Toy OTD: Celluloid Wind-Up Dancing Couple (Occupied Japan, 1948)

I was working on Toy Story when another toy-related movie came out: Barry Levinson's follow-up to his wildly successful Rain Man, Toys. The production design was wonderful, and that stylized world was filled with oversized replicas of classic toys from the late forties up through the mid-sixties. Gorgeous stuff!

One of the playthings that particularly stuck in my mind was a wind-up couple, dressed in formal wear and molded into a dancing pose. It was featured prominently in production stills, and eventually I realized that it was based on an actual toy. I started seeing it here and there at toy shows until my resistance (not generally robust to begin with) crumbled!

This is a very simple toy - a clockwork mechanism propels the couple (via wheels on the dress' base) in circles across the floor. The main body of the dancers is made of celluloid, one of the earliest forms of plastic. The production technology and execution are primitive by today's standards, yet I think this piece has considerable charm.

First, the dancers are young children dressed a bit beyond their years - there's a sweetness to this tiny couple. Maybe the simplicity of the sculpted pose and the babyish quality of the color palette helps reinforce the innocent feeling of the toy.

I know it's a bit of a contradiction of my usual taste, but I love the primitive quality of the paint here. The crisp areas seem appropriate for cleaner paint work (such as the suit, or the upper area of the dress), and the sprayed areas are great choices to convey a softer feeling (like the hair of the couple, or the train of the dress). These figures aren't trying to look 'real', and as a result are successful in a cute, doll-sort of way.

As you can see, I've found a couple of box designs for this toy. I suppose these could simply be different panels for the same package, but I'm going to stick with my assumption that these are different boxes. They're both good designs - the top view of the couple is an interesting idea, and the more traditional full-length drawing has a charming retro feeling. I imagine the interlocking circles are simply period motifs, but they unwittingly create a Lawrence Welk Show vibe!

This toy must have been either mass-produced in large numbers, or manufactured for quite some time (or both), since they're still not tough to find after sixty-two years. You can buy one right now at rubylane.com for $78.00 + shipping, which is about the same amount that I paid for mine. Since celluloid is thin and fragile, you may want to consider waiting until you can pick one up in person - note how the lady's neck is a bit crumpled on mine. Good luck!

Toys OTD: Schylling's Electra Robot Girl, Proton Robot

These toys were given to us as a wedding gift! There's a lot of different tin wind-up robots (and still more reproductions of the older designs) so it can be really tough to identify one if you don't have the packaging to help you out. I did a lot of digging to discover their names!

These are both reproductions of older robot toys, though I'm not sure precisely which ones. The designs are appealing, and the body/innards are assembled in the classic, no-nonsense manner. The litho work is sharp, with no registration problems.

It's nice to see old-school robots with no plastic parts anywhere. Reproductions sometimes do this, either to save money or to acknowledge changes in safety guidelines. Thanks to Schylling, these new versions are intended for older audiences than their predecessors, so they look and work just fine! Wind them up, throw the switch, and off they wobble, grinding all the way.

These are still very affordable for a beginning collector or robot fan - Electra sells for $18.99 + shipping, while Proton Robot costs $12.50 + shipping. Have fun!

Toy OTD: Foster's Freeze Premium: Little Foster Wind-Up

I don't have much to say about this little fellow, except that it's another example of a good, cheap toy. The design's been maintained in an appealing way, and there's only three paint passes on one color of plastic. The sculpt's a little stiff, but still cute, especially considering the mechanical nature of the toy. The biggest downside is the same of every wind-up - the winding mechanism is flimsy. Mine was broken when I bought it!

I have no idea how old this is, or how it was sold. I'm assuming it was given away at Foster's Freeze as a premium along with a specific food purchase. I picked this one up at a toy show for just a dollar or two, so if you can find one, I doubt it'll be all that expensive. There's nothing on eBay right now, so keep your eyes peeled!

Toy OTD: Tomy Fraggle Rock Wind-Up Toy: Doozer

This is an item ripe for re-issue, now that Fraggle Rock is starting to come out on DVD! Tomy made a few different Doozer wind-ups back in the day, and they're still the best merchandise of those characters. They're really appealing - I love how they molded the parts out of six or seven different colors of plastic, rather than painting an all-green figure. I think it looks so much better that way!

Don't expect to find a working specimen - they seem to break pretty easily. If you can find them on eBay, they make great display pieces! Generally, they're pretty affordable - expect to pay between $5 - $35.00, depending on condition and location.