My son found this piece in the neighbor's back yard, at the base of a huge walnut tree. I guess it's a toy of some sort, but I can't imagine what was attached to the top. There's a trigger on the handle...
...that moves the little tab on the top back and forth.
Maybe this was for swapping out different "blades" that clicked into place? There are no markings on this that I could see. It's pretty heavy for its size, and it's definitely metal of some sort. If anyone knows more about what this is, I'd appreciate hearing about it.