Collected by actors Louis Koo and Huang Xiaoming, action figures based on Chinese movies and anime are hot property

China’s film merchandise industry is in its infancy, but one growth area is the making of action figures based on characters from animated films such as Nezha

They compete for fans’ attention with Marvel and DC Comics action figures, and piracy is a problem

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A figurine by Manas Workshop, which produces original works and figurines derived from movies and animes, at the company’s studio in Beijing, China. Photo: Simon Song

Published: 7:45am, 13 Nov 2019Updated: 4:02pm, 13 Nov 2019

Hong Kong film star Louis Koo Tin-lok collects them. So does mainland Chinese counterpart Huang Xiaoming. Shouban – action figures based on film or anime characters – are all the rage in China.

Thanks to the success of Chinese animated feature films such as Nezha , which took 4.8 billion yuan (US$685 million) at the mainland box office, and Monkey King: Hero is Back, which took 960 million yuan in 2015, shouban – which means “companions” in Japanese – have become big business.

According to Chinese media reports, the market for these action figures in China alone is worth an estimated 10 billion yuan, five times that of Japan, where they originated.

Riding on this growth is the Manas Workshop, which launched a crowdfunding drive in August to raise money for the production of merchandise, especially action figures, for Nezha. More than 30,000 people have pledged a total of 15 million yuan for the venture. Manas Workshop expects to release the products for sale next year.

A figurine at Manas Workshop, which produces works and figurines from movies and animes. Photo: Simon Song

Commercial interests aside, Manas Workshop founder Kan Siji says part of his company’s mission is to promote Chinese culture. “Our works mostly are about Chinese traditional culture, such as the figure of Feilian,” Kan says. In the Shan Hai Jing, or Classic of Mountains and Seas, a compilation of mythic beasts, Feilian is a creature with the body and legs of a deer, the head of a bird, bull’s horns, a serpent’s tail and the markings of a leopard.

“We need to build up our confidence in China’s traditional culture and arouse young people’s interest in it. Nezha, a film based on a traditional Chinese figure, took nearly 5 billion yuan at the domestic box office. That compares well with Disney productions. It shows [China’s] cultural confidence.”