O Ráio Laser: The Rays in Spain

I love the box art on this Estrela made board game, o raio Laser, which I guess means Laser Beam.

The game itself looks pretty basic but the art is where it's happening. A space jet, a Gemini and a flower pot laser canon.

Do you like?

BIRTHDAY TRIFLE: THE ESTRELA RIFLE

 There are a few things that have only ever been seen once by us on Moonbase, as rare as the birthday cake you always wanted.

One of them is the beautiful Estrella tinplate space rifle, the Patrulha do Espaco, from 1969.

Seen once years ago online in Brazil courtesy of  the Brinquedos Raros sales site this old toy rifle is emblazoned with fabulous space art.

The graphics include the MEV2 on the rifle's stock, as featured on this blog's masthead!

..... together with a Booster Rocket on the box - both inspired or even lifted from Ed Valigursky's well-known space illustrations - along with Robbie the Robot and what looks like a Crater Critter maybe. 

I really like the box art and the central astronaut with the rifle is really well done. Overall its a gorgeous toy and box, the graphics used not dissimilar to one of Estrela's other space toys, Robocom, a tin TV robot, not quite as rare but almost, seen on Moonbase.

Searching for the rifle is made harder by the fact that a Brazilian rock band has the same name. I'm surprised they didn't use the box art for an album cover!

However, some new googling garnered some new pictures of this Brazilian!

From the seller's Facebook page, Brinquidos Raros, we can see more of this elusive gem!

What do you think?

Has anyone actually got one of these scarce treasures?

ESTRELA SPACE RIFLE 1969 FROM BRAZIL

Now get a load of this, one of the most beautiful space toy rifles I have ever seen. Repeated a few times on MC this example is the only one I have ever come across. What do you think?

https://brinquedosraros.com.br/detalhe/l_4920/brinquedos-antigos-estrela-metralhadora-espacial-patrulha-do-espaco-com-5300-cm-de-comprimento-datado-06-03-1969/

THE HUNTSMAN TOY RIFLE

Before the virus I was in a B&M store looking for Easter gifts for the kids. I couldn't help noticing a large selection of plastic toy guns and the biggest of all was this, the Huntsman, which I think is by Lanard.

When I was a nipper, like many others, we had the biggest toy weapon of all time, Topper's Johnny seven One Man Army. I still have one. My parents obviously bought it me one Christmas and I think it was the biggest selling toy that year.

I often wonder if they had any qualms about buying me, a 7 year old, such a huge toy gun? My folks both fought in the War and might very well have had their fill of guns and ammo, so did they hesitate when faced with Johnny Seven in the shop or did peer pressure prevail?

I ask because I'm just not sure I'd buy my Grandson, Moonbase Junior, the Huntsman. OK, he's only 3 and a half at the mo but even if he was 7, I'm just not sure nowadays.

I'd have fun with it though but I wouldn't take it in the street like we did with our Johnny Sevens!

What would you do?

Above: Wotan playing with MY One Man Army!

MOON LIGHT RIFLE MYSTERY

Who on earth is that character on this old Daiya Japanese tinplate space rifle I saw on Ebay?

Moon Light?

ESTRELA FOGUETE SUPERSONICO ROCKET PLANE

I do like this old Brazilian space toy I saw online.

Its by Estrela.

There's something Project SWORD-like about this supersonic rocket.

What do you think? Do you like it?

*

UPDATE

I think its a version of this Turbo Jet Car by Ideal. Do you agree?

ESTRELA ROBO COM TELE VALIGURSKY BOX ART

I got excited about this rare Estrela robot when I first blogged it years ago

This Brazilian Horikawa-Estrela robot is the only one I know with Ed Valigursky Spacex-related imagery on the chest TV and the box.

There's a Booster Rocket on the box front and a MEV-2 on the TV!

But this is only the second decent box, albeit a repro on Ebay, I've seen on all sides online, I think, so I saved the pics.

Its this side that's just brilliant.

Closer we can now see that its the MEV-2 and the Booster Rocket on the side.

How cool is that!

You got one?

For much older posts about this including the TV drum and a similarly illustrated tin rifle then click on the labels below.

Here's an older pic of this box art from the blog years ago.

ARGENTINIAN SPACEX RIFLE BY ESTRELA: YEAR OF MANUFACTURE

Years ago I posted this toy I found on an online Argentinian Toy Site, Brinquidos Raros. The toy is a rare tin space rifle emblazoned with the SWORD Booster rocket on the box and the SpaceX MEV2 on the butt, at least on the side we can see. Its called Patrulha Do Espaco. Does anyone have one of these?

Well, here's a new development. I've found this small scan of an old toy catalogue depicting Estrela rifles. You can see what I think is the Patrulha do Espaco bottom right. 

Below is my rather poor close-up, which doesn't really help us. However, what is new is the date at the top of the catalogue scan i.e. 1969/ 1970. Although it's younger than Project SWORD, which surfaced in 1967, the 1969/ 1970 date would place this toy at the same period as SpaceX toys. If 1969 is correct then perhaps even one year earlier than SpaceX! Could this be the first toy to picture a MEV2? I assume both the Booster and MEV2 illustrations were lifted directly from the Ed Valigursky artwork in the LIFE Book Man and Space from the Sixties.

May I present the Sword Rifle!

Earlier in the summer I came across this beautiful toy by Estrela of Brazil on an excellent website called Brinquedos Raros. The title of the rifle translates roughly to Machine Gun Spatial Patrol of Space. Of great interest to us in SWORDland is the fabulous artwork! You will immediately notice that the box lid is graced with no less than the Booster Rocket and a red Moon Base LEM. A Lost in Space robot joins the fun too together with astronauts and moon man, which look vaguely familar but I just can't place them.

The rifle is no less interesting. On the butt we can clearly see a MEV2 a la SpaceX! It's a veritable SWORD-SpaceX rifle!

All of these SWORD-SpaceX images are likely to have been lifted from Ed Valigursky's artwork from the important Man and Space book. The website dates the toy exactly to 06-03-1969.

We have seen Estrela featuring MEV2 before on it's toys in the form of a robot. More to follow on this!