"It was 2016 or 2017. I was at Thailand Toy Expo with the mission of obtaining an item from INSTINCTOY. The queue was insane since the early morning, and when the mall doors were opened, people were running like crazy and rushing to booths from brands they were eyeing on. Once inside, we need to secure a queue number—not to buy the toy, but just to get a chance to join a raffle to buy the toy. Can you imagine how crazy that is?” 

 

That’s a story from Arvi Oman, an avid toy collector from Indonesia, who goes all the way to Thailand to visit his favorite toy expo. Arvi is most fond of collecting Sofubi, Japanese figurines from soft vinyl that is carefully shaped by hand using a metal mold. He runs the SofubINDO community, short for Sofubi Indonesia which shares information about upcoming exhibitions or new toy drops by veteran artists. “I got a super limited King Korpse piece that I still keep now. The news of me getting the toy was spread out fast in the community and many people offered to buy it, but of course, I didn’t want to let it go because the experience of getting it was priceless,” said Arvi.

King Korpse by INSTINCTOY | Courtesy of Arvi Oman

 

For outsiders, it may seem baffling that someone would be willing to spend a fortune on a single hollow toy. However, a collector has a different perspective and appreciation that most people will struggle to understand. “After collecting Sofubi, my maturity in looking at toys shifted. Sofubi is no longer a material or method, but a genre. There are many techniques and characters, yet all of the toys are limited. Since we can’t collect all of them, it allows us to find out what we genuinely like instead of following trends or chasing after the public’s most-wanted item.”

 

While there are many reasons to love toys, many collectors begin their journey as a way to fulfill their childhood desire to own as many toys as possible, motivated by friends’ influence. Paulus Hyu, an Indonesian collector-turned-artist behind Kurobokan, start his collecting journey in this very way. “I’ve been a toy collector for as long as I remember. My friends introduced toy collecting by giving me their extra toys. From then on, I started to find out the toys I liked and collect them myself,” said Paulus.

Paulus Hyu, Indonesian Toy Artist

 

After years of collecting toys, Paulus has made connections with fellow collectors and artists in the community. From there, he eventually created his own toys in 2012. “I enjoy collecting French bulldog-themed toys—simply because I have a pet bulldog. But there aren't many in the market, so I decided to make my own. That’s how Nimbus The Frenchie was born.” Paulus did an exploration of materials and techniques for years; starting with resin and vinyl, to 3D mold and sofubi.

Sleepwalker MORA, ready to assemble (Left) and a collection of toys by Paulus Hyu (Right)

 

Comparing Heritage and Mass Produced Toy

In the Sofubi world, artists typically only produce only a limited amount of figurines—might be 10, sometimes 20 per batch. The traditional Sofubi making needs to be done meticulously with careful craftsmanship, therefore it was widely abandoned when China began to mass produce soft vinyl toys, making Sofubi a precious heritage that needs to be preserved. Previously, the toys market in China was quite segmented… until POP MART exploded in popularity.

 

POP MART is a Chinese retail toy brand with a blind box concept that is now available in 23 countries and regions. When buying a box, we don’t know exactly what we’re gonna get. If you’re lucky, you could get the secret item from the series that could sell for more in the after-market. The company launches a new collection every Friday, which means there are practically endless options of figurines that we could collect: from licensed characters like Disney, Harry Potter, and Sanrio, to IP characters by toy designers like Molly, Dimoo, and The Monsters.

With a wide range of options available, any kind of community can join the POP MART craze. At first, a Disney fan would buy a Disney Princess box. And then one more. And then they would continue collecting other IPs as well. With the addictive excitement of unboxing the unknown, POP MART becomes an important entryway for beginners to become toy collectors, as well as popularizing the toys industry. “Everybody needs content. POP MART is a platform of content because there is a new collection launched every week. One of our visions is to be a platform that can target all communities through the many collections that we have.” said a POP MART representative during a launch in Pondok Indah Mall, (11/02/23).

 

Hand-in-hand building the Indonesian toy community

POP MART is officially introduced to Indonesia in 2021, and the community is slowly growing in the past year. POP MART Indonesia still has a long way to go as they only focused on building the community in the last few months. They’re trying to get exposure by finding new friends and connecting with various communities to broaden their network. 

 

Angeline Meizhen, the official Indonesia POP MART distributor, shared a story of how POP MART and the SofubINDO community bonded over Labubu, a rabbit art toy character by Kasing Lung. “When POP MART enters Indonesia, Labubu wasn’t very popular because not many people are familiar with the character. But it turns out that Labubu is a well-known character in the Sofubi community. They were looking for it, and POP MART was trying to sell them. It’s a win-win situation,” said Angeline. 

Labubu by Kasing Lung | Sofubi form (Left) and POP MART (Right)

 

According to the NPD Group's data in 2022, adult consumers aged 12 and above account for 25% of the total annual toy sales, which amounts to approximately $9 billion, making them the primary growth driver for the industry. This shows how toys are not only delightful for kids, but also for “kidults” who have an appreciation for toys. Recognizing the high demand for this group of consumers, toy manufacturers have begun creating product lines specifically catering to them, aiming to meet their desire for play and nostalgia.

 

Indonesia has a massive audience, but right now it's still absorbing content from abroad; K-pop and Japanese culture, for instance. It’s about time to introduce our local creators to the Indonesian spotlight. When communities support each other, culture will grow and the spark will keep burning. Local artists will have a wider path to introduce their own IP or collaborate with big entities, even internationally. “As for now, POP MART and SofubINDO both have the same vision of popularizing toys to Indonesians. With a broad collection of IPs, POP MART can attract more people to be interested in toy collecting. Starting with POP MART, Indonesians might be interested to explore and appreciate other toy genres, including Sofubi,” stated Arvi.

 

Paulus Hyu also has similar thoughts on this. Being an artist, it’s easier to market his toys at toy expo abroad rather than in his home country, Indonesia. “The toys fair in Indonesia mostly sells imported toys, and each store has similar items. They compete on price, and the buyers can simply choose the best deal. We need to build a culture of appreciation towards toys to grow the enthusiasm in Indonesia,” he said. 

 

An Endless Opportunity to Impact Life and a Nation

Being in the toy game for so long inspires Paulus’ daughter, Bianca Hyu, to create her own toy character, “PetaL the Sussy Cat” at just 10 years old. Paulus never coaches Bianca directly as he doesn’t want his drawing style to influence her. But Bianca’s been to toys fair before, and from there she’s inspired to create her own character. 

 

On the other side of the story, toys left a massive impact on Arvi’s life, especially since he collected toys with his late daughter, Vibby. Arvi’s love for toys open up opportunities to paint for international artists, as well as finally launching his own toy line, VoU, inspired by Vibby.

 

People like Paulus and Arvi are a few of the many people who are building Indonesia's toy industry. When the spotlight hits Indonesia, there will be endless opportunities for rising artists and veterans to develop their characters into comic books and movies, and more. Players in the industry will eventually shift as producers, brand managers, IP marketers, and other roles that will be significant to expand the market’s ecosystem. In the long run, the toy market can impact Indonesia’s tourism game. Let’s see what the future holds.