Treasure found -- vintage toys from the 1960s

You may grow up, but you never have to grow old. While most of us have traded in our Barbie dolls and Tonka trucks for BlackBerries and iPods, a select group of young-at-hearts cling stubbornly to their childhood toys from the 1960s.

But it’s not all about sentimental reminders of a better era. These collections often require a lot of time and money and some are even providing a livelihood to their patron.

Take Yang-Fa Chang, the founder of MINT Museum of Toys in Singapore. He has a collection of more than 100,000 toys from across the last century, which he has spent the last 30 years putting together. At any one time, The Moment of Imagination & Nostalgia with Toys (MINT) only has room to exhibit less than 10% of his collection.

Chang's obsession

Chang’s obsession comes from the history soaked into each toy, the stories of the people who played with them, and how the toys reflect the economic and cultural realities of the time, giving “a glimpse of life.”

And the 1960s have proven to be some of the most productive years in the toy industry’s evolution, especially in Asia. “The 1960s was a period of Japanese dominance in toy-making,” says Chang. “Japan had created lots of anima such as Tetsujin, Astroboy and Ultraman and was producing toys to promote those characters. That coincided with space fever in the States, which was a major export market. JFK had set the goal to put man on the moon, so Japan produced lots of astronauts, robots and space toys.”

Clearly this is no simple yard-sale derived hobby. Indeed, significant amounts of money can be involved in old toys, as Chang’s US$30,000 8th Man Robot, his most valuable, proves.

Japanese robots pave the way

The toy industry has also been quick to use the latest technologies available to ensure a constantly evolving environment. “Robots are interesting pieces. In our collection, we have the first toy robot ever made from the 1930s, also by the Japanese. By the 1960s Japanese invented micro-motors and with the invention of the battery, that introduced lots of new features in toys like blinking lights and even smoke. Toys reflect changes in history,” Chang says.

Other serious collectors of robots include the owner of Vitra, a manufacturer of designer furniture, Canto-pop star Andy Lau (collects Ultraman) and Teruhisa Kitahara who has a tin toy museum in Yokohama as well as the Hakone Toy Museum.

Don't forget Chinese toys

Historic toys are not limited to Japan. China has also played a large role in the manufacture of toys over the years. However, China’s toy industry was relatively inactive during the 1960s, as many toy factories were shut down during World War II, and the Cultural Revolution, beginning in 1966, also left little time for toys.

Marvin Chan is a Chinese toy collector, blogger and founder of Museum of Shanghai Toys in Singapore. He has been working in the tin toy manufacturing business for 10 years and collecting for 20.

Most toys in China were produced in and around Shanghai before factories moved to Gaungdong in the 1980s. Prior to the 1980s, most of the toys produced were tin toys for export to Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, and most of these, due to China’s isolation from the rest of the world, were simple copies of Russian, German or Japanese toys. This comparative weakness in design does not deter the most avid collectors however.

The avid collectors

Yoko French, a collector who now lives in London, collects kitsch items that remind her of her youth in Hong Kong. She is fascinated by the gaudy colors and designs. “I suppose that in the olden days in China there was a lack of bright colours so that these items may have appealed to people, rather like fat babies in times of high infant mortality,” she says.

Mandylyn Bow, assistant marketing manager of Chang’s MINT museum, adds that most Singaporeans in the past would play with marbles, pick-up sticks or kites. Most families did not have enough disposable income to lavish their children with toys and Singapore’s toy industry was insignificant as a result.

Ask these collectors for their favorite though and you are invariably told it’s impossible. “It’s like asking a parent who their favorite child is,” Chang says.

“You’re never too old to like toys. I believe there is a child in every one of us. When a person sees a toy, irrespective of age, there is some appeal,” he says.