In Pictures: Vintage toys

The V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, east London has been given Lottery funding of almost £250,000 to display classic toys like this Corgi model of James Bond's Aston Martin by Mettoy.

This iconic space hopper from the 1970s is among the exhibits to be shown off in London. They were donated by four manufacturers when they closed in the 70s and 80s.

The Lottery cash will be used to archive rare catalogues and papers from the four firms - Abbatt Toys, Lines Brothers, Mettoy, and Palitoy - which made toys like this vintage Action Man figure.

Sindy epitomised 60s cool when she first appeared in 1963. Part of her enduring appeal - she turned 40 five years ago - was her easy to imitate clothes, seen here in an early example.

The seminal sci-fi film Star Wars is about to be turned into a major new stage show in London, but there have always been spin-offs like Palitoy's figure of Han Solo.

An archivist at the museum will oversee a three-and-a-half-year project to display its collection of toys. Palitoy's Action Man was first seen in the UK in 1966.

The concept of Action man was the first of its kind - a fully poseable artist's dummy-style action figure. There were soldiers, sailors and pilots complete with basic uniforms and dog-tags.

The museum's collection already includes toys by Abbatt Toys, Lines Brothers, Mettoy, and Palitoy, which made this 1978 K-9 dog from the early Dr Who TV series.

James Gardener designed this 1930s aeroplane snakes and ladders board game for Abbatt Toys.

The museum, which underwent a £4.7m refurbishment programme in 2005, holds this Mettoy Jack in the box in its collection, dating from 1945-50.

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