A is for Alien Arsenal

So to past show-table photo-shoots, about a year ago I think for most of these - and most photographed on Mercator Trading's stand; some possibly still available?

Ray guns! Water-pistols or sparkers, rattlers, torches or cap-guns, everyone had a couple of these in a childhood, now the local copper's are likely to kill you real dead if you carry one outside...best keep them in the packaging!

This is a sparker, with it's distinctive heavy trigger from Omed Srl. near Naples, and possibly quite modern, the company seems to either be still be in business, or to have only recently vanished. The clip-on telescopic sight is a nice touch, but memory serves it was always the first thing to break!

An importer from Milan (Interglass Sas.) brought this one in from Hong Kong; another sparking toy. The card says Super Ray Gun but I think the wacky graphics on the body of the weapon are actually trying to say Spider Ray Gun? A tad older then the previous one I'd say; from both the card design and the plastic colours, and it's got one of the less comfortable flat triggers...hey, this stuff matters when you've got small hands!

Ideal Toys water-pistol, but not that 'Ideal Toy Co.' of the US...this Ideal is (or was until 2003) actually J.G. Schrödel of Nuremberg, Germany, now part of the Heinrich Bauer Group...indeed the frequency with which these turn up suggests they were in production recently? I just want to convert it into a space-ship...Look! Small-scale crew!

This is clearly the fighter to the bomber above! a single pilot with a determined countenance powering his machine into the enemy system to splurge them with sun-heated tepid water...Summer days huh?

Ah! Yes! ... The least rare 'ray gun' in the history of ray-guns...this one is a crank-handled 'clicker' making a noise similar to the great Marx Tommy-gun we had as kids, these were originally made by Pyro as the Pyrotomic Disintegrator Rifle in that distinctive mix of bronze and silver plastics which sums up the Pyro range, but has since been found to have been produced in Argentina, Brazil, Portugal (where these five Hercules hail from) and Spain.

There are differences between the various guns and these Portuguese one's were all over the place about three years ago following a warehouse find!

If you think that line-up is fancy, check out Geoff's Post on them!