Raygun #6: Atomic Disintegrator (1/6 Scale)

Name: Atomic Disintegrator (1/6 scale)

Date: 2000s

Country: somewhere in Asia

Where Purchased: eBay

Cost: $9.99 plus shipping.

Notes:  This is an adorable 1/6 scale version of the expensive and hard to find Hubley Atomic Disintegrator, in a gold-and-black colour scheme (the Hubley was silver with red hand grips). The little gun comes complete with an advertisement card and box (both with appealing retro graphics), and two tiny suction-cup darts that really do fit into the barrel of the gun (the orginal Hubley had no darts, being a capgun). The seller had a few other miniature rayguns, but I chose this one because of the box (and the fact that it's a Hubley). These haven't turned up in my recent raygun eBay searches, so I fear the seller may have vanished. Too bad, because I'd buy a few more.

 

Raygun #5: Atomic Space Gun

Name: Atomic Space Gun

Date: 1950s

Country: Japan

Where Purchased: eBay

Cost: Around $10 plus shipping.

Notes: Tin with litho illustrations. Intended to spark, but needs a new flint. Definitely got played with, but isn't in bad shape. This is the same gun pictured on page 33 of Zap! Raygun Classics by Leslie Singer (San Fransisco: Chronicle Books: 1991) with one small difference: mine has only yellow and white graphics, lacking the red shading on the text and the nucleus in the atomic symbol.

Raygun #4: Space Gun

Name: Space Gun

Date: Unknown. Described by seller as new old stock (ie. brand new and mint, but stored for many years in a warehouse), but quite likely a contemporary replica.

Country: Japan

Where Purchased: eBay

Cost: I think ten bucks plus shipping, but I don't recall.

Notes: Tin with litho illustrations. Sparks. The box has a UPC label and a label that says "COLLECTABLE ITEM NOT FOR CHILDREN ! AGES 8 AND UP" which is what makes me suspect it's a new replica and not an actual vintage item. Also, the box graphics are printed on a separate label and applied to the box, rather than being directly printed on the box. Still, a nice-looking raygun with fantastic 3-colour graphics on the box.

Raygun #3: Superior Laser Gun

Name: Superior Laser Gun

Date: Unknown, but purchased in 2009


Country: Unknown, but probably China

Where Purchased: Dollar store in Scotia Square (which now seems to be gone), Halifax, NS

Cost: $2 + tax

Notes: Pulling the trigger produces both a sound and some lovely old-fashioned sparks (which is why it was in the $2 section of the dollar store, I imagine). There don't seem to be any maker's marks moulded in the plastic. The stickers say "Laser Gun" "SUPER POWER 2000" "A HUNDRED SHOTS" "SUPERIOR" and "LASER GUN" and have a picture of the Space Shuttle attacking a Death Star/R2D2 hybrid. I love it just for the image alone.

Raygun #2: HH Dream

Name: HH Dream

Date: Unknown, but purchased in 2009

Country: China

Where Purchased: Dollar store in Scotia Square (which now seems to be gone), Halifax, NS

Cost: $1 + tax

Notes: There's an oval molded in the plastic just above the sticker (which is a little sun-faded as I had it near a window) that says "HUA HAI." Near the front it has the molded mark "No. 600 MADE IN CHINA." It's a double-barreled water gun, but I haven't actually tried it to see if both barrels fire. I can feel air coming out of the top one when I squeeze the trigger, but not the bottom one (though it does have a hole for the water).

Raygun #1

Name: ?

Date: Purchased in 2009, don't know when it was made

Country: Probably made in China, but the only markings I can find on it say "1010 LAN WEI," and I've mislaid the packaging

Where Purchased: Dollar store in Scotia Square (which now seems to be gone), Halifax, NS

Cost: $1 + tax

Notes: Made of dark coloured plastic with an oil-slick iridescent finish. There's an LED inside, but it doesn't light up (probably dead battery or broken connection--I'm going to open it up and see if I can figure it out). The shape reminds me a bit of a Star Wars blaster.

A Definition and a Mission Statement

Raygun Gothic, Defined

Googie/Populuxe/Streamline Moderne/Art Deco architecture (and, in general, style) in retro-futuristic science fiction. "A tomorrow that never was," says Lance Olsen. This is the style of the Atomic Age (atompunk, if you must) and the term was coined by the fantastic William Gibson (through one of his characters) in his story "The Gernsback Continuum." Another character in the same story used the term "American Streamlined Modern."

Raygun Gothic, Mission Statement

I first thought of starting this blog as a way to catalogue my raygun collection, in the hopes that other people might find it useful, or at least think the pictures are cool. And I will do that here. But I also want to showcase some of the very cool raygun art people are making and selling (much of which I, sadly, can't afford to add to my collection). And I'll review the odd book.

But in addition, partly spurred by a blog post by writer Philip Reeve (go read his Hungry City/Mortal Engines books, and find him on Twitter as philipreevebks), I want to write about the whole Raygun Gothic style (do I need to keep capitalizing that, I wonder? It could get tiresome), not just as it appears in science fiction, but also as it manifested in real life. The architecture, the crazy 1930s stunt aircraft, the streamlined locomotives of the 30s, 40s and 50s, and so on, and so on.

What Reeve said was (in small part):

The idea for all this first occurred to me some years ago: I was still writing the Larklight books then, and I spent a pleasant afternoon plotting out a sort of Larklight:The Next Generation, which would swap all the Victorian motifs for Dan Dare ones. Having done so, however, I didn't want to spend six months actually writing the thing, so I'm passing the notion on to anyone who's interested. Strap on your jet-pack and rocket boots and set a course for the Lunar Academy: you could become the JK Rowling of the Jet Age!

I'm not quite ready to tackle another novel yet (I still have a couple to finish before I start something new), but I think I can do this blog.

If you make art that fits the style--especially if you make rayguns--send me an email (or if you can't find my address, leave a comment). I'd love to feature you.