ALPS SHOJI Ltd. made battery-operated mechanical toys (robots, cars, musical chimps, clowns, wind-up animals) and produced some of the better quality Japanese toys throughout the post-war years. Alps Shoji Ltd. Tokyo, Japan was founded in 1948 and was specialized in toy vehicles and novelties. A lot of their toys were battery operated; made of mixed tinplate and tin. Space toys are among the most popular. The distinctive logo (the word "ALPS" printed on top of a mountain peak) of this Japanese company makes it easy to identify. Many of their toys had multiple actions, for example, a convertible car would not only move forward and back, but the top would also roll down and go back up. This ingenuity ensured the toys' popularity, and for a time, they were in great demand.
However, despite their success, the company abandoned toy making some time in the early 1970s to become a manufacturer of consumer and industrial electronics and remains in the electronics business today.
The tin plate body is lithographed in a red color. There are blue window inserts depicting glass and peoples faces in the windows. Tin chassis with a friction motor. Mechanism in the friction motor causes the rear section to lift up.
