Boxed mechanical (clockwork) tin toy, Moon Creature, made in Japan for Marx about 1968.

A mechanical tinplate toy, representing a space alien. It has a flat base with small wheels underneath and a key to wind on the side. It's head is in two parts; the top part is fixed to the sides with pins so that it can move up and down. There is a black antenna on the top of the head. The body is rounded and colour is used to define arms, legs and other features. The creature is in a white uniform with a red harness and a NASA symbol. The box is printed card with a lunar landscape and reads 'Mechanical moon creature, moves forward with mouth movement and sound'.

This object was acquired for the V&A Museum of Childhood's exhibition Space Age: Exploration, Design and Popular Culture, which opened on 22nd November 2007. It was bought at Christie's in November 2005 as part of a collection of robots and space toys. The collector, Paul Lips, ran an antique toy shop in Milan from the early 1990s, where he became particularly interested in space toys. The collection covered what he believed to be their golden age: 1955 to 1965.

After the Second World War, Japan became the pre-eminent manufacturer of tin toys through direct financial support from the United States for its toy industry, and through preferential access to US toy markets. Importantly, Japanese manufacturers were able to perfect small battery-powered motors, which gave Japanese toys a superior range of movements. One of the most celebrated subjects expressed in tin toys is space and space travel. Many highly imaginative toys were produced in the era of the Space Age (1957-1972), inspired by the widespread optimism of the times, and by a fresh public appetite for all things space.

B.46:1 to 3-2005