Posted 12 years ago
kennedysko…
(3 items)
I have searched and searched, and searched, and all I managed to find was a headache when it came to trying to determine a value on this.
This is a vintage (1950's-ish) Japanese toy, made of tin.
It is battery operated. (2 D cell)
It has two controls at the end of the 'base'. 1 is for on/off and the other is to lower and raise the helicopter.
The words ' ATOM ' appear on the top of the base and the side of the helicopter. The number H-158 appears on the side of the helicopter following the word ATOM.
The Helicopter revolves (or spins/twirls/loops) around the 'world' on a base. The Atom station has a light on top, and the pictures around the entire base are bright and clear.
On the underside is a SKK in an oval with the words SHIN SEI directly underneath. To the right of that is a man type symbol with TO YS spelled going down and up- and JAPAN written directly under that.
There is are small rust spots on the top of the ATOM building and on the bottom of the rod that attaches to the helicopter.
The rod attached to the lever that raises and lowers the copter has detached. Upon careful inspection, I can see that it just needs to be reattached to the lever arm. I didn't pull it apart to fix it because if I were to ever want to part with it, it may decrease the value, if not restored professionally.
From what I can gather, Vintage Tin Japanese toys are valued anywhere from 60-6000 dollars.
I wish I could find one like mine.
Thanks, it's a pretty interesting toy to say the least. The blade on the copter even whirls around after winding. I would love to know more about it. I will post a new picture soon. Right now it is being cleaned and an estimation on how much it will cost for the minor repairs.
FABULOUS!
I updated the photos after I had it cleaned. The first one is 'before'- and the others are 'after'. Its amazingly bright!