Johnny Seven OMA
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Johnny Seven O.M.A. (One Man Army) was a multi-function toy weapon produced by Deluxe Reading under their Topper Toys toyline during the 1960s. Johnny Seven O.M.A. was one of if not the best selling toy of 1964 (according to sales reports provided by two industry magazines of that year, Playthings and Toys & Novelties). Johnny Seven O.M.A. was marketed heavily on children's television and had an interesting number of features, including seven different actions (thus the "Seven" in the name). Since all these actions involved play-acting using various weapon actions, the "OMA" or One Man Army tagline.
[edit] OMA Actions
- Grenade
- Anti-Tank Rocket
- Armor-Piercing Shell
- Anti-Bunker Rocket
- Repeating Rifle
- Tommy Gun
- Automatic Pistol
All of the firing mechanisms were attached to the main rifle assembly - the pistol inserted from the bottom to provide the rifle grip (the pistol also held caps for authentic firing sounds). The main ammunition included various sized white bullets that would "shoot" from the barrels via spring-action. The rockets and grenade also fired via spring-action. The weapon featured a working bipod that provided stability for the various rockets and grenade. The stock could be removed to shorten the weapon while in Tommy Gun mode. The toy when fully assembled is over three feet long.
Topper also marketed additional toy accessories to be used with the Johnny Seven O.M.A including a helmet and walkie-talkies. Deluxe Reading used the Topper Toys brand to add a modern flair to their new product lines. Deluxe Reading was famous for creating huge package playsets that could be seen by children when viewing the top, unusable shelf in grocery store chains. By creating large, colorful boxes, the space could be used to market to the children that always accompanied parents while food shopping. An unusual marketing "trick" that worked well for Deluxe Reading and later copycat toy companies such as Remco.
Deluxe Reading produced many memorable toys including the Johnny Lightning cars (similar to Mattel's Hot Wheels), the Crimestopper Gun (similar to the O.M.A only geared towards kids play-acting cops and robbers), the Operation X-500 Space Base and others.
