Jon Finds His Favorite All-Time Vintage Toy – The Zzzoom It Gun By Mattel

Last night, my sons received the Nerf guns they have wanted for months, but the stores were out, so we went online and found them. Needless to say, they were more excited than Ralphie getting his BB gun in 'A Christmas Story'. They asked me if we had Nerf guns when I was a kid. I told them we didn't, but we did have something they don't make anymore...a Zzzoom It gun made by Mattel. They asked with great eagerness about the Zzzoom It and I told them that it was the absolute favorite toy my brother and I ever had. We played with them until they broke beyond repair and then, the unthinkable...Mattel stopped making them and my brother and I were completely devastated because we couldn't replace them.

The Zzzoom It was a gun that shot little round discs that loaded from the top of the gun. My brother and I would stand at opposite ends of the hall for hours, firing the discs back and forth, each of us catching the disc in the front of the gun. The best part was that you didn't need someone else to play with you. You could fire the discs into the air and then catch them as they came down...it was awesome.

My brother is a vintage toy collector of sorts and we speak often of the fun we had with them. He called the other night to let me know that he found two, unopened Zzzoom Its online and bought them both. We were like giddy little kids on the phone, eagerly making plans to re-visit our childhood the next time I get out to California.

See the Zzzoom It in action below in a YouTube video that I cannot believe I found. It is the original TV commercial from 1971. Ahhhh, memories. I showed my boys this video and they acted like they would abandon their Nerf guns in a second for a Zzzoom It...I mean, after all, who wouldn't?