Istanbul Toy Museum
Every child has a special connection with their toys. Taking off from here, we will get to know the Istanbul Toy Museum, brought to life on April 23, 2005 as Turkey’s first toy museum, and the values that it possesses. Founded by author Sunay Akın, be prepared to take an enjoyable journey to the museum where the toys carefully collected over a span of 10 years from different regions and countries are impressively displayed.
M. Ferhat YÜKSEL
Toys express many meanings such as education, development, childhood, happiness and sharing. For many people, toys don’t lose meaning when they grow up. On the contrary, they become more valuable by gaining a different, spiritual status. One of these people is author, journalist, researcher, theater actor Şükrü Sunay Akın who was born in Trabzon’s district of Maçka. Akın is a successful poet and author who wrote his first poem at the mere age of nine and has won many awards for his poems and books. During a trip to the German city of Nürnberg 20 years ago, Akın stumbled upon a toy museum where he could not tear himself away from the toys for hours, and so flourished the idea of establishing the Istanbul Toy Museum with the inspiration he took from there.
The Istanbul Toy Museum, which remedied Turkey’s lack of toy museums which are seriously important in Europe, has come to an important place internationally. The first meeting of TOYCO (The European Union of Toy and Children Museums) took place in November of 2012 in Turkey, organized through the leadership of the Istanbul Toy Museum and marked a first in the world. By leading the formation of a children and toy museum union in the world, the museum gave Istanbul the title of ‘capital of toy museums’. The most important influence of this museum was that it inspired other toy museums to open in our country. In 2011, the Antalya Municipality opened the Antalya Toy Museum and the Gaziantep Municipality opened the Gaziantep Toy Museum in 2013, both curated by Sunay Akın.
‘DREAMS NEEDED TO BE PRESERVED’
This idea came to life on April 23, 2005 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day with the Istanbul Toy Museum located in a historic mansion owned by the author’s family in Istanbul’s Göztepe neighborhood. The most beautiful and rare examples of toy history ranging from the 1700s to today are displayed at the museum. Akın understood how important these museums are after always seeing a toy museum in every country he went to and realized that the countries that developed themselves became leaders through toys. Akın explained the lack of this in Turkey: “There is a history to dreaming. This history is kept alive at these museums. Turkey needed such a museum and these dreams needed to be preserved.”
A DIFFERENT VISION FOR MUSEUMS
The museum, which displays the most valuable pieces of toy history that Sunay Akın bought through his own means from collectors, antique stores and auctions in different parts of the world since 1990, has an excellent archive that is expanding rapidly. At the museum, the history of civilization is presented to visitors different from the classic understanding of museums and in a more colorful way. For example, the toy train section shows the industrial revolution through the window of toys while the struggle to reach the moon is shown through the eyes of space toys. When you wander through the museum you feel like the presentation of the toys were touched by a poet or stage designer and the toys from different eras are staging a play.
Star Wars action figures were released a few years after the first movie was released in 1977 and never lost value. At the beginning of the 1980s, a knockoff of the original Star Wars figurines were released, with less quality compared to the original, called ‘Stars War’. You can see a large part of the Star Wars series at the Istanbul Toy Museum. Likewise, the names of the series is different from the original as well. For example, Darth Vader is named ‘Kara Lidor’ (Dark Leader). These figures were repackaged and saw a change in quality through the end of the 1980s. Today, they are among the favorites of Star Wars collectors and are sold in the international market between $200 and $1,500.
TOY THEATER
One of the most important features of the Istanbul Toy Museum is how the toys are displayed. Akın, who wanted to create a storybook world for visitors, said; “If we are going to display the heroes of our dreams in this museum, then each room must look like a stage,” and worked with stage designer Ayhan Doğan. This is why the presentation of the toys in the museum is so different. By playing Star Wars music and special lighting in the space toys section and using music with the theme of war for the war toys section, visitors are given a much deeper experience.
A WINDOW TO CHILDHOOD
When walking through the museum you don’t only see toys, but through the toys displayed you understand that toys are small, cute windows to people, children, and even the past and development of the toy industry. When looking through these windows, you may stumble across a toy from your childhood and find yourself with an old friend, remembering your childhood memories. The museum is home to around 4,000 antique toys from Turkey and the world from metal cars to tin soldiers, dolls to toys from different eras. The oldest toy on display at the museum is a violin made in France in 1817. Also, there are marbles and dolls made in the United States in the 19th century, centuries-old tin toys made in Germany, and porcelain dolls that help you touch the past and continue to make you feel like children of the past.
AN EDUCATION CENTER BEYOND A MUSEUM
The Istanbul Toy Museum also serves as an education center. There is the Wooden Toy Painting Workshop where children and adults are trained in painting wooden toys from 2D animal figures to 3D toys. At the Dedio Creative Hands-Dinosaur Workshop, children can work, assemble and paint dinosaur toys. There is also the My Rag Toy Workshop where rag dolls are made. The wooden toy workshops are given by a volunteer from the Aziz Nesin Children’s Foundation, Theo Hasselo from Holland, at the foundation as well as at the museum on Sundays. You will experience different feelings, experiences, stories and history on each of the five floors of this beautiful and impressive museum. Be prepared for an enjoyable journey where you will be happy, excited and childlike just as much as your children.
