THE TOY GUNS OF CAPTAIN SCARLET

Being a product of the Sixties I can't help drooling over toy pistols. Captain Scarlet guns were one such range of must-have toys.  

 

 

The classic Scarlet toy pistol was the die-cast Lone Star cap repeater issued in 1967. It was coloured in a distinctive red with yellow grip plates and came in a blue striped box. Countless baby boomer kids blasted hapless Mysterons with this cool toy and as such it is quite common and regularly turns up on auction sites and at toy fairs.

 

 

 

Much rarer was the die-cast Lone Star Captain Scarlet Rifle presumably issued in 1967 as well. It comprised of the standard Lone Star pistol, together with a red and silver barrel, which had a peculiar sten-gun like hand grip. It was rounded off with a stock and red shoulder strap. The box was basically long and blue with pictures of the Captain and the rifle on it. I didn't know anyone who had one of these beauties. Still don't!

 

 

 

 

The black stock that Lone Star used was their standard one found in other toys like their Man from Uncle Attache Case from 1966. The Scarlet version simply exchanged the black shoulder butt for a yellow one in keeping with the yellow pistol grip plates.

 

 

 

 

This golden holster was also issued to house the Lone Star Captain Scarlet pistol. It was similar to their Man From Uncle Mauser holster [above]. I cannot confirm if the Scarlet holster was indeed made by Lone Star. Does anyone know?

 

 

 

 

Besides licensing other companies like Lone Star, Century 21 Merchandising got Century 21 Toys to come up with goodies too in 1967, which I'm sure some of you will have had as young Captains. Using the same gun design but all with different triggers depending on whether dart, cap or water pistols, there were two carded sets and one bagged pistol all issued in the Century 21 Toys striped house style.

 

 

 

The dart gun set came with 3 rubber suction darts and 3 plastic target figures. The cap gun set [below] came with a black holster. I'm unsure of there were pictures on the rear of the backing cards.

 

 

 

 

The water pistol came in a plastic bag with a header card. It had a stopper at the rear where it could be filled with water.

 

 

 

 

Century 21 also produced a captain Scarlet play suit in 1967, which came in a very attractive illustrated box. I can't be sure of the contents as I've never seen one but it appears to have included the red cap, the red tunic with yellow epaulets and possibly the blue shirt and trousers. The box art includes a black pistol but whether the actual play suit had one I don't know. Do you?

 

 

 

 

For a further look at Century 21 toy pistols you could always check out a couple of short films made by blog friend Jim Lewis and available on You Tube: toys pistols and Captain Scarlet Vehicles.

 

 

As with any major success on TV like Captain Scarlet, its official toys were pirated particularly in Spain, which could then be sold in other Hispanic markets like Brazil.

 

 

 

 

The Pistola Super Especial [above and below] was a knockoff of the Century 21 Dart Gun Target set, complete with pistol, two darts and three target figures. In classic knockoff style, the pistol's colour scheme was simply reversed and the blister pack card art was a mash-up of a Tracy brother [Virgil?] from Thunderbirds holding the Captain Scarlet pistol! I cannot be sure of the manufacturer but it may have been Baltasar or Pilen. Does anyone know?

 

A blue pirate version of the dart gun, packaged in a bag with a header card, was marketed by Baltasar and you can see it on the brilliant Alphadrome website.

 

 

Pilen of Spain used the same basic Virgil Tracy artwork as the Pistola Super Especial above for their much classier looking Pistola Espacial. I suspect that Pilen created it first as they appear to have been a respected toy company, particularly amongst toy car collectors [ Toys From The Past have written a short history of the company on their blog]. It's odd though how Pilen's logo looks a lot like Topper Toys.

 

 

 

Given the high standard of Pilen's toy pistol, it may have actually been authorised by Lone Star, who were licensed by Century 21 to issue their similar Rocket Firing Space Gun.

 

 

 

 

Again if a toy can be sold once it can be sold twice by someone else and the unlicensed Rocket Gun and Thunderbirds was the mother of mash-ups. Dr. Who, Thunderbirds and Lone Star it's all there!

 

 

 

 

To prove a point this particular pistol design went on and on and here is another Spanish version. The original design does not stem from Lone Star though. It began as the patented Strato Gun and it's origin is breifly covered elsewhere on the blog. 

 

 

 

 

Finally we return to Captain Scarlet and come bang up to date with this Spectrum Gun Set. It was issued by Bandai as part of the merchandising for the New Captain Scarlet TV series in 2005. 

 

 

 

 

Pictures: Ebay, Vectis, Alphadrome, Amazon, Moonbase Central