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MOBOTOYS

museum of battery operated toys

1950s

Walking Xylophone

China

Mfg By:

China

,

This early 1950s Battery Operated Walking Baby Faced Xylophone is very appropriately named as he is indeed a xylophone with a baby face that walks.  If we add "plays song with moving eyes and mallet" we would have both a title and a complete description.

This little fellow is imported from China and is from an era when China was first entering the global battery operated  toy market competing directly against Japanese, German, and USA toy makers.  The quality is surprisingly high and the mechanism well engineered and manufactured.  We assume while building manufacturing capability, the government was worried less about profit margins and more about making products to compete in the global market (good for toys like this).  Later as profit margins took priority the designs and materials used went downhill by using cheaper components and very thin (and sharp) metal.  Regardless, this excellent xylophone with a baby face is quite the performer.  The two drive wheels are attached to his feet to give the appearance of walking.  While his mallet hand does move, it does not actually hit the (real) xylophone bars.  This clever guy does have a set of hammers inside that DO strike the bars and produce a nice little melody.

To round out the performance both eyes move left and right to really bring this toy "to life".  Like we mentioned earlier, this is a high quality toy from China that is easy to like and fun to watch.  Well done China, now about those toys you made in the 1970s and 80s...

1950s

Walking Xylophone

China

Mfg By:

China

,

ACTIONS

  1. Forward "Walking" Motion

  2. Feet Move

  3. Hands Move Up/Down

  4. Plays Music (hammers hitting keys on head from inside)

  5. Manual Steering (pivot tiny wheel in back)


DIMENSIONS (L x W x H)

  • 8.20 x 4.30 x 6.50 inches, 1 lb 2.9 oz

  • 20.8 x 10.9 x 16.4 cm, 537 grams


REQUIRES

  • (2) D-Cell Batteries


POPULARITY (Demand)

  • 2/5 - Appealing


SCARCITY (Supply)

  • 3/5 - Rare

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Specifications
Spin me

BOX PHOTOS (if available)

1382

exhibit

Walking Xylophone

Musical

Insides-Out (if available)

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MOBOTOYS

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