Special Agent 707's New Case Opened

Just before Easter I treated myself to two Redbox toy special agent attache cases, a classic design that goes back decades: Agent 707 may ring bells with you readers?

One I've bought is an older boxed version and the other unboxed set a newer release like the one I bought at the Ridings Index store in the early 1990's, sadly since sold on.

This later unboxed release arrived this week and I've been busy cleaning it up and replacing the odd missing part, as always great fun messing with special agent stuff. 

This set from eBay was more compete than I thought: all two badges and the key present.

I cleaned everything up, glued down ripped pockets and blacked out any scratches on the case.

Luckily I had a similarly coloured plastic pipe of a suitable size to make a decent ersatz of the missing silencer. 

The black shoulder stock came without a grip fastener, so a couple of bits and some glue later, I whittled a fair enough replacement, that does the job.

All that's missing now are the small brown bullets for the little secret radio pistol (amazingly I found another one of these tiny guns at the local boot sale yesterday!)

All in all it's a great example of this later Redbox set, with it's orange weapons. I'm unsure if the black stock is the right colour - should it be orange? - but it looks good and harks back to earlier Redbox sets.

For the time being, this case, 707, is now closed!

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! 

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Next up, Redbox Secret Agent.

Sixgun Justice: TV WESTERN GIMMICK GUNS

This website of western toy guns is fascinating. See what you think!

https://www.sixgunjustice.com/2020/01/western-tie-instv-western-gimmick-guns.html?m=1 

Tune In and Fire

 I've always loved little radios. As a kid I had a small portable transistor. I don't think I had a radio gun but I would have loved these.

The Transogram Girl from Uncle Radio Pistol. How cool is that! The Flashlight Whistle is pretty smart too!

Here's another fab toy bullet firing radio from Japan. It looks really ace.

Do you have any toy radio guns?

Mo Mortars

 New:

https://youtu.be/k8eboOWYWPI?feature=shared

Old: 

https://youtu.be/jTMT94ObKU8?feature=shared

Which do you like the most?

Mortar Works

 This modern mortar toy is like the one I had in the 60's. It looks so damn cool.

Did you  have anything like this?

Shot Gun Heading

 

I love a hotch-potch of card art! This Cap Gun has all good stuff.

Who is the bespectacled blond holding the pistol? Is she stood next to a motorbike? And is that Carrie Fisher kneeling by her rifle?

I like it! You?

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SOLVED!

Two anonymous readers have ID'd the card art. It's lifted from this book cover by Jerry Ahern:

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.

Martian Screaming Missile Rifle by Tudor Rose

I wuz gobsmacked when I saw this on eBay last year when researching Dalek toy guns.

One I'd never seen before and certainly a rarity, this is the 30" long Martian Screaming Missile Gun, the M.S.M.G, made by those gorgeous toy makers, Tudor Rose.

With an eye-watering price tag, I saved the pictures for later. It eventually sold I think and some lucky Buck will be making martians tremble everywhere!

Not sure who the creatures are on the box? General martians?

Overall it has a feel of the big Dr.Who bazooka I covered - and made - last year.

A bazooka style toy in a huge box, it's the first time I've ever come across this toy. Is it one you know?

Classic Japanese Space Ray Guns | toykarma

Years ago we covered all the fab toy Japanese guns that had Thunderbird's Zero-X on them. 

Here's another different medley of amazing Japanese ray guns from other TV shows like Ultraman and Godzilla.

The toy are sumptuous and the box art just terrific. See what you think.

https://toykarma.com/2012/06/22/classic-japanese-space-ray-guns/ 

I Spied

 Here's a few neat vintage espionage toys I've spied of late that I thought I'd blog before they self-destruct.

Here's the Lone Star Cigarette Box Pistol. It's related to the cane guns we've reprod and used the same small red ammo. It looks really smart and I love the card art!

This toy pistol caught my eye because it reminded me entirely of my old Joe 90 attache case.

On closer inspection they're quite different!

Joe 90 below. Did you have this case?

These blow moulded super spy walkie talkies look so simple I love them. No batteries so how do they work?

And every agent needs a pipe pistol. Here's a classic carded smoker. What a toy! 

And this auction medley has something for every spy. The Batman headered spy walkie talkie is odd.

Which toys do you like readers?