Hong Kong's finest toys set to take centre stage in museum

From cap guns, to dolls, to matchbox cars - old Hong Kong-made toys are set to be dusted down and put on display in an exhibition that will rekindle fond childhood memories for many and pave the way for the creation of a toy museum in the city.

A group of veteran toy manufacturers, a toy collector and the government-funded Hong Kong Vocational Training Council are in talks to organise a three-month toy exhibition at the council's recently built 7,000 square foot Hong Kong Design Institute Gallery in Tseung Kwan O at the end of the year.

The planned exhibition may mark a significant step forward for the creation of the museum, which the Hong Kong Toy Council and the Toys Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong have lobbied for in the past year as a way to celebrate an industry that took off from scratch in the 1940s and became world-renowned.

Proponents said a toy museum would also serve as a destination for tourists and families, while critics said it was a disgrace that Hong Kong had yet to have a museum dedicated to toys despite its reputation as the world's toy capital.

'Before 1978, all toys were made in Hong Kong,' said Yeung Chi-kong, a Hong Kong Toy Council committee member and a toy maker for about 48 years.

'The toys combined successful design, creativity, imagination and culture, and I hope the planned museum will convey this message.'