Sputnik Wind-Up Space Toy, Fairy Tales and Science: USSR, Late 1950s, Rare!

Description

This is a very rare tin toy from the dawn of the space age, produced in the USSR in the late 1950s to commemorate Sputnik. When wound, the toy makes an ethereal, “Sputnik” tock-tock sound as the tiny capsule revolves around the globe (with the USSR being prominent, of course!). It is all-original and in excellent condition, still working well. (It comes with a wind-up key the is not the original.) There is a version of this toy in operation that you can see on YouTube (please note that the video is not of the specific item on auction here -- mine is in better condition -- but is presented to show what the toy does when wound:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT704Zf6nwc#action=share
)
The lavish lithography on the toy represents magical flying scenes from Russian fairy tales, which the toy indicates have come true thanks to Soviet science — a wonderful instance of Arthur C. Clarke’s “law” that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and a concrete illustration of the claim that modern science fiction stories are partly fairy tales for a scientific age. As both a work of history and of art, this rare tin toy can’t be matched, and very few have survived in excellent working condition. As you can see from the photos, the toy has some minor play wear but remains in collectable condition. Indeed, in its miniature size, lavish detail and lively operations it is quite magical itself.