Clicker Ray Gun Additions

[Tinman]

I picked these up at a flea market last week for $5.00 each. They work beautifully and look great. I thought I had received a good deal and found when I returned to the same vendor an hour later he had two more for sale, same colors. I thought about asking and purchasing all he had but I started to wonder if they were truly vintage. He said they were, and to my knowledge they were never reproduced. Did he stumble across a cache of them? Are they marked by the manufacturer, these have no markings? Is Palmer Plastics the manufacturer, 1953? Any thoughts Brian?

[Phil R]

Nice pickup at that price, Bill. According to the book Raygun they are Palmer plastics 1953. As you know they came in a number of color combinations as they are generally two-tone. Although I believe I've seen them solid. Mine is red and yellow with a blue trigger. Obviously a small child's toy at 4-3/4". I don't think they would ever be reproduced as the rayguns have not been. :)

[dratomic]

There have been a couple plastic ray guns reproduced over the years. The most common one is the Zoomerray, which came out a couple years ago and is available at novelty stores (in bag with a header card, named something entirely different, only available in red...). For the most part, however, plastic ray guns remain pretty tough to reproduce due to the costs involved in injection molded plastic production.

The clicker you've got hasn't been reproduced, to my knowledge. However, it's a very common toy -- they appear on ebay quite often, in a variety of different color combinations. $5 is still a decent price, though they rarely sell for more than $20 -- I paid $15 for my first one, and something like $8 for my second... No color seems any rarer than any other colors, so it's really a matter of picking up the ones that catch your eye.

Rare or not, they're great looking ray guns with a lot of wonderful detail. Very imaginative, and unlike any other ray gun out there. I considered them a must-have for my own collection, and am happy to have them on my shelves.

Note: There is one particularly rare variation -- it has "Tom Corbett" printed on it (I think... it's been a while since I've seen it). Cast in silver plastic. Doesn't pop up very often, an tends to command a pretty decent price.

[Phil R]

i completely forgot about the Tom Corbett one. Here's a photo. :blush:

[Tinman]

Thanks for the info guys. Love the Tom Corbett variation!

[Fineas J. Whoopie]

Nice find for sure. Any time you can find something that you want for your collection at a flea market or collectibles show makes the whole day worth while. I would have been very happy to find this guy. ;)