https://www.scmp.com/rss/521575/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Andrea Lo Andrea Lo Step into Jeffrey Lee’s 10,000 sq ft office-slash-warehouse-slash-personal museum in Kwai Chung, and the first problem is purely logistical: where do you look first? The place has the bones of a warehouse – grey carpet, metal racks, long corridors – but it’s lit like a slightly feverish ballroom. The light hits glass, plastic and brass; it catches on badges, buttons and the glossy eyes of plush toys. One room is dedicated to military uniforms – a showroom of garment-bagged jackets, mannequins... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3348127/jeffrey-lees-extraordinary-museum-plush-toys-and-military-memorabilia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3348127/jeffrey-lees-extraordinary-museum-plush-toys-and-military-memorabilia?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Mar 2026 10:00:17 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson Rahul Kadakia’s favourite gavel is not particularly beautiful. The lacquer has dulled, the wood is chipped with paint from the rostrum and the head sits slightly off-centre after cracking open during a Geneva sale, when a lot estimated at US$100,000 soared to US$1 million. It is, by any conventional standard, worn out. “This gavel has sold billions of dollars,” he says, with a small laugh at the incongruity. Newly appointed president of Christie’s Asia Pacific, Kadakia, 51, speaks quickly, with... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3347307/christies-auctioneer-rahul-kadakia-treasures-his-gift-gavel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3347307/christies-auctioneer-rahul-kadakia-treasures-his-gift-gavel?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2026 03:00:09 +0000 Syrena Jin Syrena Jin From auspicious horse-themed phrases and couplets to whether your luck is in, check out our Year of the Horse 2026 series to discover all you need to know about the coming Lunar New Year. When US toy and board game company Hasbro brought out a new version of its My Little Pony Collectible Card Game in April this year, it teamed up with top Chinese trading card brand Kayou and launched the My Little Pony Card Game in China first. Its decision to introduce the new game to the Chinese market first... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3337617/how-my-little-pony-collectible-trading-cards-took-china-storm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3337617/how-my-little-pony-collectible-trading-cards-took-china-storm?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Dec 2025 09:35:16 +0000 Fionnuala McHugh Fionnuala McHugh In 1992, a British newspaper sent me to New York to interview a man called Paul Mellon. He was 85 and was said to have been wealthier longer than any other living American; the family fortune flowed from the Mellon Bank, founded in 1870. He was also, according to a London gallery owner, “the last civilised collector”. In his Manhattan town house off Park Avenue, one of his seven residences, there was a Canaletto, a squad of Constables, a Stubbs, some Bonnards; the dining room alone had a... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3330044/moving-through-life-without-collecting-lessons-nomadic-childhood?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/design-interiors/article/3330044/moving-through-life-without-collecting-lessons-nomadic-childhood?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Oct 2025 23:00:10 +0000 Mike Chan Mike Chan All eyes in the sports memorabilia world are on top NBA draft pick Cooper Flagg as he prepares to make his professional debut on Wednesday, with his rookie card expected to be highly sought after. But what should you do if you find one? Cash in, like an 11-year-old in Los Angeles did with a rare card for Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes, or hold on and hope the Dallas Mavericks’ rookie lives up to the hype. That, according to industry chief David Leiner, is the potentially... https://www.scmp.com/sport/basketball/article/3329763/collectors-all-chasing-cooper-flaggs-nba-rookie-card-should-you-sell-or-keep-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/basketball/article/3329763/collectors-all-chasing-cooper-flaggs-nba-rookie-card-should-you-sell-or-keep-it?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Oct 2025 09:30:08 +0000 Lisa Cam Lisa Cam Over the last 10 years, rare whisky has seen significant price increases and fluctuations, with some bottles fetching millions at auction. But what is in the bottle is not all that matters. These days, packaging plays an important role in determining the value of a rare vintage, according to Jonny Fowle, global head of spirits at Sotheby’s auction house. “Presentation in whisky is a key factor,” he says. Unlike wine, whisky can maintain its condition even when placed on a display shelf in a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3319532/how-rare-whiskys-box-can-bump-its-value-and-makers-getting-creative?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3319532/how-rare-whiskys-box-can-bump-its-value-and-makers-getting-creative?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Jul 2025 04:15:08 +0000 Vanessa Lee Vanessa Lee Almost everyone in Hong Kong knows Laughing Cow: the grinning red cow on a round blue-and-white box, packed with foil-wrapped triangles of soft, tangy cheese with an unmistakably artificial plastic sheen. Surprisingly, it’s also beloved in France, the land of strict appellations and strong opinions on dairy. For Jeremy Evrard, owner of the much-buzzed-about cheese omakase Roucou, that was where the obsession started. “My mother would buy La Vache qui rit at the supermarket. I always kept the... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3318079/behind-counter-hong-kongs-first-cheese-omakase?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3318079/behind-counter-hong-kongs-first-cheese-omakase?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Jul 2025 22:00:07 +0000