glassparman
"OK, OK, I'm going as fast as I don't want to go!"
Nice hats & bats
Some old Photos for your enjoyment
- Thread starter JWFilips
- Start date
richhodg66
Well-Known Member
A kid playing with a toy pistol?
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Didn't ever boy have a cap gun? And candy cigarettes?
JonB
Halcyon member
well, I hope that's a toy, but it sure looks real to me.
These days, there are some pretty detailed replicas, but when I was a kid that age (early 70s), the cheap toys were from Japan and were poor quality copies. Did we have some quality copy replica toy guns in late 50s and early 60s?
These days, there are some pretty detailed replicas, but when I was a kid that age (early 70s), the cheap toys were from Japan and were poor quality copies. Did we have some quality copy replica toy guns in late 50s and early 60s?
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Yep, made in USA mostly in Miamisburg, Ohio.
My big fat guess would be that it was a commissioned work for a museum and some wise-guy curator/sculptor/both, whatever got drunk one night and had this ideer,....
I bet that thing is hanging overhead in some museum somewhere still.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I don't know where I found the pics, it was off a search engine, but they seemed very similar from what I could see. Could be more like a ptetorsaur, but none appeared to have ribs in the wings that survived. And I would again argue that just because we haven't found something isn't evidence it didn't exist. The pic is probably faked, yes, but it's well done!
Always thought those things didn't have enough"breast meat" to actually fly. Seems more like a glider or scaled flying squirrel.
What are the chances that the story in the old paper was a sighting of a condor? Someone. later in history matched up the two tales and off we go to (not so) urban legend.
Snakeoil
Well-Known Member
Thanks for posting that. I had that gun as a kid. It was not really called a Fanner 50. The Fanner 50 came out before the Shootin' Shell Fanner. The 50 looked real, but did not use Shootin' Shells.
The shell casing had a very strong coil spring inside. The bullets (mine were gray) had two springy ears, like a Fastex buckle. The engaged a lip that was rolled into the case mouth. There were raised humps on those ears. When the gun was fired, the hammer pushed the cartridge into what was essentially a forcing cone that would depress the ears and release the bullet. You did not need the caps, known as Greenie Stickem Caps, to make it work. But I still remember using it both with and without caps and I swore the bullets went faster and further with the caps, which really makes no sense. I'll bet if I look hard enough I might find one of those cartridge cases. I had a box that was basically what was in the drawer of the end table next to my bed when I was a kid. When I sold the house, I dumped that drawer into a box. If I can find the box, I'll be there are Shootin' Shells in there.
My Fanner was part of a set I got for Christmas that year. The set included the Fanner, a belt buckle that had a derringer that swung out under spring pressure when you flexed your belly out. It would swing out and fire a Shootin' Shell. It had a safety latch on the buckle so it would not swing out and fire unless the latch was in the FIRE position. The other part of the set was a Rolling Block carbine that also fired Shootin' Shells. The remainder of the set was a cardboard target set up that used the box the set came in as a bullet trap.
The Shootin' Shells were fun, but a PITA. They really flew and were hard to find given their size. Shooting at the target was fine. But we wanted to shoot them at each other back then and that was just fraught with risk of eye injury. I'm actually amazed that Mattel was not sue over these. I can only imagine how many kids got one in the eye. Or maybe we were more responsible back then. I know we never did shoot them at each other.
The bullet would only last so long and then the ears would get worn and not stay in the gun. They would often "discharge" while loading when they were getting worn. Ears would also break off. Replacements were available, but not cheap. The Greenie Stickem Caps were also a PITA. You had to peel off the old one, then put on a new one. Gun goes bang 6 times and then you had to do it all over again. Yelling POW! was much easier and you never ran out of ammo
I had that set, too. It was also a Shootin' Shell pistol. Basically it was the Fanner with a different grip, hammer and snub-nose barrel. The holster was made from Mattel's proprietary plastic called "Naugahyde". My Fanner came with a leather holster.
I saw the snub nose set in the box in an antique shop about 10 years ago. I really wanted to buy it, but it was not cheap and I also realized that it would get stuffed in a drawer somewhere and forgotten about shortly after bringing it home. Now that I think about it, that derringer was in the drawer, too. Buckle was long gone. My mother was notorious for getting rid of my toys as I outgrew them. I did not break stuff and took good care of it. It's a shame it's all gone now.
I found a vid of the derringer buckle in one try.
The Mattel that I had used caps in the case with a 'bullet' that didn't 'shoot', just caused the cap to fire. Little round cap went in the case and a bump in the case caused it to fire. Reloading was slow! IIRC it was the Lone Ranger or Hop-Along series. When both were popular TV series, mid 50s. Bullet was hollow so barrel smoked.
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