Museum of Shanghai Toys

Address: 83 Rowell Road, Singapore 208015

Opening hours: Tuesdays to Saturday, 11am - 6pm. Sunday 12noon - 5pm. Closed on Mondays.

Admission: Adult - $8 ($5 with OCBC, POSB, DBS or UOB card), Child - $5 ($3 with OCBC, POSB, DBS or UOB card)

Website: www.most.com.sg 

The first museum in the world of its kind, The Museum of Shanghai Toys, or MoST, boasts an extensive collection of toys that originated from Shanghai, China, from the period of 1910s to 1970s.

Located in the colourful district of Little India at Rowell Road, the museum was founded by Marvin Chan, an avid Chinese toy collector. It was in 1989 that the young Marvin Chan bought a few tin toys from a toyshop in Malaysia. Within 2 years, he had amassed over 200 toys.

It was during his trips to toy museums around the world that he discovered there were not a lot of museums who focused on China-made toys. Wishing to do this, the idea for a Chinese toy museum took shape, and the Museum of Shanghai Toys was born.

He decided to focus on Shanghai-made toys because the majority of toys made in China before the 80s were done in that city. The museum's collection itself thus features toys from 1910 to 1970s.

Walking into this 3-storey museum has had many visitors noting that it's like walking down an old memory lane. Vintage toys from dolls to tin cars and robots are just some of the treasures displayed here, but the décor of the place itself is designed to be a homely toy room that is inviting and carefree.

The place is arranged and furnished in the style of a vintage home, with wooden shelves and cupboards, as well as old radio and television sets. Old magazines and books about toys are placed around the 'house' for visitors to read as well. Mandarin children songs from the past are played in the background too, adding to that holistic experience to the museum.

And unlike the usual practice in museums, MoST encourages its visitors to come up close with the toys on exhibit by not putting all of them behind glass cabinets, as some of them are being openly displayed for visitors to touch and handle.

Interestingly, the toys in display range from both western and eastern cultures, from figurines of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, to Chinese dolls with realistic features and clothing.

The museum exhibits are organized by themes, such as ethnic dolls, circus and acrobatic toys, coin banks, home appliance toys, science fiction and space toys, animals, and unlicensed Walt Disney toys from as early as the 1930s.

Don't miss!

Start your journey in the museum with a passport to collect intricate ink stamp prints from different checkpoints in the museum.

Embark on a guided tour, by the curator, through his Shanghai toy collection and explore the different eras of Chinese history in a different light.

Bring home museum souvenirs and unique toys from the gift shop which sells (new) reproduction tin toys and educational toys.