SINGAPORE — Ms Belinda Goh, 30, defies all the stereotypical notions of a serious toy collector.
A former banker with a penchant for the Iron Man and Captain America figurines, she has spent more than S$20,000 on her “ever-increasing” toy collection since picking up the hobby in 2013.
At the time, one of the first things she noticed was that it was rare to see women in the collectors’ community. “In the beginning, when I met up with buyers to trade or sell figurines, some buyers would assume that I was the ‘girlfriend’ just running the errand,” she said.
A ‘girlfriend’, she was not. More like a risk-taker. Two years ago, after she saw a booming demand for the superhero action figurines, she decided to quit her job and invested some S$20,000 to start a business importing and selling superhero figures.
Ms Goh has seen her customer base grow from about 200 to around 600 now. They fork out, on average, anywhere between S$200 and S$400 for a 12-inch figurine depending on the character. Some travel from Batam, Indonesia to pick up their buys here, after making an order via the Facebook page of her shop, Imperial Studio.
The popularity of the Marvel and DC movie franchises and the ease of trading via e-commerce have led to the growth of the community of toy collectors in Singapore — and they are not young children.
More adults in their 20s to 40s are paying a premium for toy figurines from the Marvel and DC comics.
Action City, the retail arm of Big Box International, said that sales of action figures have gone up consistently in recent years. Big Box International is the exclusive distributor of Hot Toys in Singapore.
Mr Alex Chua, 40, head of sales and marketing at Action City, would not give any numbers, but said: “The increase in sales has been consistent with the release of Marvel and DC films, especially in 2015 and 2016.”
He added that “serious collectors” are generally working adults aged 28 onwards. Some of the more popular figurines (sold) are from Iron Man, The Avengers and Star Wars. “We also expect the upcoming Justice League movie to spike sales of timeless characters such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, as well as new characters including The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg.”
What fascinates a collector and keeps him or her hooked is “the likeness” of the characters that the toy manufacturers can somehow capture.
Ms Goh said: “When they see the figure, it perhaps reminds them of the movie and something they remember of it. It’s nostalgic… what they’ve read in the comics when they were a kid… It’s like your hero or something.”
Ms Belinda Goh, 30, turned her toy collecting hobby into a business in 2015 after she saw a growing demand for toy figurines in Singapore. Photo: Cynthia Choo/TODAY
The ease of connecting with other collectors through an online community has also contributed to the toy craze in Singapore.
In 2014, Ms Goh started a Facebook group called Hot Toys Singapore BST with three other friends. “We were just four people talking to ourselves then,” she said, but members have since multiplied and there are more than 6,500 of them now.
The members are mostly Singaporeans, but there are also collectors from Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
Another Facebook group with a similar community is Marvel Collectors Singapore. Mr Azlan Sedek, 33, an assistant producer, is administrator of the group. He said that numbers are “steadily climbing”, and there are more than 2,000 members now. The group was set up in 2014 with around 50 members.
For some of these collectors, it is not enough to just own the action figures — they want a hand in fashioning the details, too.
The practice of making custom figures is known to the community as “kitbash”. Collectors either buy or sculpt certain body parts to their preference, and assemble the new features on existing figures, thus making it “their own”.
The practice of assembling one’s unique figurine by mixing and matching body parts, armours and capes is known as “kitbash” in the toy collector community. Photo: Cynthia Choo/TODAY
Mr Ace Ng, 40, who calls himself a custom-figurine collector and maker, found himself growing to love the tailor-made toys because they are distinct. “I feel like I own that figure alone, it’s unique and exclusive to me, and it’s not like those that everybody has.”
An assistant manager in the food and beverage industry, Mr Ng has always been a fan of Marvel comics, but he got into collecting figurines after he successfully bid for a toy on eBay about two years ago. He has since spent more than S$10,000 to get about 115 characters, with each figure costing around S$100.
“It’s not a cheap hobby at all, but I feel proud when I look at the unique figures,” he said. They are displayed in glass shelves and boxes, which line an entire room from floor to ceiling in his four-room public housing flat. “My wife nags, but she understands that this is my hobby and passion.”
Mr Ng’s wife, Ms Melissa Bek, 35, an assistant manager in an enrichment centre, said: “So long as he can manage his budget and is happy, I’m okay.”
