Alps Cragstan Happy Santa Remote Tin Toy with Original Box (Alps, 1950s)....

Description

Alps Cragstan Happy Santa Remote Tin Toy with Original Box (Alps, 1950s). Alps' battery-powered holiday toys of the 1950s helped define the golden age of Japanese tinplate, and Happy Santa remains one of the line's most charming seasonal exports. With its felt suit, tin drum, wired remote, and expressive molded face, the piece captures the mid-century blend of whimsy and mechanical novelty that made Alps and Cragstan fixtures in American toy departments each December. Surviving examples with their original packaging-especially pictorial boxes with full seasonal artwork-are increasingly difficult to locate, making this an appealing addition for collectors of postwar Japanese tin, Christmas Americana, or Cragstan's broad remoted-motion catalog. The box shows heavy age and handling wear throughout. The edges exhibit substantial scuffing, and the corners are heavily worn with scuffing, punctures, and a fully torn top right corner on the lid. Box-face surfaces show heavy scuffing, creasing, discoloration, brittleness, paper loss, tears, and scattered holes. Interior cardboard shows age toning, creasing, and splits along the seams. The Santa itself appears unused, though the cloth elements display age-related wear consistent with decades of storage. However, the piece is untested, and no guarantee can be made of its working condition. This is a wonderfully evocative survivor from the era when tin Santas marched, waved, and played their way through holiday displays across the country. For collectors who love the warmth, motion, and nostalgia of mid-century Japanese Christmas toys, Happy Santa offers both charm and authenticity in equal measure. A perfect opportunity to secure a classic Alps seasonal piece-one that still radiates the magic of a 1950s storefront window.

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