First sold in 1934, the Buck Rogers rocket pistol was the first ray gun ever produced. Fashioned after the weapon carried by the fictional Buck Rogers comic-book character, the rocket pistol was straight out of the future. Buck Rogers was introduced in a 1928 issue of Amazing Stories as a World War I hero who spent nearly 500 years in a state of suspended animation after being exposed to radioactive gas and wakes to become a full-fledged superhero with a futuristic weapon. Like its fictional counterpart, the toy pistol made a zapping sound; manufacturers went on to produce multiple versions during the decades-long popularity of the character.