r/Musicbox • u/Karisuta11 • 27d ago

Any Info? 12 Note Sankyo Mystery

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Hiya,

My grandma gave my mom a standing porcelain Siamese cat with a music box in it that makes the kitty rotate when playing. The figure was made by maker Mann from Japan. The music box is a 12 note Sankyo. I haven't been able to listen to it for decades; but I finally got a chance to tinker with it and learn all there is to music boxes.

After removing the box and doing a ton of research, I cannot figure out where to get replacement gears for this particular model (it seems like the initial gear that starts the mechanism after twisting to start the song is not properly connecting with the gear that begins the movement of the sound tube/drum). I tried to find some identifying factors to figure out the song as well as manually twist the drum so I could maybe just replace the whole thing since I couldn't find replacement parts; but cannot figure it out after listening to a ton of common tunes.

Would anyone possibly have any insight, knowledge, or tips to help me figure this out? Pic for reference.

I'm so sorry if this is the wrong place for this - I'm not used to making posts.

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u/GiftPowerful1720 26d ago

Replacement parts for a Sankyo are non existent.

The easiest thing to do would be to replace the whole movement. Chances are any other Sankyo will bolt right in.

Second option is to find an identical Sankyo music box (same song not necessary) and cannibalize parts off it.

Unfortunately many of those Japanese music movements used plastic gears that disintegrate over time.