Patent ID: 8376806

Claim:
A toy, comprising: a housing including a first portion, a second portion, a connecting mechanism joining the first and second portions together, and at least one view port disposed within the housing and adapted to permit a user to view objects external to the toy through the at least one view port, the at least one view port including an elongate passage having first and second ends to allow a user to view objects adjacent to the second end by placing the first end adjacent to an eye of the user and the user looking toward the second end through the elongate passage, wherein the first and second portions are configured to be selectively manipulated between a closed configuration and an open configuration; a projectile; and a launching mechanism coupled to the housing and configured to engage and retain the projectile within the housing when the housing is in either a closed configuration and an open configuration, and selectively forcefully eject and thereby launch the projectile away from the housing only when the housing is in an open configuration, the launching mechanism including a trigger and an internal biasing mechanism, the trigger configured, when activated by a user, to operatively release the projectile such that the internal biasing mechanism forcefully ejects and launches the projectile away from the housing; wherein in the closed configuration, the first and second portions enclose the projectile and the trigger within the housing so that a user cannot access and activate the trigger and the projectile cannot be launched from the housing, and in the open configuration, the first and second portions are spaced apart to reveal the trigger and the projectile within the housing so that a user may access and activate the trigger and the projectile may be launched from the housing.