IN THE SMOKE-FILLED, cramped malls of Mongkok and elsewhere around Hong Kong, are shops selling 30-centimetre dolls. These are not the typical blonde Barbie and her gee-whiz boyfriend Ken. These are military figures. They carry big guns - relative to their size - and are made for grown-ups, not children.
These big boys' toys come in many sizes and shapes, often modelled on modern fighting forces such as the British SAS, United States Delta Forces, US Army Rangers and Green Berets. Miniature World War II Nazi officers are often displayed and one Mongkok window has had an Osama bin Laden miniature on show since shortly after September 11.
At first sight it's easy to mistake these dolls for children's toys. Closer inspection proves otherwise.
Insurance salesman Patrick Lin Cheng-yi, 40, proudly clutches his prize-winning World War II Eastern Front messenger on horseback. Like others who share his passion for dolls with guns, he started out as a collector.
'I bought the first doll [a GI Joe] I ever owned three years ago - I just found it fascinating,' he says, recalling the moment with relish. 'Particularly the clothes. They were very detailed; they looked like the real thing had been shrunk to a sixth of its size.'
Since that initial purchase he hasn't looked back, spending more than $60,000 on his hobby. That's a significant outlay considering insurance salesmen earn on average between $30,000 and $40,000 a month. But Lin dismisses critics of himself and his fellow enthusiasts. 'I don't think people should look down on these dolls, because they require effort. Every month I pour anywhere from $4,000 to $5,000 into them. That's no small sum and shows we are pretty serious about it.'
