Mr. Stickler
the new stick-up-picks craze

Four games in one: Pick and Stick, the Hard Way, the Hard Way in Reverse, and Solitaire, which has the best rules of all. 

For all four games, any mistake is a BOO BOO (all caps!) but with Solitaire, if you have ten or more BOO BOO sticks, you're an Old Stick in the Mud! 

With nine, you're a Porcupine. 

With eight, you still don't rate! 

The insults become less severe until you have zero in your BOO BOO pile and earn the title A MASTER STICKLER.

Simple fun with colored plastic sticks being stuck through a plastic base. KerPlunk wouldn't come along until 1967 by the way.

As Mr. Stickler is No. 529, there must have been an extensive line of cheap plastic toys from this 1950s manufacturer, Empire Plastic Corp in Pelham Manor, NY

Some I've seen for sale:

A small game called Hop! which was a red board with white pegs; 

another square plastic board that was white with red pegs called "Dr. I.Q." Jump! 

As Empire Plastic Corp. Bronx 56, NY they made a small 5-car set called Empire Stock Car Races No. 51

Empire Doll Stand No. 79

They released a spring-loaded toy gun that was red on the box but black inside, called Guided Missiles and Launcher with new built in safety caps, which came with five red, white, and blue projectiles. Stock Number 189.

Check it out on Grand Old Toys

That toy was sold on a card as well with just one projectile (?) and called Rocketeer Jetbombs and Launcher with unbreakable Ever-Thene bombs

No. 480 was a white peg board called Peg Pix: "Draw" with Colored Rubber Bands. That one was released in a 7" square box and then also in a longer box. 

Side note: Empire Plastics of Tarboro, NC made Halloween and Christmas blow molds of the 1960s and 70s. I suspect these were two different companies. "Empire" just seems to be a popular company name.