One Man Custom: My Home-Made Johnny Seven

Since childhood and my parents giving me a Johnny Seven one Christmas I've always loved this classic Topper toy rifle.

Like all my old toys I guess it went to Preston's landfill back in the mid-Seventies.

Remembering how much I loved it, in 2000 I bought myself a boxed Johnny Seven at the NEC's Memorabilia show. It was from an affable young dealer called Ian and cost £300, the most I've ever spent on a collectable.

It's tucked safely away in the attic.

 I do occasionally get it out on maneuvers!

I restored another Johnny Seven in 2007 for re-sale, replacing some missing parts with original and repro replacements.

I blogged about it some years back, the post comments becoming a sort of talking shop for J7 restorers! 

https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2018/04/rebuilding-johnny-seven-one-man-army.html?m=1

And so to the present. Having finished my Secret Sam rifle recently I was looking for something else to make, when I came across a bunch of old Nerf guns at the Thorpe Arch boot sale. Bingo! £4 later I had my raw materials for making a ........

..... Johnny Seven! 

With a good dose of bits from my bits box and a pair of plastic shoe horns the toy began to take shape.

A couple of home-made missiles completed the look.

Dipping my toe into paint spraying for the first time, I took my mock-off in the garden ......

... And primed it red.

I made a whole armoury of missiles!

And here's Johnny! 

The One Man Army made in the kitchen! 

Hope you like it.

You can see it's a similar size to the original.

Phew! Boy, was it fiddly but lots of Topper fun! 

*

Next up, Redbox Secret Agent.

The Secret's Out: My Custom Topper Secret Sam Rifle and Attaché Case

 As a young agent I adored my Secret Sam attache case by Topper.

The black plastic case contained all the parts to make the secret rifle, together with a high scope, a message missile and camera.

The camera and toy bullet-firing pistol could be operated even when the case was shut! 

The camera actually took real pictures! 

One of the best toys I ever had, the rifle put together was a thing of beauty.

Here's the 1960s black and white TV ad.

https://youtu.be/5DkYTRYB6tU?feature=shared

After having so much fun on the Golden Sniper, I thought I'd have a crack at Secret Sam. 

I bought a suitable toy rifle on eBay for a tenner.

And I dropped on with this old Delsey briefcase for just £2 on eBay.

So, after a good few hours tinkering, sawing, glueing and painting, I came up with this:

The spirit of Secret Sam: scope, orange bits, chrome discs: I tried to get them all in. 

A car booter gave me two black plastic pipes earlier in the week and I just had to use them as a massive silencer. I know it's outside the 'scope' of Secret Sam, but hey, it's junior espionage! 

You can see the DIY orange message missile below the barrel.

I was going to saw off the stock to replicate Topper's detachable one, but it would have meant cutting through good battery wiring in the rifle, which powers some amazing light and sound effects, so I opted to leave it as is.

Besides, the rifle was a fit for the case, albeit very snug.

For the sake of completeness I made a white case tray and a small Sam pistol and added some toy bullets and an instamatic camera courtesy of my late Father in Law.

Oh, and that DIY message missile, which I forgot to put in.

Hope you like it.

Case closed!

The Gun of the Golden Agent: Moonbase Mock-Up

 When we were young 'uns my older brothers and me had stuff lying all over the house. One of these things, not mine, was a die-cast golden cap revolver.

It was probably bought by my older brother mail-order from Ellisdons of Liverpool.

I've never forgotten that golden toy cap gun.

Back Round 1992 I got a copy of Bill Breugman's amazing Toys of the Sixties. And bingo! There inside was what I think that toy was, the Gun of the Golden Agent by Hubley.

You can see it in the book, bottom left, here in a video I did 10 years ago, around the 5.18 minutes mark.

https://youtu.be/OtG-TGgCJFI?feature=shared

Further images online are scant to say the least, a search today revealing only these Hubley 1965 trade catalogue shots.

There is another toy gun that looks a lot like the Gun of the Golden Agent, the Matt Helm SCE By Pilen of Spain.

And one more I found, the Golden Sniper by Crescent, with James Bondish box art.

With the Golden Agent in mind and a wave of nostalgia descending, I thought I'd have a crack at making something like it.

With a Farm Shop plastic revolver, plastic pipes and a few bits, here's my memory lane golden special.

It was spytastic fun. Hope you like it.

The Man from Uncle Cane Pistol: our Custom Toy Job

Continuing our custom reproductions of carded spy toys, here's our version of the Man from Uncle Cane Pistol by Marx.

Bill created the stunning graphics from stills on Hakes auctions (see bottom) and I fashioned the cane from a litter grabber. A label and some glued-on bits, the set was completed with red beads giving the impression of the ammo.

Here you go, UNCLE's cane pistol a la Moonbase International. Hope you like it.

Our visual inspiration, ignited by a reference iny Spy Toys book, was Hakes' auction image.

It's Alive! My Overnight Remco Mini Monsterizer

 Last year I rescued some trash from Aldi, a bunch of plastic toothbrush displays.

Considering what to do with them I toyed with perhaps some Action Man raft crates or maybe a Corgi lion cage.

But then I saw this!

The Remco Mini Monster Monsterizer!

Yes!

So, overnight I've whittled and spittled and fettled my own monster machine using one of those toothbrush racks.

It's been fun and Baron Frankenstein lent a hand (and a foot and a head!)!

Oven-ready, a willing creature, old Burger King Frankie, stepped up to test it out.

Dr. Bones threw the switch.

Monsterizing in progress! 

And the final stage ...

Hope you like this home-made, quick and easy Monsteriser folks.

I've got to go. Villagers are mobbing with pitchforks at the door!