Shoot Out In Space

This was one of my most prized toys from childhood. Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, it is no surprise that I am a huge Sci Fi nut. I had all kinds of Sci Fi toys. Ray guns. Figures. Read Sci Fi books. Watched Sci Fi shows. Was a nut for it. This particular ray gun, despite not being associated with any particular franchise, was my favorite one. The only other ray gun that came close were the electronic phasers released for ST:TMP. But back to Shoot Out.

Want to be a Space Ranger?

This particular ray gun did it all. The gun itself was essentially a flashlight with a standard incandescent bulb in it. Squeeze the trigger and a beam of light was shot out of the barrel. One of the neat things about this gun, though, was that you could operate it either as a rifle, as shown on the box, or break it down and remove the stock for a heavy duty pistol. 

Part of the appeal of this particular ray gun is the sterile all white design - very 70's sci fi.

To fire the beam, you actually had to cock the gun, so this “high tech” space weapon took on a realistic (for an 8 year old) wild west quality. As cool as the gun is, however, the thing about Shoot Out In Space that made it an object of envy in the neighborhood was that it came with a target to shoot at.

Shoot us!

Not just one target though – it came with 5! The target base consists of a target area that you have to shoot with the gun. Basically, the target is a light sensor. You could hit it with any powerful flashlight and trigger it.

On top of the base was a rotating pedestal. On top of the pedestal are five enemy rockets that you have to shoot down, despite the fact you’re not shooting at the rockets, you’re shooting at the base.

Anyway, crank the rotating pedestal all around and then fire at the target. If you score a hit, it rotates the base and fires one of the rockets into the air. Much easier on the neighborhood fauna than a BB Gun ever was. The satisfaction of scoring a hit and firing off a rocket was second only to disabling a Starbird or my brother’s ST:TMP phaser with their infrared tagging beams.

Finding one of these guys in good shape is actually really hard. Springs in the gun are often broken. The stickers on the base, the rockets or the gun are almost always pealing off. And often the mechanism that fires the rocket is broken. Or the catch that keeps the pedestal rotated.

If you can find one of these babies, and are a fan of the 70’s ray gun, I highly recommend it.