I just came across this 1960s TV commercial for a toy called King Zor, made by Ideal. It is a battery-powered dinosaur, that came with a dart-firing pistol (which looks to be a cross between a Luger and a Mauser).
When you hit a disc on the tail, the monster spun round - slowly - and fired small plastic balls at you. A toy that shoots back.
When the protruding tongue of King Zor hit an object, the dinosaur turned away, and headed off in a different direction. It came with five missiles (plastic balls), and five darts - batteries not included.
Power was provided by two D Cell batteries, housed in the bottom of the toy. Copyright date on the box is 1962, Ideal Toy Corporation, Hollis, New York.
Some of the guns appear to have been all-green, others were two-tone, assuming the guns are original to the sets. The boxes look to have been fairly flimsy, and not many have survived.
There was even a board game, although this does not appear to have involved firing actual projectiles. This is also dated 1962, Ideal Toy Corporation.
Four photographs from Worthpoint.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
What a weird toy, and bizarre concept! I never saw one of these myself, guess they were all snapped up quickly! SFZ
ReplyDeleteGreat to see this again Paul, thanks for sharing. I first came across King Zor in Bill Breugman's iconic Toys of the Sixties book, along with his beloved Great Garloo robot. I've never seen either of them in the flesh. Ideal made such wonderful toys back then.
ReplyDeleteThis stirred memories of my first visit to England since my emigration, back in 1982. I remember revisiting on old toy shop in my Grandma's town of Dover. High on a back shelf was a dusty box which I took to be a King Zor, reissued as an Action Man toy. As an adult, it didn't appeal to me much and I just filed away the memory.
ReplyDeleteNow 40 years later, I do a Google search and it turns out it was an original toy, part of the Space Rangers line...
Do any of you Moonbasers remember Gargon?
Only ever seen Gargon in books Looey along with the Intruder and the Space Ranger. Certainly not toys I had as a kid but by the late 70's I'd moved onto heavy rock and Tolkein! Looking at Gargon and the box art its almost He-Man like and has a whiff of Sword and Sorcery before it became a thing in the 80's.
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