The popularity of the company’s Secret Sam Attaché Case led Topper Toys to release additional spy gadgets for budding spies-in-training. Options included Bomb Binoculars, Pipe Shooter, Spy Dictionary Camera Book, Cane Shooter, and Bazooka Bat.
The defining feature of each accessory was concealability – Topper designed them to resemble ordinary objects with specialized hidden functions to aid in covert activities.
Bazooka Bat: At first glance, Bazooka Bat looked like a run-of-the-mill baseball and bat. However, a hidden trigger turned it into a grenade launcher, propelling a spring-loaded (and cap-loaded) baseball toward unsuspecting enemies.
Bomb Binoculars: Topper’s set of field glasses looked and worked like the real thing. When danger threatened, a junior spy needed only to press the glasses against their nose to launch an exploding, cap-loaded missile from a hidden launch bay between the lenses.
Cane Shooter: This stylish-looking 30½-inch cane was black with a bronze-coloured handle shaped like a lion’s head — not exactly a low-key fashion accessory for a young child. Regardless, the cane offered double-duty protection: plastic bullets could be shot from the handle and a cap-firing missile could be launched from the bottom, bazooka-style.
Pipe Shooter: The “realistic and innocent looking” pipe came equipped with a hidden mirror that allowed kids to survey what was happening behind them and fire a missile by squeezing a hidden button with their teeth.
Spy Dictionary Camera Book: Bookworms rejoice! Topper’s Camera Book contained a real camera with a hidden lens that could take photos in black-and-white and colour, thanks to the use of 127 film. The book also had a secret mirror to observe the enemy and could shoot plastic bullets on command.
Thanks to attention to detail and clever built-in features, Topper’s Secret Sam Spy accessories remain popular with collectors today and often capture top dollar on secondary markets and in specialty auctions.
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