On the planet of collectible figures, Marvin Chan stands out for his love of mechanical tin toys — a ardour that may be a compelling reminder of China’s child steps to changing into a producing big.
Born in Hong Kong within the mid-Sixties, Chan will not be merely a collector — he is a preserver of reminiscences, colourful industrial design and Chinese language craftsmanship.
“From a younger age, I had the possibility to expertise toys from everywhere in the world, together with Chinese language-made tin toys. Although I liked toys, I by no means imagined that my life would sooner or later be intertwined with them,” he mentioned.
That connection deepened within the late Eighties throughout a visit to Kota Tinggi, Malaysia. Wandering right into a small toy store close to a bus interchange, Chan got here throughout a couple of outdated Chinese language tin toys produced within the early Eighties. The sight, and acquainted “click-clack” sound of their mechanisms awoke dormant reminiscences.
“It felt as if time had reversed,” he recalled. “I may as soon as once more expertise the pure pleasure of enjoying with these toys as a toddler.”
In 1994, his curiosity became a mission after visiting the legendary Japanese tin toy collector Teruhisa Kitahara in Yokohama. Kitahara’s meticulously curated assortment stirred a way of urgency in Chan to attempt to protect a chapter of China’s nascent manufacturing previous.
“Seeing his assortment, fastidiously curated over greater than 20 years, left me deeply shaken,” he recalled.
“As a Chinese language, I instantly realized that these seemingly easy toys carried the reminiscences of a whole period. I felt it was my duty to protect this cultural heritage.”
Hong Kong to Shanghai
As a world enterprise hub, Hong Kong within the Sixties and 70s had a big selection of toys from across the globe on sale. Japanese tinplate robots, American motion figures, mechanical toys made on the Chinese language mainland, and regionally manufactured plastic figures shared the identical cabinets within the metropolis’s toy shops.
“All of those toys made up essentially the most fantastic fragments of my childhood reminiscences,” Chan mentioned.
One toy specifically, stays unforgettable — a Japanese-made wind-up tin Ultraman Chan’s dad and mom gifted him after he did properly in a faculty examination.
“Its crimson and silver determine, with a head that would flip, made me very comfortable. Each time I wound it up, it felt like I used to be preventing alongside Ultraman to guard peace within the galaxy. That toy was priceless to me,” he mentioned.
Impressed by the romanticized model of Shanghai he noticed within the basic Hong Kong TV drama The Bund, Chan went to the town in 1991.Between 1998 and 2008, he break up his time between Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore, researching Chinese language toy historical past and exploring manufacturing partnerships.
In 2005, he launched the Museum of Shanghai Toys in Singapore, displaying his assortment of over 2,000 toys made in Shanghai from 1910 to 1970.
However the alternative he had been ready for arrived in 2008, when a tin toy manufacturing facility in Shanghai was searching for a collaborator. Chan determined to relocate to Shanghai and commit himself to reviving the town’s fading tin toy business. Later, he took over a tin toy manufacturing facility and based the Saint John firm, designing and manufacturing gadgets himself.
Shanghai has lengthy been a toy manufacturing powerhouse, in keeping with Chan.
By the Nineteen Fifties, Shanghai’s tin toy business was flourishing — technically modern, nationally influential, and export-driven. Firms developed new metallic toys that went past the wind-up fashions of earlier many years, injecting new vitality right into a quickly evolving market.
In 1965, Shanghai’s tin toys have been showcased internationally at China’s first toy exhibition in Hong Kong. The merchandise delighted kids throughout the globe with their intelligent mechanisms and imaginative types. Even by the early Eighties, tin toys remained a dominant power in Shanghai’s toy market.
“From a creative perspective, classic tin toys — each the toys themselves and their packaging — typically featured hand-painted artwork,” Chan mentioned. “The colourful colours, easy traces, and intelligent building gave these toys not solely attraction, however actual creative worth.”
Chan, founding father of the designing and manufacturing firm Saint John, delivers a speech on the Faculty of Design and Innovation at Tongji College, Shanghai. CHINA DAILY
Worthwhile passion
Rising up in Tianjin, Solar Yonghao was shy and introspective and completely different from the opposite youngsters in his neighborhood.
However when the clock struck six within the night, the bookish baby would rush to the lounge to look at his favourite cartoons.
The long-lasting Japanese sequence Gundam, created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and first aired in 1979 with its towering robots and epic battles in area, left an indelible mark on the younger boy’s thoughts.
The Gundam robots, detailed and highly effective and every with their very own wealthy backstory, felt like one thing straight out of a dream. “It wasn’t simply concerning the robots,” Solar recollects. “It was the whole universe they created — the battles, the tales, the characters. There was a depth to it that I hadn’t seen in different cartoons.”
Because the years handed, his love for Gundam solely grew stronger, evolving from childhood fascination into one thing that may form his complete future.
In the summertime of 2002, on the age of 15, Solar lastly realized a long-held dream. After saving his pocket cash for a whole 12 months, he had 220 yuan ($30.65) and made his first-ever buy, an electroplated TV Wing Gundam Zero mannequin.
That Gundam mannequin turned Solar’s most treasured possession. It wasn’t simply one thing he displayed on a shelf — it turned part of his identification, a tangible connection to his childhood passions.
After finishing his research, Solar entered the automotive business, the place he labored for 13 years. As his profession progressed and his earnings grew, so did his assortment. At the moment, Solar owns over 2,000 Gundam fashions, which have value him greater than 1 million yuan.
“I like spending time with my assortment, despite the fact that I am busy with my job and my obligations as a husband, son, and father,” he mentioned. “For me, toys aren’t simply relics of the previous — they’re bridges to a timeless pleasure. The happiness they bring about is similar pleasure I felt as a toddler.”
Three years in the past, Solar determined to depart the automotive business behind and switch his lifelong love of toys right into a profession. He started sharing his assortment on social media, the place it shortly gained a big following.
At the moment, he’s the chief working officer of ILoveToy, a Chinese language toy model that began in 2008 with on-line outlets earlier than increasing into bodily shops.
The corporate’s objective was to create an immersive, hands-on purchasing expertise for its rising buyer base. “We’ve tables and chairs within the shops, providing folks an area to play with the toys,” Solar mentioned.
Now, ILoveToy boasts 18 shops in 10 cities throughout China, together with Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai.
“I wished to do one thing that may carry folks like me happiness every single day,” he mentioned. “Toys, significantly my Gundam assortment, have at all times been a supply of pure pleasure for me.”
Now not simply an occasional passion, his ardour for Gundam and toys has turn into an all-encompassing pursuit. Solar’s assortment has expanded to incorporate uncommon motion figures and limited-edition fashions. With every new addition, he finds deeper pleasure in preserving these items of nostalgia.
Zhang Yiyi, 32, additionally enjoys gathering toys. For him, it is not only a passion however a solution to expertise a carefree childhood he believes he by no means actually had. “It is usually a reminder that it is by no means too late to search out pleasure within the little issues,” Zhang mentioned.
Born and raised in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, Zhang now lives in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, and is an influencer and toy designer.
“Toys can actually assist alleviate the stress and anxiousness that come from life and work. They let me immerse myself and really feel comfortable. Simply having them on show at house makes me really feel good. It is a means for me to launch my feelings,” mentioned Zhang, who began gathering toys in 2021.One in all his favourite sequence is from the animated film franchise, Toy Story, which he described as “a world filled with enjoyable”.
He mentioned because of the rising reputation of designer toys, many producers have made many toys and collectible figurines, or collectibles, which can be from his childhood.
Zhang has launched 10 sequence of toy designs, together with Yibeiji, that includes a rooster picture impressed by his zodiac animal, the rooster, and Loopy Botanical Backyard, that includes animated photographs of assorted crops.
“I created these photographs out of pure private curiosity and I did not count on followers to like them,” he mentioned. “The world wants toys, and so do the grown-ups, as a result of who can dwell with out pleasure and slightly enjoyable to pursue?”
After the inexperienced frog
Past their mechanical magnificence, tin toys have been cultural touchstones. For youngsters born within the Sixties, 70s and 80s, toys like the ever present wind-up hopping inexperienced tin frog have been like outdated pals.
At the moment, Chan is partnering with artisans and designers in Shanghai to breathe new life into these toys. His creations honor the previous however are made for the current — lovely, useful, joyful objects creating reminiscences for a brand new era.
He’s additionally the vice-president of the Shanghai Putuo Collectibles &Heritage Affiliation, which was launched in 2002.
The affiliation is dedicated to the popularization of people artwork collections, and the promotion of gathering cultural gadgets as various as comics, transportation tickets, and toys.
On June 1, the affiliation launched a brand new group, the Analysis Committee of Trendy and Up to date Toys, to advertise the inheritance and innovation of toy tradition for a brand new era.
It plans to collaborate with educational establishments and collectors to collectively delve into and broadly unfold toy tradition, in keeping with Chan, who’s the director of the brand new department affiliation.
Chan leads the in-depth exploration of toy historical past, the refinement of cultural values, the group of themed exhibitions and educational seminars, “all to boost public recognition and dissemination of Chinese language toy tradition”, he mentioned.
The collectible toy market has entered a stage of explosive development, in keeping with the 2021 China Collectible Toy Business Market Perception Evaluation, launched by Analysys Worldwide, an organization that focuses on web gross sales and merchandise.
The increase is pushed by the fast development of Chinese language residents’ earnings and the collectible toy market. It is dominated by mental property with a concentrate on product design and platform-based channel operations, the report mentioned.
Lately, the annual development fee of the Chinese language collectible toy market has remained above 35 %. It’s anticipated that by 2025, the market measurement will exceed 150 billion yuan.
The report additionally identified the distinction between collectible toys and designer toys.
Collectors concentrate on uncommon or classic toys, typically searching for to finish a set or personal precious gadgets, equivalent to older motion figures, mannequin vehicles, or dolls. Designer toys, or fashionable toys, equivalent to blind containers, typically signify limited-edition collaborations with well-known manufacturers, popular culture icons, or artists. They’re marketed to a youthful viewers that values exclusivity, innovation and trendiness.
“Some varieties of designer toys expertise solely temporary reputation and fade away over time — they’re fashionable for a second however are quickly forgotten. Others, nonetheless, handle to face the check of time and turn into basic collectibles which can be appreciated and wanted by folks of all ages,” the report mentioned.
Chan was extra philosophical, saying persons are at all times making an attempt to clarify why everybody likes toys.
“However typically, it is easy. We like them as a result of they make us comfortable, and that is sufficient,” he mentioned.
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