80s Guns

My Really Cool Toy Gun Collection From The 80's

I started this little web site to show off my small but cool vintage toy gun collection. Toy guns from the 80s seem to be an obscure thing to collect. Maybe its because so many were lost, destroyed and thrown away, or maybe it is because of the taboo attached to guns. It's probably a bit of both. First off, know that I am not a serious collector and I don't spend a lot of money on my toy gun collection. It is just for fun and nostalgia and it really started out with just trying to find and collect those toy guns I actually had when I was a kid, as most of my original stuff was played with to death. Also note that you won't find any cowboy type toy guns on here and you won't find any dayglo orange, hot pink or lime green toy guns on here. As a child of the 1980s, I have many fond memories of playing in the woods with my toy guns. Back then, society in America was still somewhat innocent, and the constant fear of an accident was not the first concern of most normal parents. We rode our bikes without helmets and we were still allowed to climb trees and go trick-or-treating after dark on Halloween. We ran amok in our suburban neighborhoods, quite literally, and video games were only there for rainy days. But as we all know, those days are sadly over, just like the days of really cool toy guns. In the 80s, toy guns were big, sometimes 1:1 scale, and made to look like the real thing. Its no wonder really, with some of the most popular movies being Rambo and Commando and similar explosion packed, shoot-em-up, action flicks. I grew up watching this stuff and as a kid, playing "Red Dawn" was made possible because we could go to Toys-R-Us or Child World and shop an ENTIRE isle of realistic toy guns. I think it was sometime in the very late 80s or early 90s that the transition took place. I remember it well. I think it started with NERF guns and some water guns like the Super Soaker. Soon the toy gun isle shrank, and the colors all got brighter. It was game over for really cool toy guns. And that's why I started this web site, so I could share the nostalgia with other 80s kids out there who remember their carefree, youthful, back yard wars and killing sprees, all thanks to their really cool toy guns. True Freedom.

In my opinion, there are four main companies that made awesome toy guns when I was a kid. Of course, there were others, but these companies are important because they made several of the guns I had as a kid. The first one is Larami. They made a variety of toys in the 1980s, but it was their toy guns that I remember best. Another very notable company is Coibel of Spain. They made a bunch of die-cast guns that I had as a kid, only one of which I still own from my youth. Probably my favorite toy gun maker is Edision-Giacatolli of Italy, a world renowned and still operating toy gun manufacturer. Their toy guns were exceptionally designed and probably the most high quality of any toy gun I have ever seen. They made everything from Cowboy guns to futuristic guns and they were all unique and all very cool looking, especially the stuff they made in the 80s. Another company that made awesome toy guns was LJN Toys. They were the ones responsible for the coolest line of squirt guns ever, the Entertech guns.

Coibel "Special Forces" Cap Revolver This is a nice example of a Coibel die-cast pistol, most likely from the 1980s. I got this pistol on eBay for $6. It is a little smaller than real scale. The handle is definitely made for kid hands. I do not think it is part of the same set mentioned below. It used ring caps loaded into the gun by pulling forward on the cylinder release.
Coibel "Ranger" Cap Revolver This Coibel pistol is actually my original childhood gun. It is a full size (basically 1:1 scale) heavy revolver. It was bought for me at Child World Children's Palace in the mid-1980s along with three other pistols from this same "set" of toy guns. This particular gun used ring caps which were loaded into the gun by pushing forward on the cylinder release button. This one is pretty beat up, the back of the hammer is broken off from too much cocking and it is broken on the inside and will no longer function.
Coibel "Magnum" Cap Pistol This Coibel pistol is one that came in the aforementioned set of four realistic toy pistols from Child World that I had as a kid. This one I scored on eBay some years back and is in pretty good working and cosmetic condition. This is another full size pistol that you could probably use to rob a bank. It used red strip caps that were loaded into the bottom of the handle and "ejected" through a hole in the bottom of the barrel.
Coibel "Sphinx" Cap Pistol This Coibel pistol is one that came in the aforementioned set of four realistic toy pistols from Child World that I had as a kid. This one I scored on eBay some years back as well, but this one is clearly in played with condition. One of the screw holes in the grip is broken through and someone filed off the raised red dot on the front of the barrel to open it up and make it look even more real. I am not sure what real pistol the Sphinx was modeled after, but it looks to be some sort of target pistol. This one still works and took red strip caps that were loaded into the back of the gun and "ejected" through a hold in the front of the body. There is one other pistol from this line that was a replica of a Browning Hi-Power. If you have one for sale, please EMAIL ME!
Edison-Giacatolli "Uzimatic" Cap Gun Here is a perfect example of a toy gun that would make the stupid women on "The Talk" cringe. Despite the fact that this gun is a little smaller than 1:1 scale, it is still extremely realistic looking. It is a prime example of the solid build quality of Edison-Giacatolli. One of the cool things about this little machine pistol, is it's folding stock. This gave the gun even more playability and enjoyment. The gun makes a clicking sound when dry fired but it is meant to take strip caps inserted in the back and "ejected" in the front. My brother had one of these when we were kids, and I was later lucky enough to score a few on eBay years later in perfect condition. The gun looks to be a replica of a Tec-9 or Tec-22. I have seen photos online of "new" Uzimatics made of clear plastic with other brightly colored parts. BOOOO!
Edison-Giacatolli "ISC ZK-235" This is one of my all time favorite toy guns. I had one of these as a kid, and played with it to death. Later, I found this nice clean one on eBay for under $20. While this pistol is clearly not designed after a real gun, it is still very realistic looking. The molded grip is one of the nicest pistol grips I have ever held, even for my adult hands today. And I am not just talking about toy guns. I wish this pistol did have a real counterpart because I would buy it for sure. Edison-Giacatolli made several toy guns that shot soft hollow rubber bullets. They even sting a little when you get shot making these guns a lot of fun. The example to the right is in great cosmetic and working order, but it is missing the sight that originally came with it.
Edison-Giacatolli "ISC Uzi Special" Here is another awesome Edison-Giacatolli rubber bullet gun. This one is more of a machine pistol and also uses a spring operated clip system much like the real thing. It fires via a pumping action and it is quite fun to shoot things with. This is one of the few guns I acquired with the original box.
Larami MAC-10 Cap Gun This gun is the crown jewel of my little 80s toy gun collection. I had one of these as a kid, and I played with it properly until there was not much left. When I got older and nostalgic about my old toys, I started combing the Internet for one of these. It quite literally took 7 years of constant eBay searching, but eventually I found one. Now I know I said I don't spend a lot of money on my toy gun collection, but in this case I made an exception. The seller wanted $100 for it, and I gladly paid up. What you see is a 1:1 scale MAC 10/11 replica cap gun with removable suppressor, collapsible stock and a removable stick magazine. How cool is that? The gun operated with 3 AA batteries which were loaded on the side, and on the other side you could insert rolls of paper caps. Extra "ammo" could be stored on the inside of the clip. I think the coolest part of this gun was the threaded barrel and silencer, something you rarely saw on toy guns to begin with. I played with mine for years, and I played with it so hard I remember breaking the barrel off so the silencer could no longer be fitted. My gun was used and abused, taped to other guns Aliens style, and probably left to disintegrate in the woods somewhere behind our old house. Now, I cherish my Larami Mac-10 and I keep it safely in a box with bubble wrap! Anyone else out there have one of these?