Here's a hard one to find...
ASC & ITO aircraft carrier
This aircraft carrier was made in Japan by ASC (Aoshin) and ITO (which, I believe, stands for International Toy Outboard).
It's nearly 15 inches long and 4 inches high.
A couple things make this toy interesting (besides its rarity).
For one, it's a friction toy, despite having that red plastic bulb cover on the superstructure.
As it turns out, the toy was originally designed to be battery-operated. However, a factory conversion was done on the toy. The "Start" and "Stop" markings on the deck were painted over. The on/off switch mechanism was removed. And, the hull was re-made without a battery compartment.
There may be a true battery-operated version out there, but I personally have never seen it. Has anyone else?
Perhaps the manufacturers changed the design to save money?
Also, its very interesting that ITO had a hand in making this toy. I've learned that ITO was very active making metal parts for fancy 1950's era wooden "Pond Boats" that were battery-operated and designed for play in ponds and lakes. These wooden pond boats were often pretty large in size, very detailed and very well made.
One pond boat collector I briefly corresponded with was pretty surprised that this aircraft carrier was in part made by ITO. He's never seen the ITO logo on any other tin toy boat.