A Return To The Umagi Sands...

[ToyMemories]

Congratulations, Fin! ;)

[Fineas J. Whoopie]

Yaaaaahh!

What an AMAZING AMAZING find!!!! CONGRATULATIONS to you ToyMemories!!!!!!

I have to say I spent a lot of time (hours) trying to figure out the clue about flying feet and what's he proclaim. I could only think of The Flash who had wings on his feet but couldn't find anywhere on the internet any sort of quote he's known for saying. I used to read and collect the Flash's comics back in the 70's but sadly no longer have a single issue.

The highlighted clues that made sense to me for the Rex Mars pistol were -

Sparkling

Trigger the release mechanism

The cross and what it stands for (the Marx logo has an X behind it and there is a cross on the gun itself)

Wound

The clues that I couldn't reconcile with the Rex Mars pistol are -

Full Moon

Horizon straight and true

Bell chimed and again and again

unlucky number and luck no longer bad

What finally made me decide to guess the Rex Mars pistol is the clue "thousands of tiny diamonds in my hands"

I happen to have a Rex Mars pistol and I noticed that the knurling on the handle is in the shape of tiny diamonds.....bingo!!

I did notice in the picture you posted of the prototype (great job on the Martian Mirror by the way!!) that the circle on the handle has a different embossing than on mine.

Thanks for the game Toymemories!! Now I have two requests -

Who is the feet flying guy and what did he say?

Let's see some more pics of that treasure of yours!! :D

[robobob]

Great job of deducting there, Don !

For the life of me, I don't know how you do it !!! :blink:

OK Mike, PLEASE explain to me the flying feet reference ...

It's had my brain tied up for more than a day now, and

although I'm a child of the 60s&70s, I can't for the life of me

think of who it is and what he said !

...And oh yeah, AWESOME find you have there !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dratomic]

Wow! That is AMAZING! Truly a treasure for your collection. The Rex Mars pistol is a classic ray gun in every sense of the word -- the prototype is just incredible. Congratulations!

I agree with Fin -- more pictures!

[ToyMemories]

Alrighty, here's the breakdown:

*In the beginning, the unlucky number was a reference to the last Umagi-Mystery (the raygun category was the 13th Alphadrome category at the time). Then you have luck no longer bad (the raygun category is now the 8th category, I believe. So, no longer "unlucky")

*something you know, Fin, it may be its' Dad of course refers to the fact that it's a prototype, and it's also a prototype related to something Fineas knows (and has)... the Rex Mars pistol (of which he has that very cool blue version!)

*cylinder ... it's fins seemingly floating along beside it refers to the odd rocketship raised design on the sides of the gun (I thought that would be a giveaway, unless I'm the only one that thinks it's a rocketship?) :unsure:

*a bell chimed... then again... and again- bell chimed=bell rang... the bell rang 3 times= 3 rings. The 3 rings on the barrel.

*the cross... a full moon... horizen, straight and true= the "buttons" on the sides of the pistol. I didn't think that was stretching it too far; there's a "cross" (or plus sign), a "full moon" (solid circle), and a "horizon, straight and true" (the horizontal line, or negative symbol).

*Then you have the outright clues (Mars, planet, patrol, trigger, wound, sparkled, etc.)

*in my hand appeared to be a thousand tiny diamonds refers to the grip design (there could be well a thousand of those tiny diamonds! :P ) and if someone caught the "in my hand" part, I'd thought they would connect it as a raygun for sure.

*Now, the winged feet rhyme... I guess I'm nutty, but the first characters I think of when I think winged feet are Mercury and then the Submariner (the comic character). This was aimed at Submariner, and his saying "Imperious rex!", which I'm pretty sure he said a lot. So...

"Flying feet, what's he proclaim"= Submariner, says 'Imperious rex'

"Incomplete, but still a name."= keep part of the saying that can be a name ("Rex")

"It can and then cannot apply,", etc.= this is the Rex Mars gun for the most part, but has the odd Flash Gordon lightning bolt on the grips. So... Rex Mars, but not.

And, the best answer to the whole riddle would be as Fin revealed "Rex Mars Planet Patrol Sparkling Pistol".

I thought that if someone got one of the clues that led to an obvious and unique part of the gun, they would surely figure the rest quickly... but then again, maybe (as I mentioned) I was off, as I knew what I was describing, and no one else did! :blink:

A great big thanks to everyone that played (or tried)! :) I hope that it was at least somewhat fun, I know I had a good time trying to put it together (and a headache too!) :D

[ToyMemories]

Fin, THANKS! I am really happy I got this one, to me it's pretty iconic and classic, and really a beautiful piece. :) You've gotta see it in person to feel what went into it.

(and yes, I do know you are the proud owner of the blue Rex Mars pistol, which is why I directed the beginning at you! And I remember last time about the Tom Corbett rifle prototype, which I believe you said your rifle was sitting on a shelf behind you while you were trying to figure the clues out :lol: )

(for the flying feet and other clues, see explanation above!)

Thanks about the Martian Mirror! I was trying to think how I could finally let you know in a more special way that you won yet again... and while putting that together I was dying to just make a post to say you did it... Thanks again for playing, and some good deducing!

More pics coming shortly!

Robobob I don't know how Fin does it either... (I think he peeks in my kitchen window, actually :P ) See last post about the famous flying feet reference! Didn't you read Fantastic Four comics? (there was also a Submariner series too), and THANKS! Yes, again, I love it... :)

Doc THANKS also! Hey, what the heck happened, I thought you'd be making like a detective on this one! :glare: :lol: I can't wait until we meet up at a Botstock and you can check it out firsthand, I know you'd get a kick out of it. Yeah, I agree totally... classic all the way. And I feel very lucky to have it, trust me! It was weird, but it just worked out right. ;)

More pics and info to come very soon!

[Joe K.]

Good goin', Don! I never would've thought of it. Congrats!!!

Mike...

It's time to come in out of that hot Umagi sun. Come now...rest...have some cool, refreshing water. Everythings going to be O.K.

Beautiful piece, Mike. Congrats to you, too, for unearthing it!

[Fineas J. Whoopie]

Ahhh, those other clues make much more sense now. Great job ToyMemories!!

Incredible piece!!

I won't ask you where you find these treasures although I'm dying to know. ;)

Let's do this again real soon!

[ToyMemories]

Here's a pic from the top, and the inside of the mechanism half.

It's dated March of 1952, and what is really impressive is that it appears to be just about completely hand-made (except for the mechanism inside which was likely used on other toys previously). It's hard to see in the pictures, but it really is a work of art; just about everything is crafted, and glued together, made from a number of pieces (a partial exception, for example, the grips must have been carved from sheets of stock plastic with the diamond pattern already molded, then glued onto the grip area. The lightning emblems are separate carved pieces glued on. It's interesting in that on this prototype the "diamond" design on the grips are indented diamonds, where on the production toy the diamonds are raised. Likely they cast the grips in the end using the diamond pattern sheets used here, so they end up reversed in production).

Most of the gun is carved out of an early (probably acetate) plastic.

Amazing the amount of work that went into the pistol- The little rocket sight at top rear is 2 pieces (the cylinder and mounting extension).

The areas that appear a different shade of red (you can see some paint wear on these, including the large "x" knob and area around it) are carved from white plastic and glued on and painted red.

It appears the "rockets with floating fins" are separate carved pieces, along with the 3 small knobs. The ringed area through to the tip appears to be machined, then hollowed out by hand, with the 4 "fins" being separate pieces added on. The ribs on the top (where the little door is) are hand made (and the little door itself is carved out of 2 pieces). The trigger guard is a separate piece... even the little piece at bottom of handle is a separate piece.

Really amazing and beautiful... and what surprises me is the fact that it's all intact, nothing broken or missing (one small regular replaceable part for the sparking mechanism is missing, but shouldn't be too hard to replace). And it does work too... Its' only issue is a common one with this type of early plastic- because the grips are made of multiple pieces, then glued and stacked, as the material shrank over the years it caused the grip area to warp some. Not a big deal considering it's one-of-a-kind, and otherwise pretty awesome!

Because of the way it's made (it really is beautiful work, but it is not absolutely perfect), I'd say this is a working prototype that was used as a concept, and then to solicit sales before work was done on the production version. The Flash Gordon lightning bolts likely mean it was intended to be a Flash pistol, but then ended up for good old Rex.

(I'll have to check my drawings to see what the dates are in relation to this, I kind of think maybe this could be the initial earliest prototype for this pistol, which would be even cooler)

Overall, I really love it... :D I can't examine it enough, and wonder about the talented people that actually carved, sculpted and created it over 50 years ago... :closedeyes:

[ToyMemories]

Joe, give yourself some credit! You did some really good work there, and I thought for sure you snagged it early on! ;) (I think the problem is, I can only find prototypes for what Don has on his shelves, so naturally he has an easier time figuring all the clues out! :P )

I can't come in now... did you forget about the Klevage drippings I HAVE to find??? And what about the other treasures waiting for me out in the sands??? The sands... the ever changing, ever searing sands...

Thanks, Joe... :) So are you running BSVII? If so, I can send it (or, even better, maybe bring it with me!) ;)

Fin Thanks again, and nice work, my friend...

I can honestly say, it gets to the point that eventually the treasures find you (and mostly at inopportune times LOL) though I do endlessly search, and search... (that is a really big part of the fun)

I'll be happy to torture you again as soon as another treasure pops out of the sands! (now where's that Electric Robot prototype... hmm...) ;)

[Andyman]

Mike, you have a talent in acquiring the most unique pieces and tell wonderous stories about them. I guess we could say that you have a gift of "grab & gab". ;)

[Electric Robot and Son]

Awesome prototype!!! That raygun is one of my favorites, very, high up on my want list. I hope you can bring it to Botstock next year. How about it Joe? Great guessing everybody. Congrats Fin.

[dratomic]

That's just incredible. I really don't have anything else to say -- I'm speechless!

Thanks for sharing, I hope I've got a chance to see it up close one day!

[Sparkrobot]

Well done Fin,,,great puzzle solving,,and well done Joe for your early work and atleast pointing us in the right direction...

TM,,,What more can I say ,,although I'm not a raygun collecter I can still appreciate a great item and a fantastic find..BTW,,These games of yours have to be a regular feature now,,,,,,,You've got the knack,,,Go and sniff out another rare piece as soon as you can. :rolleyes: :D

[ToyMemories]

Mike, you have a talent in acquiring the most unique pieces and tell wonderous stories about them. I guess we could say that you have a gift of "grab & gab". ;)

Thanks Andy... :) (or maybe I'm just insane in the brain :blink: ) Sad thing is, though I have a knack for the odd, I have great difficulty getting the regular stuff! :lol:

Thanks also, Electric Robot! (did I mention that you have a cool avatar? ;) ) Like I say, I'll be happy to bring it with me if I can make BSVII (Joe? You know you want to!), or if I can't make it, and Joe hosts, I'll be glad to send it along. Yes, great work, everybody! :)

Doc, thanks... and no worries; you WILL see it in person one day!

Well said, Spark! Joe's the great detective, and Fin has mind reading abilities, I think! Imagine if they started a detective agency together? :ninja:

Thanks, Steve... I think you want to see my head over-inflated! Hey, I'm always sniffing, but good unique space stuff is pretty darn hard to find! When the next unknown piece turns up, I'll be happy to "document the expedition" if you guys want to hear it (and play again) ;) I really think I'm due for a robot piece :rolleyes:

(that reminds me... did I ever tell you about how I found the 14th apostle? :blink: or maybe the book autographed by both Jackie Gleason and General Omar Bradley? :o or the odd story about the 2 1/4" prototype figure I bought in a strange quirk that was missing his hat, but I had gotten the hat months earler? or... Ok, ok, I'll stop there! LOL see what happens when you get me going?) The fun is really always in the hunt, and the adventures...

Actually, I think I did about a months worth of writing in this thread, I don't want to wear out my welcome! ;)