Sunday, January 24, 2016

At Flashbak: Shoot Out in Space (Tomy; 1978)



This week at Flashbak I also remembered a fun toy from Tomy, in 1978: Shoot Out In Space!



“Here’s another great collectible from the disco-decade and the post-Star Wars (1977) sci-fi boom. Now, toy ray guns go back to the 1930s, but this was a new wrinkle on an old idea.

Manufactured by Tomy (No. 2509) in 1978, this set is called Shoot Out in Space. I suppose you would term it a game of outer space marksmanship. Basically, it’s a plastic gun, and a rotating (space-age) shooting gallery of rubber rockets.

The actual object of the game? 

Disable enemy rockets with a mysterious beam of light."  The toy involves “cosmic combat with a ray gun, revolving space station and enemy rockets.

Players (or shooters….) could modify the plastic laser weapon by making the "ray gun hand-size by separating it from the stock." 

The light beam from the ray gun operated "on a transistorized target at distances over 30 feet," and kids could also "change the target to make it harder and harder to hit."

Designed for ages 6 and up, this Tomy toy required four "AA" batteries to operate. I remember this toy so well -- and have one in my home office -- because my best friend and next door neighbor owned Shoot Out in Space, and often invited me up to his third-floor playroom to shoot down the enemy rockets…


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