Tin Toy, Robot, Space Tank

This battery-operated space-themed toy tank is a tin toy that was manufactured in China, most likely in the 1960s, for export. This toy illustrates how toy makers tapped into the contemporary fascination for space exploration by added a space theme to a toy even if the basic form of the toy was not space-related. Except for the label "Space Tank" and a few small rockets lithographed onto the sides of the metal toy, there is nothing inherently space-y about this toy tank. This toy would have been created to compete in a tin toy marketplace that by the late 1950s had come to be dominated by creatively-designed, complex Japanese tin toys with moving parts and/lights.

The Museum accessioned this toy into its collection in 2001.