Boxed remote controlled robot, Mr Mercury, made by Yonezawa for Marx, for the American toy market about 1965

A boxed robot toy. The robot is of a classic shape, he has a box shaped body in gold with Mr Mercury printed across his chest and a printed panel underneath of his technological workings. His head is topped with a red workman hat, with white plastic antenna on either side, and clear plastic across his eyes. He has extended arms in grey plastic, at the ends would have been sponge pads but these have degraded. His legs are straight with large red rectangular feet. From is back is a lead that is attached to a remote control. With is where the batteries are stored and has four red buttons to control the robot.

The box has a plain card bottom and a printed top. The box is blue all over with an image of the robot in a lunar landscape. In the image he is holding up a bolder demonstrating what he can do. The text reads, battery operated, Remote control, Mr. Mercury, it walks, it bows, it raises and lowers its arms, it opens closes its arms and grasps object, one of the many Marx Toys, Do you have them all.

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.

Made in Japan by Yonezawa for Louis Marx an American toy company

B.43:1 to 4-2005