Kusan Toy Cap Gun Scrapbook

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Mike Nichols
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In some cases Kusan is Kusan and then in some cases Kusan is Kusan/Nichols. This might sound like "Double-Talk," but that's just the way it is.

In 1965 Kusan bought out Nichols Industries, but kept using the Nichols brand. So for quite awhile things didn't change very much. But gradually, little by little, the guns changed and the Nichols part was "edged out" and they became "more Kusan." More double-talk? Not really. You can usually look at the guns and tell the difference. For instance, now there was a lot of riveting and screws weren't necessarily used. And there might be dummy bullets or no bullets at all.

However, this is still another brand and some of the Kusan Cap Guns that were first produced were some beautiful guns.

NICHOLS GUNS
(in Uncle Talley's order)

Here are a couple of photos of a Nichols-Kusan effort WAY AFTER my Uncle Talley left the company and at about the time Kusan went strictly from Nashville, Tennessee. The top photo shows the complete set and the bottom composite photo shows (sort of) the documentation that it is actually Nichols-Kusan. It's kind of a sign of the times that it was labeled for "AGES 4 & OVER" whereas the LIberals of our day say that playing with toy guns is counterproductive to good mental health. And many idiots believe them! I wonder how my family grew up to be such good citizens.

These photos by Bruce Anders. Thanks buddy!

Here's a slightly different Military Action Set from Kusan that has two hand grenades.

This photo by Rich Hall ot Cap Gun Toys.

This Kusan Burp Gun is still basically a Thompson Sub-Machine gun. It sends sparks out the front. There were several guns on the market that did this. Most came from Japan at the time.

Photo by Kenny Illges.




	Kusan/Nichols



				This Cap Gun is a perfect example of the transitional stage between pure Nichols and pure Kusan. Some of these "transitional" guns were extremely high quality and are quite rare and still make up the entire set. The chances are pretty strong that this gun came from the mid 1960s after the sale to Kusan, perhaps as late as 1968.






	Be Sure To Click On The Thumbnails!



	Nichols/Kusan from 1964-1970




		Less Gamma	More Gamma


	Top Thanks To Harold Utley For These Photos!



This is one Rare Cap Gun and Holster Set!!! The gun is the one with the transparent pearl grips with the Circle "N" cast into them and the dummy bullets. Most people will have to settle for seeing this gun as...just a photo. I've never seen the real thing either.

Here is the Stallion 45 with the molded Circle "N" in the grips, but in the Collectors Series box. Believe it or not, this particular version of the Stallion 45 actually uses the 2-piece bullets! Ben says that he has seen MANY more of this version of the Stallion with the dummy bullets than this one that still has the 2-piece bullets, so he thinks that the 2-piece bullet version is the more rare of the two. I agree with him. It was common for Kusan to "dumb down" the Cap Guns in the latter days, so it would seem plausible that they tried to save money by not having the bullets, but just casting them as part of the cylinder. If you CLICK on this photo of the back of the Stallion Model 61 box back of its Collectors Series, then you will see the gun in the shadow box. Photo by our friend Rich Hall. Here's one of the latter offerings from Kusan from Hal Richardson. I think the guns are sort of "generic." CLICK ON PHOTO FOR LARGER PHOTO And here is the proof of the pudding. This is the same gun as above, but it shows the loading gate open and the cylinder where the 2-piece bullets would go. Please note the molded-in Circle "N" in the grips. I can't tell if these grips have the "cloud-like" effect in them as some do. Thanks to Ben Graves for these photos.

This is a really rare black Stallion 45 MK-II with the "molded-in grips." It looks to be DEAD MINT, which is common with Chuck's collection pieces. This was in the latter days of the Kusan era.

From the Chuck Quinn collection (above and below)




	Kusan Scout Rifle



				There were a lot of rifles made by various companies that were similar to this one. Nichols made the Model 94 and there is a Lone Ranger version—and others. And here is just one more. Thanks to Don Dillashaw for the photos.











	Be Sure To Click On The Thumbnails!




	Stallion 45 (again)



				I present this gun (again) because, after all, it is one of the best that Kusan made and also to demonstrate that if you folks have good photos of guns that are already on here, but are worthy, they just might appear on the website as well! These photos show the same gun model as shown above by Harold Utley, but in different poses. Thanks to Rich Hall for the photos.








	Be Sure To Click On The Thumbnails!

Everybody's best guess is that this is a very late Kusan edition of the Mustang 500 and maybe their box contract had run out and they had a bunch of extra Stallion 45 MK-II boxes and so they just put extra labels on them and used them. If you know a better explanation, then please tell me.

Several people sent this to me at the same time.

Here's a really funny fact. Depending on your monitor, this photo might just be bigger than the real thing! It was really a very small Cap Gun. Notice that this one actually says, "BRAVE" on it and doesn't have any scrollwork. It is an earlier version than the one just below, but was still in the last years of Kusan/Nichols as you will notice that it says that Nichols is a subsidiary of Kusan in Nashville. How the mighty are falling. From Chuck Quinn.

This is another one of those transition guns that basically said, "Nichols" but was actually a Kusan.

This photo thanks to Rich Hall

This version of the Brave is not the same one as during the "Nichols Only" years and doesn't even say "BRAVE" on it.

Photo thanks to Tim and Janie Johnson

Here is a late model Kusan Cap Gun that some would think of as a "Mystery Gun," but it is quite legitimate. We don't really know why there are so few of them. Maybe it was a prototype. More likely it was a "last ditch effort" by Kusan to stay in business in their last days. In any case, it is really an oddball. It has the same internal cap feeding mechanism as the Tommy Gun (and the identical olive drab plastic) that is listed under the regular Nichols Cap Guns in the Rifle section. However, that gun itself was released right at the very tail end of my Uncle Talley's association with Kusan and then he was completely out and moved down the street, where he formed "Tally-Ho Plastics," which became a very successful tool and die company that led to countless other succesful similar companies that are still there to this day in Jacksonville, Texas. Quite an unusual find
—IF YOU CAN FIND ONE.

These photos compliments of Bob Garvey!

Here is the same gun, but in the chrome version. I changed this color photo into a black and white since the gun wasn't supposed to have anything but chrome and black on it, but that was because the photo was so pink. I'm not sure if this is a true representation, but it is the best I can do now.

These photos compliments of Jack Rosenthal of Toys and More.

And finally, here is the black version of the Luger by Kusan. It is the rarest of the color variations.

Photos by Rich Hall of Cap Gun Toys.



Nichols/Kusan Silver Pony






	Here is the last version of the Silver Pony and it was sort of a hybrid between a couple of the smaller gun designs. I list it in the Kusan section because it really wasn't one of Uncle Talley's designs. Thanks To Brian Roeder For These Photos!

Here's a Nichols/Kusan Silver Pony MOC.

Compliments of Chuck Quinn.

Here's something I have never seen in real life and I'm a Nichols! A Derringer with gray grips! And since it's MOC, then you can't say that it is fake, can you? Obviously this was made in the last days of Kusan. In this case, the MOC Derringer actually is worth as much as the ammo! Imagine trying to sell one of these today. The Liberal Media would just go completely apoplectic. Notice that in this example, Nichols is called a subsidiary of Kusan of Nashville. It doesn't even mention Jacksonville.

And a set of Ranchos. At least the name of the Cap Gun is still on the side. This Cap Gun is essentially the same basic gun as the Brave, but these ARE blued and ARE MOC (Mint on Card).

And a Keyston Cowpuncher set. It's hard to believe that a really sophisticated outfit like Keyston was reduced to this. Keyston normally made some REALLY FANCY holster sets. Until I saw this set, I didn't know they incorporated Nichols/Kusan Cap Guns into any of their sets, but in the last days, most of the Cap Gun (or holster) companies got really desperate to sell ANYTHING.

Compliments of Chuck Quinn.

This is really a Nichols Spit-Fire that was altered a little. It made in the later years after Uncle Talley left the company.

And here's the same basic Spit-Fire, but in a series they called, "The Collectors Series," which included quite a few guns of the Kusan/Nichols years. This Spit-Fire (without the forestock) doesn't even have the name "Spit-Fire" on it. What were they thinking? What's the point in creating a brand name, only to suddenly ignore it? Just my opinion, but I think it was a dumb move. I'll probably get into trouble for saying that, but everybody's got an opinion. This is still America, isn't it?

Photos compliments of Chuck Quinn.



Nichols/Kusan How The West Was Won Dealer Sample






	This particular mint on card example of a Spit-Fire was only meant for Dealers! The stick on the right was on the back of the card. I guess the dealer would take orders for it. This was in the last days of Kusan. Thanks To Pete Karp!

Here he's another (basically) Spit-Fire that was made in the latter years of Kusan—when they were still putting "Nichols" on the packages and guns, but were now letting folks know that Nichols was a subsidiary of Kusan, Inc. of Nashville, TN. Notice that this one is in the copper flavor.
From Dayle Moyer. Thanks Dayle

Here's a rifle that is very similar to the Nichols Model 94 rifle. There are a few cosmetic differences plus it has two other guns I can't quite identify. They might easily be Braves or Ranchos.
From David Denton of The Antique Cowboy

Some last ditch efforts from Kusan: The Ranger, Tophand 50 and the Mustang 250. You might easily argue that the Mustang 250 is simply the larger gun with a longer barrel than the Ranger (and different grips). The Mustang 250 was also made earlier than the Ranger. The funny thing is that as basic as these last Cap Guns were, they are still better than most of what you see today.
From Chuck Quinn.

Here's another example of the Tophand 50, made in the days when Kusan was getting ready to go out of business, but just didn't know it yet.

Here are some Kusan Circle "O" caps from our friend Jamie Linford, one of our advertisers.

This must be from the last days of Kusan before even they sold out. It still says, "JACKSONVILLE," and not Nashville, TN so it must have been before they sold out. It's not really a Cap Gun, but it deserves to be listed here. It is made out of plastic. This example is dead mint and has never been out of the box.

Many thanks to our friend David Denton of The Antique Cowboy for the photo.