MOBOTOYS
museum of battery operated toys

Exhibit 1382
Walking Baby Faced Xylophone
This early 1950s Battery Operated musical toy is very appropriately named as he is indeed a xylophone with a baby face that walks. If we add "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. Well done China, now about those toys you made in the 1970s and 80s...

ABOUT
The Spin Zone
U-Watch
U-Play
Sit back and watch the Magic
Use your Mouse to Move the Toy

Specifications
Dimensions:
Weight:
1950s
Unknown
China
Circa:
Manufactured By:
Country of Origin:
20.8 x 10.9 x 16.4 cm
8.2 x 4.3 x 6.5 in
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Quantity:
D Cell (UIM-1)
2
537 grams
1 lb, 2.9 oz
Actions

Forward (walking) motion
Feet move
Hands Move
Plays Music (by really hitting the bars from inside)
Steering left and right (wheel in back)
"Behind the Music"
My Grades ("How do I look?")
Battery Box:
Remote Control:
Fabric / Fur:
Plastic / Rubber:
Metal:
Paint / Litho:
Overall Grade:
Scarcity:
Popularity:
Nice C-7
C-7
C-7
C-9
C-7
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Metal discoloration from aging
Nose has small dent and small crack, hands are good.
No dents or corrosion
C-8
Minor nicks and scratches, rub marks on chin are noticable
2/5
3/5
Appealing
Rare
Pro Gallery
"My last home was"
Tampa, Florida
Note-worthy (what people are saying about me)
When China first entered the toy market in the west (1950s) we find they made surprisingly high quality toys such as this Walking Xylophone to compete with established manufactures in Japan, Germany as main players and Greece, Spain, USA, and USSR / Hungary filling in niches.
These high-quality Chinese made toys were short lived as China learned what the West really wanted was cheap toys and the slide down the slippery slope to mediocre, but value priced, toys from China began.
Today we can pause and appreciate this high quality and fun toy from China that still makes us smile today.