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                       The
                                Atomic Alien Spinning Space Gun
                                is the funnest ray gun we've found. It's large
                                (over ten inches
                                long),  loud  (replete with authentic
                                space gun sounds),
                                bright  (it lights up in four places at
                                once), and inexpensive
                                under ten dollars).  What it may not be is
                                kid-proof (not very
                                much is). But it wins for shiny and bright
                                (silver and blue or silver
                                and red plastic, unless you get the slightly
                                more expensive (under
                                fifteen dollars) leather-feel black, noir
                                version (shown below), which,
                                beneath its executive exterior is still all kid.
                                A great gift for dads
                                who are part Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon. 
                                 
                                Where, you're wondering, do you report to pull
                                your weapon? Aaron's Tin
                                Toy Arcade, one of the best links we've ever
                                found. Once you visit, we
                                guarantee you'll go back. Their website is
                                delightful and
                                family-friendly, and chock full of outstanding
                                tin, plastic, and
                                battery operated robots. The prices are
                                amazingly low. The selection is
                                amazingly wonderful. See the link below or on
                                the links pages. 
                                 
                                Once you've pulled your  weapon, it will
                                arrive in a bubble wrap
                                bag. There's a little tag to pull out by the
                                battery cover, which will
                                connect the three already loaded AA test
                                batteries. Pull the trigger
                                and voila! a blaze of glory. But you'd like to
                                replace the batteries
                                with three shiny, new AA models as soon as
                                possible, especially if it's
                                a gift for a cosmic cowboy, because it's not at
                                all obvious how to do
                                so. We provide detailed instructions below so
                                you can saddle up the
                                spaceship and ride out, ready for
                                extraterrestrial adventure. So with
                                the proviso about changing batteries, you're
                                ready to defend the
                                universe. 
                               
                       
                            
                      Above
                                left: The blue gun stealthily
                                blends into outer space.  
                                 
                                Above right: Guns blazing, and ready for any
                                alien invasion, ablaze
                                with light and sound. 
                        
                           
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