c.1959 T.P.S., Mechanical Clown Juggler with Monkey in Original Box
Classic tin litho mechanical toy and also one of the most difficult to find manufactured by T.P.S. (Toplay Ltd., Japan). Works great! Comes complete with original illustrated box. Strikingly colorful toy uses a perpendicular clown figure with head pointing straight up and revolving arms to mechanically strike the legs of a chair "balanced" on his nose. A small monkey wearing a little circus uniform and party hat sits motionless in the chair. Rather than use an expensive clockwork timing mechanism this very clever toy angles the chair forward just enough to make one leg hit against a metal rod located in the clown's right hand. Unless you look closely you wouldn't that one end of the chair is just a little lower than the other three legs. Since it's slightly tilted, whichever leg is lowest at the time will always make contact with the clown's rod. Even though both of the clown's arm rotate only one has a rod to move the chair. So hitting the leg to make the chair spin is completely random. Although it looks much more complex, no timing was needed to make it work. That attraction in itself was enough to make this a scarce toy. An identical toy with only a ball substituted for the chair and monkey was also produced by T.P.S., as well as a rare Popeye Juggling Olive Oyl version. The beautiful box is one of the most colorful Japanese toy boxes from the 1950's. Dark blue back ground throughout, the cover is illustrated with a cartoon-like clown balancing one leg of the chair on his nose. A rather upset looking monkey has removed his hat in protest. Several other circus folk can also be seen. The long side panels show six other circus acts in full color all starring different animals. In addition to the cover text, only the name of the toy appears on the short side panels The long panels have no text on them making it rather attractive and unusual. Size: 9". Sold: Oct. 2006
Price Sold: $ 672
