c.1936 Baldwin Mfg. Co., Mechanical G-Man Patrol in Original Box
Fantastic mechanical G-Man Patrol action toy manufactured by Baldwin Mfg. Company, Brooklyn, N.Y. The toy features a multi-shot mechanical machine gun with rotating targets set against a 1930's New York street scene diorama. The toy is complete and comes with its original box. It appears to have never been played with. Once assembled the toy is nearly 3 feet long. One end has a 4½" long black wooden machine gun mounted to a movable metal base. Eight slotted wooden bullets slide down one by one into the gun chamber. Manually turning the machine gun crank pulls back an internal spring which releases to fire the bullet. Turning the crank also rotates the back end of the bullet chamber. The chamber is grooved to simultaneously work as a pulley wheel. A cord connected around this wheel runs down along two other pulley wheels. These wheels keep the cord loop from tangling. The cord runs under the entire length of the tin litho connecting highway and loops around a fourth (and larger) pulley wheel located underneath the stage section below the city scene. This last wheel turns the criminal target disk. Six die cut criminals, each with a different point value, are attached to the disk on a hinged base. Shoot 'em and they fall over. The die cut city diorama has two doors allowing the criminals to move in and out of the buildings. So rotation of the machine gun crank shoots the bullets while simultaneously rotating the remote targets. It's incredibly clever and really neat to see it in person. It works great, however the bullets must be precisely positioned to slide down into the chamber. Adjusting the metal loop holder will allow them to slide down more easily, but more often than not, they either stick, or fall out of the holder. The bullets can also easily dent and pit the cardboard surfaces. The incredible condition of the toy, its completeness, and the fact that it workedl was enough for me. The toy is made from several materials. The machine gun and bullets are wooden. The G-Man Patrol stage, city diorama, and criminals are heavy pressed cardboard laminated with a glossy color print. The highway is tin litho and made from two interlocking sections. The front half shows an overhead view of a Police car with a roof mounted machine gun. It even has a cop shooting from his position on the right rear bumper! A motorcycle cop rides alongside the car, while further up a second cop lays splayed out on the highway with his bike turned over. Two other cops ride further ahead. The original box was illustrated in orange against a white background. It shows the layout of the toy accompanied by a Police Car chasing an escaping bad guy. Directions for assembly and play are printed on the lower right corner. The front box apron was also illustrated with a fleeing bad guy holding a smoking revolver. A police car with a cop shooting a machine gun out the window is close behind him. The city looms in the distance. The remaining box aprons show illustrations of the six target criminals (three on each panel). Size: Assembled 31" long. City diorama and base 13" x 11" x 5". Tin litho highway 24" x 3". Bullets 1¼". Sold: Aug. 2006
Price Sold: $ 1225
