Are you a fan of action figures ? Apart from being a hobby, action figures also provide business opportunities in the present and future. This is because the market for this toy product is quite large and every year the number of fans continues to increase along with the emergence of new characters.
In Indonesia, since they first appeared in the 80s, the world of action figures seems to never die. Various action figures are present in every era, such as Gundam, Marvel Hero, One Piece, Naruto, and Dragon Ball . Maybe this is also because action figures do not only belong to one generation, but everyone from children to adults like these toys.
It seems that the development of domestic action figures is not only dominated by foreign production, but local products are also competing. One of them is the production of Good Guys Never Win which was able to penetrate the Asian, Australian and European markets because of its unique design and manual manufacturing process. They created typical Indonesian action figures , such as orange troops, TNI, and scary local ghosts.
Apart from Good Guys Never Win , there is also a toy artist, Paskalis Kunang, whose name is well known among toy figure lovers at home and abroad. According to Kunang, the opportunity to become a big player in this field is now quite wide open because there are not many competitors present. However, this condition implies that there is not yet a strong market base. Currently, the action figure business market tends to be quite segmented. This can happen because the quantities produced are still smaller and the prices are higher than other types of toys.
Even so, currently many communities of action figure lovers have emerged who usually exchange collections, information on the latest products, and even make action figures. One of the communities that is quite large is called Indonesian Art Toys. The presence of this community can be seen as an opportunity to start an action figure business.
If you are now interested in getting into the action figure business, there are at least two areas you can try, namely:
Collector
Being an action figure collector is like an investor who keeps his investment items and then sells them when prices soar. There are two conditions that cause the price of an action figure to increase. The first is scarcity. The rarer a toy figure is, the higher the price it can be offered. Scarcity usually occurs because the action figure is quite old or is a limited edition release.
Then secondly, this concerns the issue of popularity. Action figure transactions usually follow the release of a film, comic, and so on. After that, figures will appear who become trends in society. For example, when Marvel released the film The Avengers, action figure manufacturers immediately started producing toy figures of the superhero characters being told. At that time the popularity of action figures will be very high. This condition could be an opportunity to sell products at higher prices because market demand is increasing.
However, this opportunity will be meaningless if the condition of the action figure is damaged. Therefore, as a collector you are obliged to maintain the condition of your action figure collection in good condition.
To start this business, you need to be active in various communities and events related to action figures. Because you need to find and build a network with lovers of these figure toys. Without a network, it will be difficult for you to market your collection or creations.
Creator
Maybe just being a collector isn't enough for you. You may have the ability to design and make action figures. Armed with these skills, you can try to become a toy figure creator or artist. To do this, start looking for validation of your work through various mainstream social media. If your work is well received, then it's time to open an action figure ordering service.
Apart from that, you also need to be proactive in participating in action figure events. It is important for you to absorb knowledge from those who are more experienced in this field and at the same time build a network there.
Even though action figures now seem to be exclusive toys, the opportunity to become a profitable business is still wide open. Because, new characters will continue to appear in the future as the world of entertainment develops. When you collect action figures from now on, this will potentially provide profits when you sell them in the years to come. Meanwhile, for those of you who intend to become creators, the number of fans which is predicted to continue to increase could be a business opportunity for you.