Before it was known as Asia’s World City, Hong Kong was called “toy town” and today
ranks second only to the Chinese mainland among global toy exporters.
With re-exports from the mainland – the local industry handles nearly US$10bn worth
of toys and games each year.
King & Country is among thousands of Hong Kong companies in the game – finding its
path to success by targeting the growing market for collectables.
"Two things get said when people come into our shop in Hong Kong, at Pacific Place in
Hong Kong.
The first thing is, ‘Do you actually make money off this? - which I’m happy to say,
we do.
The second thing is, question is, ‘Who buys this stuff?’
Well it’s across the board.
Obviously, it’s not a cheap hobby, it’s relatively expensive.
Our kind of collectors tend to be professional people."
Some 25 years after Neilson and his partner Laura McAllister founded the business – King
& Country is among the world's largest and most established designers and producers of
these all-metal, hand-painted figures.
"They’re toys for big boys.
But that’s fine, even big boys need toys.
We do call them ‘collector models’ – and that’s probably a better description, but
I’m still old enough to remember when these were called ‘toy soldiers’ and I still
kind of like that description.
Some people call them military miniatures and they are that too.
We’ve covered everything…
ancient Egypt up through the life of Jesus, through the Crusades, into the wars of American
independence, Napoleonic wars, First World War, Second World War – we’ve even done
figures for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In fact, we were the first people to capture Bin Laden.
We captured him alive - albeit in 1/30 scale miniature - but we actually did a little figure
of Bin Laden being captured by US Navy Seals long before the guys ever did it for real."
Villains as well as heroes are among the top sellers – as collectors are drawn to the
company’s realistic depictions of moments in history.
Buyers with deep pockets even invest in huge cinematic dioramas – also built in Hong
Kong by Andy’s brother Gordon.
For Andy – a graphic designer by training – inspiration is driven by a lifetime of
experience.
"I loved history at school.
And I was always interested in the military.
I had been in the Royal Marines for five years back in the UK, when I came to Hong Kong after
leaving the police I joined the Royal Hong Kong Regiment.
And this was a way to really bring together all of the things that interested me into
one package.
And that became toy soldiers."
King & Country discovered that while gentlemen were happy to admire the admire the crafstmanship
and just the weight and feel of these pieces, women among their customers were frankly,
a little bit bored.
So they came up with the “Streets of Old Hong Kong” series –and as it turned out,
it was far more popular than expected.
"And I thought, we need a civilian side of things, something that might appeal to women.
We came up with something called "The Streets of Hong Kong" which was really a look back
at Hong Kong in 1897 - you could say the ‘high point of empire,' but it was almost a time
when traditional Chinese dress and costume was still being worn, and you could see that
in all the old photographs and there were lots of books – still available now – which
show old Hong Kong.
So we thought, ‘yeah, let’s do that – let’s do something that might appeal to a female
audience.’
And at first we thought it would be mostly for the tourists – what we didn’t realize
is that many Hong Kong people would recognise it as part of their heritage – Chinese heritage
– and they’ve bought into it as well, literally bought into it."
The expansion beyond military figures is only part of the reason why King & Country has
become the largest company of its kind in the world.
Being in Hong Kong is a major factor behind turning these small figures, into big business.
"I think, very shortly after I arrived in Hong Kong I realized what a very unique place
it was.
The fact of the matter was that there is still more opportunity per square foot in Hong Kong
than I think almost any other place in the world.
And it’s a great place for networking – that you meet people."
The Scottish entrepreneur says that while he made his start before the end of British
rule in Hong Kong – aspiring business people in the United Kingdom would do well to consider
opportunities in a post-colonial ‘toy town’ still very much on top of its game.
"Again, it’s not only the gateway to China, it’s a fantastic centrepoint for the whole
of Asia.
And there are so many...
I keep using this word... ‘opportunity’ but that’s what comes into thinking with
Hong Kong.
It’s still got that element of 'opportunities will come your way if you’re willing to
go out and seek them' – and if you’re willing to go looking for them and wiling
to go out and grab them with both hands.”
“I have the best job in the world.
Although this is a business, and I’m happy to say it’s a successful business – this
is my passion.
And any business, whatever you do – if you can be passionate about it, then it doesn’t
become ‘work.’
I look forward to coming into this office.
How often can you say that in a business?�