“When I return home from work each day, I get to see [my toys] and it puts me in a good mood,” says Tang, who realises some people might not get the appeal of his hobby, but says it is an “addictive” pursuit and a way of appreciating designs and craftsmanship. Whether it’s SpongeBob SquarePants, Hello Kitty or Sesame Street, each toy has its own distinct, “lovable, cute, and personalised” identity, he says.

“When you look back at the toys that you collected at different times, you realise how your own aesthetic, tastes, and preferences have changed over time,” adds Tang, who would never dream of selling his precious collection.

Tang’s toy story is far from unique. Sales of toys and games in China – which produces 80 per cent of all the world’s toys – soared to 324 billion yuan in 2018, up from 135 billion yuan in 2013, according to market research company Euromonitor. Fuelling these sales is a growing army of toy connoisseurs just like Tang.

CASHING IN

Mighty Jaxx, a Singapore-based urban culture company that designs and manufactures collectibles and lifestyle products, is among the many companies benefiting from this surge in demand.

Its Chinese customer base accounts for 25 per cent of its projected revenue of S$10 million (US$7.21 million) for 2019 – and this proportion is expected to hit 40 per cent over the next few years, according to Mighty Jaxx’s founder and CEO, Jackson Aw, 30.

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An avid toy collector himself, Aw first mused over the idea of turning his hobby into a viable business back in 2012. He ventured to Shenzhen in China for one month, knocking on factory doors just for a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the toy production process.

Being one of his first times to China, the mammoth scale of the industry came as a major “culture shock” to Aw.

“I had always thought that it was just one giant machine that spits out parts and that was it. But there were rows and rows of hundreds of people printing, hand painting, assembling and using different skills just to produce one toy,” the Singaporean says.

Describing the visit as his “greatest education”, Aw was inspired to launch Mighty Jaxx from his bedroom with start-up capital of S$20,000 loaned from a bank through his parents.

Fast forward to today and his online business has worked with major brands such as Warner Brothers, DC Comics, Cartoon Network, MTV and New Balance, and shipped millions of products to collectors in over 50 countries. It is best known for its XXRAY figures, developed in partnership with artist Jason Freeny, which feature dissected Justice League characters such as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.

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But in its early days, the China market had intimidated Aw as a “big anomaly” that was still largely closed off. Aw had found it difficult to navigate the cultural norms and familiarise himself with unfamiliar business models.

Still, sensing China’s potential, his firm embarked on wide-ranging creative collaborations to tailor its offerings to the Chinese market – from creating yin-and-yang themed toys, celestial chicken fairy deities and the “Hambuddha” (a Buddha holding a pearl-shaped hamburger while on a lotus throne).

It also partnered with Chinese artist Chen Wei (who goes by the alias Cacooca) to develop a new Panda Ink collection, which depicts a panda in the midst of an everyday activity or hobby, such as hiking, playing video games or cuddling with cats.

It has also collaborated with other big-name artists and celebrities trending among Chinese consumers – such as Los Angeles-based dance crew Kinjaz, who found fame in China appearing on dance shows, and ABS, a leading graffiti crew based in Beijing’s 798 Art District – and has an upcoming collaboration with Taiwanese singer Show Luo.

But it is the comic and toy conventions that provide its biggest fans, typically men in their 20s to 40s who flock in from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Aw says these collectors have a huge appetite to splurge on high-end collectibles, which can range in cost from anywhere between US$10 to US$2,000.

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To these collectors, price is of little concern as they are looking for “tangible products to buy and show off their personality” and build their street cred among their friends, though they still prefer to stay under-the-radar about their collection to the general public, Aw says.

Today, Mighty Jaxx’s products are manufactured in nearly 20 different factories in Shenzhen and Guangzhou. It set up its first overseas office in Shanghai last year and is planning to open its second one in Suzhou by the end of 2019, according to Aw.

Besides growing Chinese affluence, Aw credits his company’s success to a greater exposure to Western influences and China’s own unique brand of pop culture taking off domestically.

He points to one of China’s biggest blockbusters Monster Hunt, a fantasy martial arts film of how monsters live among humans.

“Outside China, you wouldn’t know what the hell it’s about. But the Chinese are creating their own unique narrative and developing their own intellectual property … That’s when we know the demand for original creation in different forms is truly there,” Aw says.

Likewise, consumers live in an age of a “mishmash of pop cultures and crossovers” and “subcultures becoming mainstream”, he says.

Citing how the business has teamed up with Team Hero, a China e-sports team comprising professional computer gamers, to roll out new figurines, Aw says: “It doesn’t mean that tattoo artists, skateboarders don’t buy toys … What seems to be separate demographics are converging to become a multibillion-dollar market.”

Aw says the company is planning to expand from its current business model based on direct selling to collectors, to e-commerce distribution channels like Taobao and Tmall by the end of 2019.

He hopes eventually to set up the firm’s first retail store in Shanghai, as he believes the future lies in experiential retail.

“China has been cultivating that openness in recent decades, and we’re still very curious and excited for new things to happen [in this market],” Aw says. ■