MR MARK Tan’s toy collection has more than 400 action figures, which includes figures from Marvel Legends, Spawn, Gears of War, Halo, movie characters, Sideshow GI Joes, Revoltech and Kamen Riders.

Yet, the 29-year-old remains relatively modest about the size of his collection, “I know someone who owns ‘a ton’ more than I do,” he says. Now working as a graphic designer at fluff+hucksters, a design studio, Mr Tan’s childhood fascination with toys did not stop when he grew up.

Rather, it grew with time.

Mr Tan started collecting toys seriously only in 2007. He says: “I realised that a lot of my childhood memories were tied to either cartoons, or comic book characters, and I thought to myself, ‘Gee, I wonder if I could find the toys?’”

“The toys remind me of times past, of better days,” he says. “I’m also slowly seeing the ‘art’ in toys. I’ve begun to appreciate how detailed and intricate some of my toys are.” It helps that Mr Tan’s wife Jacqueline, who works as an education
executive at the Eurasian Association of Singapore, is supportive.

Two years ago, he chanced upon a series of toys based on Disney characters,
and bought a couple of them for his wife, a “really” big fan of old Disney cartoons.

One thing led to another, and she too is now a toy collector. Local toy shops that Mr Tan frequents include Ng’s Collection for his Kamen Rider toys, TnT for Revoltech, and Gears of War toys; for his SideShow GI Joes and Halo toys, Mr Tan goes to Simply Toys.

Besides Ng’s Collection at China Square Central, Mr Tan also frequents other toyshops, especially on Sundays when the shopping cum office development’s lobby turns into a flea market, selling many things, including toys.

Mr Tan says that it is sometimes cheaper to buy from overseas online stores, even factoring in currency exchange rates and shipping costs. One online store that he patronises often is BBTS, or Big Bad Toy Store, which, according to him, “stocks almost everything”.

As with any connoisseur, he does not buy any toy that he comes across. There are some selection criteria that he sticks by, which, incidentally, change with time.

“I used to look for rare pieces and how expensive they would be,” says Mr Tan.

However, after he started to streamline his collection last year, he only goes for toys that are in his selected toy lines — preferred pieces that he wants to add to his collection.

Yet, “my problem is, I really like most of them”, he quips.

“Also, since most of my toys are from a series, meaning five to six figures are released under the wave, I usually buy all the figures in that wave, if not I feel at times that it’s incomplete. That’s my ‘obsessed’ side speaking,” he adds.

To keep up with his costly hobby, Mr Tan sets aside a sum of money
every month. At times, he sells off pieces that he has lost interest in. He
estimates that he has spent close to $20,000 on this hobby.

Some toys do appreciate in value, but that is only if the collectors have kept their purchases in their boxes and in pristine and mint condition. He says they hold on to the hope that these toys would become rare in time, and can then be sold for a profit.

As for Mr Tan, he is not going down that road.

“That isn’t really about collecting toys anymore, that’s more like speculating in stocks and shares, isn’t it?” he maintains.

Clearly, for him, toy collecting is a hobby that he takes seriously, and one that he will not outgrow.

“I see this as a way of reviving my childhood. Even though the toys may not be from my childhood per se, they do add to the ‘feel’”, he explains. Mr Tan, who doesn’t have children yet, says he does “see myself telling my children in the future: ‘No, those are Daddy’s toand you can’t play with them!’”

>>Where are the toy shops?

This article was first published in The Straits Times.