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History and Heritage: My Visit to the MINT Museum of Toys

Sometimes, an unexpected adventure begins with a simple online contest.

Some time in August, I participated in an Instagram giveaway; it was about guessing the theme of the upcoming Pop-Up in the Museum at the MINT Museum of Toys.

I guessed sportingly: “Toy sports cars in line with the F1 theme!”

To my surprise, I received a message saying, “Congratulations!”

I had actually won a ticket to the invite-only preview of Pop-Up in the Museum at the MINT Museum of Toys!

And so it came to pass that, on 22 August 2025, I found myself walking along Seah Street, along my “Ah Gong’s road” (“grandfather’s road”), heading towards the museum.

Visiting the MINT Museum of Toys

Entrance to the MINT Museum of Toys, Singapore.
The entrance to the MINT Museum of Toys, Singapore. Photograph taken by author.

The MINT Museum of Toys is a familiar landmark. It is home to a private collection of vintage toys and childhood memorabilia.

I first visited several years ago, but had not returned until this preview.

I scanned a QR code on my phone to enter (and later scanned again to exit).

Later, I found out that the museum store is unmanned, relying on visitors to pick up what they want and check out digitally. It is an unusual but refreshing concept.

Toys on sale at the MINT Museum of Toys, Singapore.
Toys on sale at the MINT Museum of Toys, Singapore. Photograph by author.

The special Pop-Up in the Museum exhibition (23 August to 5 October 2025) focused on vintage, diecast toy cars.

Pop-Up in the Museum (23 August to 5 October 2025)

Opening address by Anna Koh at the Pop-Up in the Museum at the MINT Museum of Toys in August 2025.
Opening remarks by Anna Koh, Marketing Communications Manager, at the Pop-Up in the Museum (23 August to 5 October 2025). Photograph by author.

I thought this was a good pop-up theme given that Singapore would be hosting the Formula 1 night race from 3 to 5 October 2025, at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

At the heart of Pop-Up in the Museum was vintage toy sports cars, showcased alongside Mattel’s Hot Wheels and Matchbox collections.

(I must confess that I enjoyed watching Disney and Pixar’s Cars, too, even though I was grown up by the 2000s.)

But what pleasantly surprised me most was the display of “Mandarin” diecast cars, which were made in Singapore in the 1980s, according to the museum.

Diecast toy cars manufactured in Singapore, at the MINT Museum of Singapore.
“Mandarin” diecast cars that were produced in Singapore. Photograph by author.

I did not realise that our little island once produced such diecast toys, now considered collector’s items. To see them displayed was quite a nice touch.

The MINT Museum of Toys reminds us that history and heritage are not confined to grand monuments or dusty archives. They can be found in the everyday objects we once played with, cherished, and passed on.

Toys, after all, carry stories. These stories are especially meaningful because they remind us of our childhood (beyond reflecting more seriously the historical and cultural context of the times in which they were produced).

Nostalgia is Very Powerful

When I was young, I enjoyed reading Herge’s The Adventures of Tintin. One of the stories in the series was Explorers on the Moon. I enjoyed looking at the display as it reminded me of my childhood, when I enjoyed reading comics and graphic novels. I had numerous flights of fancy, imagining myself to be an intrepid explorer and adventurer.

Explorers on the Moon exhibit at the MINT Museum of Toys, Singapore.
Herge’s The Adventures of Tintin: Explorers on the Moon, on display at the MINT Museum of Toys, Singapore. Photograph by author Shawn Seah.

To take another example, my father (who was born in 1946) and I also loved watching Batman. Even before Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) kicked off a series of Batman sequels on the big screen, my father and I loved watching “vintage” Batman on the small screen.

(Well, to be fair to my father, Adam West’s character was probably not “vintage” to him, but the one and only “true Batman”, if there were even such a thing, whereas to me, and probably many others growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, Michael Keaton’s character probably springs to mind. But I digress.)

Batman and Robin toys are displayed in this museum, and it is easy to see the appeal: these toys bring back fond memories of the past. This is despite the fact that there are Japanese characters on the boxes; the toys are still immediately recognisable.

Vintage Batman and Robin toys on display at the MINT Museum of Toys, Singapore.
Batman and Robin on display at the MINT Museum of Toys, Singapore. Photograph by author.

I also watched Popeye on TV when I was a child. To see a display of a vintage Popeye was really quite nostalgic, and made me think of his pro-spinach propaganda on TV.

(Unfortunately, the pro-spinach propaganda did not convince me, and so I never ended up loving spinach, or any vegetables, for that matter.)

Display of Popeye, the Sailor Man, at the MINT Museum of Toys.
Popeye and his spinach cans, on display at the MINT Museum of Toys, Singapore. Photograph by author.

Some of the miniature displays were uniquely Singaporean, snapshots of the past, like the Cathay Building (actually, the Cathay Cinema) and the Old Hill Street Police Station.

In particular, the latter is prominent for its colourful windows, and tourists from around the world come to take pictures of this building, holding up traffic once in a blue moon.

The Cathay Building Miniature Display.
The Cathay Building miniature display at the MINT Museum of Toys, Singapore. This display more accurately depicts the Cathay Cinema, which was in front of the Cathay Building. During the Japanese Occupation, the Cathay Building housed the Japanese broadcasting department, military propaganda department, and military information bureau. Photograph by author.
The Old Hill Street Police Station Miniature Display.
The Old Hill Street Police Station miniature display at the MINT Museum of Toys, Singapore. Photograph by author.

Even the museum’s location is a good one.

Seah Street itself is steeped in history, if I may say so myself. To walk along a street named after my surname, with our prominent ancestor Seah Eu Chin (1805-1883), past shophouses and cafes, and see the historic Raffles Hotel, is to feel connected to a different rhythm of the city: a historical one.

My ancestor Seah Eu Chin was the “King of Gambier and Pepper” during Singapore’s colonial times.

To take another example, one of his prominent sons, Seah Liang Seah (1850-1925), also has a street named after him near Seah Street, eponymously called Liang Seah Street.

Seah Street road sign in Singapore.
Seah Street sign at the Bras Basah area. For more information on streets named after members of the Seah family, please visit Street Names. Photograph by author was taken before 2020.

Winning an Instagram contest may have been a stroke of luck, but visiting the MINT Museum of Toys reminded me of something deeper.

History and heritage can be playful and fun.

I enjoyed re-learning and re-discovering how to have fun, explore, and have a spirit of adventure.

Sometimes the most meaningful discoveries come from places where you least expect them.

Thank you for reading!

Cheers,
Shawn Seah

Note: This blog post was updated with more information on 30 August 2025.