co., Chicago Illinois Patent Pending no date.

So here is another question....Was Commonwealth Utilities Co the original manufacturer? (no date and patent pending on box)

[dratomic]

Wow, good info ER&S!

Seeing as the gun always just looked like a flashlight with a handle, I'm not surprised to hear at least one company associated with it was called "Commonwealth Utilities." Heh.

Interesting that the patent date is 1952... I wonder if that refers to the little knob. The timeline catalog citing is definitely 1949 (call it 1950), so what, exactly, was patented in 1952? Or do you think the whole entire gun was patent pending for those preceding years?

Such a common gun, and look how little we really know about it!

Fascinating.

[Electric Robot and Son]

Since all the guns say patent pending, my guess is the patent wasn't awarded until 1952, and the molds were not updated until later. the box actually shows the c in a circle 1952. I thought that meant copyrighted. Does that pertain to the box artwork or does copyrighted mean patented? Does anybody have a gun that says patented?

[Electric Robot and Son]

Here is a website that shows the 1952 box I have and the gun with the adjusting knob.

http://antiques-internet.com/colorado/swsp...apage/IP720.htm

Phil we need your help on this one.

This web site shows directions to use the screw to turn off the buzzer (those 1950's buzzers took a lot of current and if they jammed they could prevent the light function from working. I have a Captain space solar scout rifle that has this problem). They probably added this so the batteries would last longer.