Weapon-propelled miniature cars

Only one word for this Palitoy production - inspired. The original Ricochet Racer set took the two things closest to the heart of every ten year old boy - cars and guns - and combined them with an effortless genius West Coast Gangsta Rappers. can only dream of. The high-tech white-and-red rifle, resembling a failed auditionee for the part of Starbuck’s fighter in Battlestar Galactica, was breech-loaded with “cartridges” containing a miniature car, which could be fired at great (theoretical) speed along the floor.

But, as ever, what sounded like a dream product was scuppered by the twin toy demons of safety (to avoid potential lawsuits, the gun would only fire the cars when resting on the ground, thus putting paid to mischievous dreams of airborne car assaults from top floor windows¹) and the mundane reality of your average ’70s house - instead of the acres of just-polished parquet flooring possessed by the parents of the children in the ads, a few square yards of traffic-calming nylon carpet was the deal more often than not, severely restricting the duration of any prospective race. Still, you could always gain limited fun by firing them from the top of the stairs when your mum was on the phone in the hall.

The many variations included a “speed duel” double set, a “sharpshooter” gun with a stack of little barrels to knock over, Spiderman and Captain America branded comic tie-ins, and a glow-in-the-dark model. The later Wrist Racers, which strapped to your arm watch-style, were presumably designed to further remove that troublesome firearm association.