Museum Hopping in Singapore Part 2: MINT Museum of Toys

The building of the MINT Museum of Toys,
designed by Singapore architectural firm SCDA Architects.

Just behind the Raffles Hotel at Seah Street is the MINT Museum of Toys. It's a five-storey high, narrow contemporary building with a wave-like glass facade. The building is quite narrow that we barely noticed it and actually passed by it. If not for the banners on the posts, we would have missed it completely. It may seem unnoticeable on the outside, but inside is an exhibit that you shouldn't miss. It's for the children and for the children that we once were.


The MINT Museum of Toys is home to a collection of toys and memorabilia, which they say is one of the finest in the world. The toys actually belong to a private collection of a Singaporean citizen, Mr. Chang Yang Fa. The museum opened last March 2007 and boasts of more than 50,000 pieces of vintage toys and childhood memorabilia from all over the world. The building itself was also designed to specifically make sure that exterior lighting will be minimized inside to prevent the damage that ultra violet light can do to the collection. Even on the interiors, careful lay-out and space planning was done to maximize the space without making the viewers feel cramped.

There is just so much to see when you go inside! All the toys that you can remember are all there. All the characters were organized together with a corresponding year and place it was made. The collection is truly impressive and camera-worthy. Here are a few shots we took, again, using my Hipstamatic app:

Robot collection, complete with their boxes

The Adventures of Tintin 

A poster of Popeye

Beatle-mania

More robot collection

Star Wars Action Figures

The Popeye Collection

And of course, Mickey Mouse!

Early designs of Barbie doll

Strawberry Shortcake, still a favorite of kids today

Gallery Floors

The Beatles

You can visit their website, Mint Museum of Toys, to know more about the exhibits and any events coming up.