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1.Open the toy. Inspect the toy to determine how to open it. Almost all wind up toys consist of a front and back half that are held together by a series of tabs and slots. Using a flat screwdriver to bend the tabs up will allow you to open the toy. Newer toys made out of plastic may have slots without tabs, in which case you simply press the screwdriver into the slot to release it. 2.Carefully analyze the inside of the toy. In most cases, the component that is damaged or broken will be clearly visible. Windup toys use simple mechanical motion consisting of a spring and gears. Look over these parts to determine which is broken. 3.Remove the part and take it with you to find a replacement. Small springs and gears can typically be found at hardware stores, electronics stores or hobby supply shops. Make sure you get a replacement part that is identical to the original so that it will fit properly. If you cannot find the proper part, you may need to seek out vintage toy repair shops and suppliers to find an original part from a similar broken toy. 4.Replace the component inside the toy. The parts should pop into place without the need of specialized tools. Give the toy a small test wind while it is still open, so that you can see the movement of the parts and make sure that everything is turning properly. 5.Reassemble the toy. Place the two halves back together and bend the tabs down. If you are working with a newer toy that doesn't have tabs, the two halves of the toy should click, or snap, back together easily.

Winding the Toy The central feature of any wind-up toy is a key or crank connected to a thin, coiled metal strip called the mainspring. The spring normally rests in an unwound position, but as the key turns, it gets tighter and tighter. Once it is fully wound, the spring is full of potential energy, ready to be released to power the toy. A bend in the end of the spring hooks into a gear next to the wheel to stop the spring from unwinding immediately. Releasing Potential Energy In some wind-up toys, a mechanism stops the spring from unwinding until a button is pushed or a switch flipped. In others, the spring starts to uncoil as soon as the key is released. Either way, the uncoiling spring turns a gear, which rotates other gears or spins axles, making the toy roll forward, spin, flip or buzz. Alternative Designs Although the basic principles of wind-up toys are the same, there are some variations in design. Some wind-up toys have a small rotating knob rather than a key, while in others, part of the actual toy turns. Pull-back toys rely on the same principle as wind-up toys; the spring winds when the toy's wheels are rotated backward. What Can Go Wrong One reason working vintage wind-up toys are valuable is that wind-up mechanisms aren't known for durability. The most common problem is the connection between the spring and the gear snapping after repeated use. When this occurs, the spring simply unwinds freely after winding without turning the gears. It's also possible for the connection between the key and the spring to fail; when this happens, the key simply rotates in its socket without tightening the spring at all.

A wind-up toy is a toy powered by a clockwork motor. In the late 15th century, Karel Grod[citation needed], a German inventor, created some of the first wind-up toys, including a metal fly and a mechanical eagle. In 1509, Leonardo da Vinci created a wind-up lion as a greeting for Louis XII in Italy. Wind-up toys were at first for only royalty, and were more elaborate, with complex systems of gears and springs. In support of his theory that all animals are complex machines, René Descartes may have attempted to build some automata. According to legend, a life-sized wind-up human girl was discovered in his luggage aboard a ship in which he was traveling to Sweden, and was thrown overboard by order of the ship's Captain. After the larger, elaborate wind-up machine art declined in interest, wind-up toys were created cheaply in large numbers by the 1800s. Wind-up machines became known as wind-up toys, and were designed in different forms to move around. European toy makers created and mass-produced the first windup tin toys during the late 1880s. Over the next 60 to 70 years, more manufacturers created more intricate designs. The trend stopped with the introduction of the small and inexpensive Alkaline battery in the 1960s, which allowed motors to run without a wind up mechanism. Over the next 20 years, wind up toys lost popularity. Plastic Wind-ups started in 1977 when the Japanese company Tomy made a walking Robot (Rascal Robot). Tomy's ability to build small precise plastic gears and parts allowed them to reduce the size of the gearbox (housing the spring drive).