Mint Museum of Toys

Chang Yang Fa spent decades collecting toys and opened this museum in 2007 in a purpose-built tower of five narrow floors, holding around fifty thousand pieces from more than forty countries, dating mostly from the 1840s to the 1980s. The floors are themed: outer space, characters, childhood favourites and collectables, with early tin robots, Astro Boy, Batman, Popeye and a great many things nobody else kept. It is a private obsession made public.

What you actually see

• The tin robots - early Japanese space toys, among the collection's strongest sets.
• The character floors - Astro Boy, Popeye, Batman and other licensed figures.
• The vintage range - pieces from the 1840s to the 1980s across forty countries.
• The tower - five narrow floors purpose-built for the collection.

When to go

Year round; the museum keeps daily hours. Weekday mornings are quietest. It is entirely indoors and works in any weather.

Honest expectations

The building is narrow and the floors are cramped when busy. Entry is expensive for the size. It is a collector's museum and the appeal depends on caring about the objects.

Nearby

Raffles Hotel is beside it, and Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho is north.