When Toys were for boys

[guohua]

 

[Wallfire]

Anyone remember this one  link

Johnny Seven Gun

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There comes a point in every little boy's life when he decides, in the style of John Rambo, he wants (read has to have) a toy gun. And there comes a point in every parent's life when they have to decide whether it's morally right or wrong to go buy their kid a toy gun. And it seems that 1964 was the year most parents decided to abandon their morals, for the Johnny Seven OMA (One Man Army) Gun was the best-selling boys' toy that Christmas.
The Johnny Seven OMA (not to be confused with the far simpler Johnny Eagle Rifle of the 70s) had to be the biggest toy machine gun you could get back then, and more than enough to make you throw down your spud gun. In fact, it wasn't far off full-size! When fully assembled it weighed 4lb and measured an impressive 3ft long, at least. It also came with a raft of seven functions (hence the name Johnny Seven). All of the firing mechanisms were attached to the main rifle - the pistol (based on a design for a real 1950s gun, no less!) inserted from the bottom to provide the rifle grip (the pistol also held caps for authentic firing sounds). The Rifle function shot 12 white bullets one at a time via a bolt action spring mechanism through the silver barrel. Three different rockets (The green Anti Tank, Anti Bunker and the red Armour Piercing fired via spring-action on the main barrel. The Grenade Launcher was on top of the gun. Johnny Seven also featured a bipod that provided stability for the various rockets and grenade. The stock could be removed to shorten the weapon while in the Tommy Gun mode. Now seen as a collector's item, the Johnny Seven OMA has been known to fetch over £300 fully armed on eBay!
It really was the hot shot of its time. And if all those functions weren't enough for you, Deluxe Reading (who also produced Johnny Lightning Cars and the Crime-buster Gun) went on to produce a range of accessories under the Topper Toys umbrella for the Johnny Seven OMA, including spare ammunition to replace all those bullets you lost over the next-door neighbour's fence. To enhance the experience you could purchase a helmet and a pair of walkie-talkies.
These days, toy guns aren't particularly en vogue, and little boys turn instead to Indiana Jones whips and light sabres when attacking their annoying little sisters. Much less intimidating, admittedly, but less likely to get you a night in a police cell, too.

[F2d5thCav]

And with the end of the Vietnam War, the protests, etc., war toys went out of fashion and have not AFAIK recovered.

One thing I noted in Europe is that for decades there were small shops that specialized in the sale of plastic models, including models of tanks and military aircraft.  They had fantastic dioramas in the shop windows.  But the people interested in the models and running those shops were the children of those who experienced World War II.  Once those children became old enough to retire, the topic was not interesting enough for following generations and many of those shops have closed.

Cheers

[hounddoghowlie]

guohua 


when i was a kid we use to get them, but me, my brothers and the other 10 boys in the 2 mile square area that had kids of the boonies we lived in, were so hard on them that they got broke within a a couple weeks. so we had to break out the handsaw, hacksaw or knives and screws or nail/ tacks and fix em up until we could talk momma and daddy into buying us new ones. trick was to go to one and say the other said it was alright with them if it was alright with you. didn't always work, but it did most time.

if we broke ones that made noise and couldn't make them to work again, after a long day of playing Sgt Rock, you'd come home horse after going dat,dat, dat, dat , dat ,dow, then yelling your dead, no i'm you hit that tree, or i ducked behind that car or something like that.

some times the best ones were the ones we built out of my dad's scrap lumber pile, broke rake and broom handles some momma good broom. and it was always i didn't do it or not me. made thompsons, grease guns, m 16'( didn't really look like one) 50 cal. had to use your imagination.

killed me many a japs, germans and gooks in them days. oh to be young again and not have to worry about anything but what when and where we were going to play.

[hounddoghowlie]

  They had fantastic dioramas in the shop windows.  B

reminds me of the green army men sets they use to sell.

we had bunchs of them, some set had two armies. we also had tanks jeep ma duces, connons and half tracks. we'd set them up one brother was one army and i was the other, and throw rocks or drit clods at them. one day i found out if you took a extinction   cord and swung it around, you could wipe out a whole army in one or two swings. little brothers didn't like that. and i always won.

[xuenchen]

Neat stuff that was "preparing" kids for wars in Vietnam 

Some of those toys were high quality back then too 

[PLOTUS]

And with the end of the Vietnam War, the protests, etc., war toys went out of fashion and have not AFAIK recovered.

One thing I noted in Europe is that for decades there were small shops that specialized in the sale of plastic models, including models of tanks and military aircraft.  They had fantastic dioramas in the shop windows.  But the people interested in the models and running those shops were the children of those who experienced World War II.  Once those children became old enough to retire, the topic was not interesting enough for following generations and many of those shops have closed.

Cheers

That has also happened to the Baby Boomer Generation and old cars. They were worth a fortune just ten years ago, but that is when alot of the boomers were in their fiftys. Now we are climbing towards seventy and the interest is gone, our kids don't see the same remenise as we did. Consequently old car values have largely collapsed from their highs.

As a kid of five, my Mom and Dad got me a really nice Hopalong Cassidy leather holsters and twin six shooters. White pearl handels and chrome/silver frames.  And they shot Caps, the rolled red ribbons of gunpowder dots that the little pistols fired, so they were very 'neat-o' toys. Then we discovered Girls....















And so it goes.............

[Freija]

As a kid of five, my Mom and Dad got me a really nice Hopalong Cassidy leather holsters and twin six shooters. White pearl handels and chrome/silver frames.  And they shot Caps, the rolled red ribbons of gunpowder dots that the little pistols fired, so they were very 'neat-o' toys. Then we discovered Girls....

Well this stirs up some weird vague memories…

I’m guessing at about the same age circa 1959 or 1960-ish, back when my folks were still trying to do what they could to encourage me to be more like other boys, I got something similar… a holster with two cap guns and a cowboy hat. I remember seeing a photo of me dressed up in this outfit more than I actually remember ever having or playing with this stuff. It wasn’t really my deal although I do remember my older cousin Brenda and I playing with rolls of caps a few times. She was kind of a pyro.

I would have much rather played house and dress up than cops and robbers or cowboys and Indians and have tea parties with my dolls and stuffed animals. Eventually my folks got the message.

I loved my babies! Sixty plus years later and I still have the dolly in this picture. What kind of mom would abandon her child?  



By the time I was 8 or so, I had a collection of Barbies and got an E-Z Bake Oven for Christmas one year. I also had a ton of Dam Dolls (trolls) but lost them all over time. Original ones are worth a good penny these days.



I never played with guns or trucks or had those little green Army men. Come to think of it, I never had or wanted boy's toys. It probably doesn't mean anything anyway, right?  

[hounddoghowlie]

By the time I was 8 or so, I had a collection of Barbies and got an E-Z Bake Oven for Christmas one year. I also had a ton of Dam Dolls (trolls) but lost them all over time. Original ones are worth a good penny these days.



I never played with guns or trucks or had those little green Army men. Come to think of it, I never had or wanted boy's toys. It probably doesn't mean anything anyway, right?  

trolls were cool, i had several of them up into my late 20's all around my house as decorations. had 2 in my truck up on the dash and hanging from the mirror. in fact i think there's one or two in my junk boxes.

[hounddoghowlie]

cool 55 gaser, was that yours?

i miss my hot rod days

[hounddoghowlie]

 55 gaser, was that yours?

i miss my hot rod days

[WonderCow]

And with the end of the Vietnam War, the protests, etc., war toys went out of fashion and have not AFAIK recovered.

One thing I noted in Europe is that for decades there were small shops that specialized in the sale of plastic models, including models of tanks and military aircraft.  They had fantastic dioramas in the shop windows.  But the people interested in the models and running those shops were the children of those who experienced World War II.  Once those children became old enough to retire, the topic was not interesting enough for following generations and many of those shops have closed.

Cheers

That has also happened to the Baby Boomer Generation and old cars. They were worth a fortune just ten years ago, but that is when alot of the boomers were in their fiftys. Now we are climbing towards seventy and the interest is gone, our kids don't see the same remenise as we did. Consequently old car values have largely collapsed from their highs.

As a kid of five, my Mom and Dad got me a really nice Hopalong Cassidy leather holsters and twin six shooters. White pearl handels and chrome/silver frames.  And they shot Caps, the rolled red ribbons of gunpowder dots that the little pistols fired, so they were very 'neat-o' toys. Then we discovered Girls....















And so it goes.............

I had a very similar set of guns and holster plus a cowboy outfit at around the same age. I used to dress up and ride my rocking horse while watching the Lone Ranger.

I also had a train set and lots of model cars, but my favourite toys were my farm set and my Sindy horse. I wasn't interested in dolls or 'girly' stuff at all. I still collect (and make) model horses, lol.