Further to the January posts on Tri-Play Toys, and Bull Fighting toys, here is a closer look at the Tri-Play Break-A-Bull game. 'The excitement and thrill of the bullring in your own home - Destroy the charging bull with the aim of the sword'.
It is pretty bizarre, even for the time! My guess would be 1950s.
It is described on the back of the card as 'A spine tingling action game ! Shoot bull out - aim sword as he returns automatically. Hit the mark and he blows apart. Easy to put together again'.
The front of the card has the Item No.882, and a US Patent number Pat No.2,881,864. The back of the card shows this and other toys that were available from Tri-Play.
The address is Tri-Play Toys Inc., 4757 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago 40, Illinois. Other toys carry a different address - 1325 West Belden Avenue, Chicago 14, Illinois.
The bull is either moulded in black plastic, with the rest of the toy in red plastic; or red, with gold. The bull standards on a plastic box, containing the wheels and steel spring.
The photographs I could find of this toy are not that clear, but these appear to be the directions printed along the sides of the card. More instructions are printed under the parts.
1 Send out the bull with automatic sword launcher
2 Bull charges back toward you automatically
3 Aim sword tip toward target under bull's head - If you hit it bull will blow apart before your eyes
4 Quickly reassemble bull and start again.
Presumably, if you miss, the bull gores you to death ?
It looks as though Tri-Play was active around the 1950s/1960s. The lack of a five-digit ZIP postal code (introduced in 1963, although it took a while for them to be widely adopted) suggests an early date. Tri-Play Toys ... A Quality Toy ... For Greater Joy.
Art Linkletter was an American radio and television personality of the time, and he endorsed many toys, including some by Tri-Play. His image appears in one corner of the card.
The Break-A-Bull is marked $1.29. There are not very many listings for this toy on-line, so it was probably not a big seller at the time.
Four photographs from Worthpoint
Paul Adams from New Zealand
LOL, "unpleasant?" Because you're stabbing a bull with a sword? Or because of the implications of a bull "blowing apart?" Or the presumed being gored by a bull if you miss? I dunno. Most playtime involves stabbing, shooting or killing, and there's certainly a lot of blowing up in play too (although not usually blowing up animals, granted). But hey, I'm a vegetarian and see no end to folks who have no problem with slaughterhouses, hunting and fishing. I always laugh when those same folks have a problem with some kind of "violence." Are you vegetarians like me? I'd still rather see killing in plastic, than in real life.
ReplyDeleteEach to their own Baron. Poor choice of title.
DeleteHa! I went through several of those "Crashmobiles" in my youth - kids naturally gravitate towards destruction, I think,. SFZ
ReplyDeleteAh yes, like stamping on sand castles Zigg!
Delete