Atomic Armored Train Set

Hey kids! It's Atomic!

Atomic Armored Train

Bandai Co. Japan (Circa 1950's)

Culture - ideas, values, beliefs - comes through toys unconsciously, reflecting society like art can. Unguarded as a representative of its origins, toys can appear free, but they aren’t always innocent. Robots and Spaceships have been weaponized, and other, seemingly playful characters or activities can encourage dangerous ideas.

An "atomic" theme is featured in a surprising number of post-war Japanese toys. Bandai’s battery operated Atomic Armored Train includes a nuclear reactor, tanks, missiles, 8 sections of track, and a train station populated with civilians seemingly unconcerned with the Army's nuclear capability or proximity.

Bandai was created In 1947 by Naoharu Yamashina. The eldest son to a rice retailer, Yamashina was enlisted in World War II, where an impact from a grenade shrapnel blinded him in his right eye. With no economic prospects or experience Yamashina and his wife moved to Tokyo to explore the market for toys. By the early 1950's Bandai was manufacturing inexpensive metal cars and aircraft models. Several of these were exported to the United States and elsewhere being among the earliest "Made In Japan" products exported outside the country.