A Journey To Your Childhood


About Us

Turkish poet and author Mr. Sunay Akın has opened the first and the only private toy museum of Turkey on 23.April.2005. This opening date was not chosen randomly. April 23rd is an important day in the history of the Turkish Republic. It was on this day that the Grand National Assembly first met in 1923. It is also when the country simultaneously celebrates National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, dedicated this important date to the children of the world.


Sunay Akın had noticed a toy museum in Nürnberg-Germany in 1990 and laid the foundations of the Istanbul Toy Museum with a toy horse he purchased from an antique shop in Germany. He expanded his collection for over 15 years and has collected 7000 antique toys. Meanwhile he has made serious efforts to convert the historical villa, belonging to his family, into a cozy museum. 4000 toys are on display in this four-floor museum located in Göztepe, Istanbul. The oldest is a miniature violin manufactured in France in the year 1817. A doll made in the United States in the 1820’s, a set of marbles also from United States dating back to the 1860’s, tin toys from Germany, plus porcelain dolls are amongst other items of the extensive collection.

The interior décor and displays were arranged by a professional stage designer. Each room resembles a different theater stage.  For instance, when you enter the gallery of space toys, you encounter hining stars overhead, whereas miniature train sets are exhibited in a genuine train compartment. 

Istanbul Toy Museum became a model for the other toy museums to be established in our country. In 2011 Antalya Toy Museum (belongs to Antalya Metropolitan Municipality), in 2013 Gaziantep Play and Toy Museum (belongs to Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality), in 2015 Düştepe Play and Toy Museum (belongs to Ataşehir Municipality), in 2017 Canik Toy Museum (belongs to Canik Municipality) and Kartal Fairy Tale Museum (belongs to Kartal Municipilaty) opened their doors to the visitors under the counseling and the curating of Sunay Akın who is the founder of Istanbul Toy Museum. 


Our museum tells the history of dreams and science with the language of toys. While the stories of toys present visitors a history of the world, it opens the doors leading back to their past.While entering the museum your child will hold one of your hands and when leaving, your childhood will be holding the other... 

Sunay Akın

My childhood was in a house with a smooth terrace made as a longing of a smooth place in Trabzon where all the streets were uphills and downhills. I stared at the moon on that terrace on the 20th of 1969 hoping to see the first man on the moon. It was not a surprising thing to emulate Charlie Chaplin on that same terrace since all the grandfathers were wearing hats and using canes. I read the poems on the pages of the calendars. 


I wrote my first poem to an empty hanger inside the closet and asked “are you cold?”. I used to collect fabrics from my father’s tailor shop believing that they were the countries on the map and I was strong enough to carry the world in my pockets. I went in and out of every phone booth I saw, but never found the magical phone booth that gave Superman the strength of flying. I also loved the capes of the trapeze artists… I believed since they don’t have any wings, the secret of flying laid within the capes so I tied curtains around my neck and went outside. It was the rough wind of my mother’s voice that lead me back to home! 

first saw Istanbul when I was seven and the first place my father took me was the Archeological Museum. When I got back to Trabzon, I put my mother’s entire jewelry in a drawer and went outside to play “museum game” with my friends. That play also did not last long as being Superman!


I loved one TV program and never missed an episode. While watching the program I used to put a bucket of water between the TV and myself and put my head in and out of water constantly. That’s why I believed I was the diver just behind Captain Cousteau, the one swimming the closest to him. But instead I constantly found myself in front of the Child Psychiatrist!


I released thousands of paper ships from rain drops to oceans, from creeks to lakes and then I retired from it. That’s why my first tittle was “Retired Captain of Paper Ships”.


I liked being the goalkeeper in soccer just because it is the only position in which you don’t turn your back to your teammates. Maybe I was no Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi or Superman, but nobody seemed to find it strange when I flew as a goalkeeper.


During the university years I walked a few steps behind the poets and writers on the streets of Cağaloğlu just to pick up the words fallen from their conversations. I sailed to Maiden’s Tower and declare it as the “Republic of Poetry”. I told about my dreams but I got fired from this place where I arranged poetry nights, art exhibitions and concerts. Since then I am the fallen president of the Poetry Republic.


The most important award in my life was Cemal Süreya’s quote for me: “The kid has flown with one of his poems…”


Flying!...


I believe I will never receive any greater award than this. 

Museum Café

You will daydream within the toys, while you’re sipping your tea in the Museum Café, located downstairs of the museum. The museum gives you a feeling like you are in a doll house. We also host birthday parties, breakfasts and corporate organizations. On Tuesdays “Museum Cafe” will only be available in the winter garden area due to our event “Conversation With Books with Yasemin Sungur” between 11:00-13:00 and 14:00-16:00. Thank you for your understanding.


Breakfast

While preparing for the week, within the centennial toys, how about passing through a time tunnel with your loved ones and bring back your childhood memories that left a trace?We are expecting you for a nice Sunday breakfast at Istanbul Toy Museum. Breakfast service is provided upon request only and prepared for the groups of (at least) 15 people or more. You'll need to book it in advance. 

Adults : 85 TL

Children (6-12 years) : 60 TL

Young Children (3-6 years) : 20 TL

Toddlers & Babies (0-3 years) : Free 


Birthdays

Istanbul Toy Museum hosts birthdays for adults and children. The museum offers a different birthday space both for children and adults who never left their childhood. Necessarily birthday organizations are being combined with an activity for children, offers to enjoy learning while having fun.For detailed information please contact to the museum.


Corporate Organizations

Istanbul Toy Museum offers a different space to institutions for meetings and trainings. The Conference Room for 65 people has all sorts of technical equipment and fairly convenient for presentations. Cocktail and food service is provided in the café when it is requested. Parking Garage may take a limited number of vehicles and it is free. After the meetings, presentations and trainings, the participants will again remember their childhood creativity with the museum tour.For more detailed info please contact us.


Activities 

ActivitiesSince the opening date, The Istanbul Toy Museum maintains its vividness and apart from its wide collection of toys, aims at the continuation of the bond between the visitors by training and activity programs while opening the doors of an endless world of imagination. These activities inspired by the collection of toys, enable our visitors to find the opportunity to meet different fields of art. The visitors also have knowledge of the world history via the stories of toys and build a connection between the past and the future. 

The activities appeal to a wide range of age, from infants to adults. Activities for children include, workshops, traditional and modern puppet theaters, magic shows performed by professional illusionists, documentary films, occupational workshops, movie theater and drama workshops. Activities for adults are; theater performances, creativity workshops, photography workshops, read a book days, movie reading classes and art seminars. We also plan to perform activities that family members can participate either as a whole or individually. 

Plan Your Visit

General Admission:  420 (adults)

Discounted Admission: 360 TL (children 3 years and up, students)

Free Admission: Disabled citizens, children under 3 years old, ICOM card members, MMKD members, tour guides with a licence and press members. If you'd like to visit the museum as a group of 10 people or more, or if you'd like to join the workshops, events or education activities, you must make a reservation by phone.


Hours: 11.00 - 18:00  (Closed on Mondays)


For public transportation, you can take the buses 10B, 10S, 14Ç, 17, 17L, 19F, 19M, 19S from Kadıköy and to "Göztepe" station, or GZ1, GZ2 from Kadıköy to "Tütüncü Mehmet Efendi Camii" station, or ER1, ER2 from Kadıköy to "Erenköy İstasyonu" Station, and then it will take around 10 minutes to walk to the museum from the bus stops.

Visit Us


Address:

Ömerpaşa Caddesi

Dr. Zeki Zeren Sokağı No:17

Göztepe / İSTANBUL








Phone: +90 (216) 359 45 50 -51


Visiting Hours: 

Tuesday - Friday 10.00 - 18:00 

Saturday - Sunday 10.00 - 18.30 

CLOSED ON MONDAYS




Address:

Ömerpaşa Caddesi

Dr. Zeki Zeren Sokağı No:17

Göztepe / İSTANBUL


Phone: +90 (216) 359 45 50 - 51


Visiting Hours: 

Tuesday - Friday 10.00 - 18:00 

Saturday - Sunday 10.00 - 18.30 

CLOSED ON MONDAYS


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Visit Us



Address:

Ömerpaşa Caddesi 

Dr. Zeki Zeren Sokağı No:17

Göztepe / İSTANBUL


Phone: +90 (216) 359 45 50 - 51


Visiting Hours: 
Tuesday - Friday 10.00 - 18:00 
Saturday - Sunday 10.00 - 18.30 
CLOSED ON MONDAYS

info@istanbuloyuncakmuzesi.com


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