Young man spends more than half a billion dong on collection of 'plastic friends'

Passion for owning superheroes

“When I was a kid, my neighborhood kids and I were crazy about cartoons and superheroes. Whoever got them first would be the one to be called the best. At that time, where did we get the money? I went to school to save my pocket money. I saved up for a long time to be able to buy them. They were from the market but the quality was very good. I still remember clearly how happy it was to hold my favorite item in my hand,” said Mr. Tam.

Nguyen Ngoc Thanh Tam with his character model collection

The first superhero collection Mr. Tam owns

He still remembers Flip Head Superman (aired in 1993) as the first model he owned.

After a period of economic development, it was not until 2016 that Mr. Tam had the opportunity to return to his passion for models. During a business trip to Indonesia, the Saigon boy happened to visit traditional model markets and the excitement of his childhood seemed to come back to life. From that moment, he decided to start collecting again with a variety of characters from Marvel, DC to Spawn, or monuments such as Predator, Alien, Terminator, ...

A variety of models throughout Mr. Tam's 9 years of collecting

Recalling his journey of searching for and conquering his favorite models, Mr. Tam most remembers spending many years researching, hunting for, and saving money to buy old McFarlane Toys lines. Produced in the early 2000s, models such as Tortured Souls, Twisted Fairy Tales, and Mcfarlane's Monsters have become icons in the horror model collecting community.

“Most of the time I have to order from abroad, so the wait is long and the price is unstable. Besides, my collection style tends towards antique products that have been released for a long time, even before I started collecting, so when I want to learn about or own them, it is quite difficult because the items become scarce and their value increases a lot over time,” said Mr. Tam.

McFarlane Toys lines such as Tortured souls, Twisted fairy tales, Mcfarlane's Monsters

The most valuable model in Mr. Tam's current collection is the "Marvel Legends HasLab Galactus 32-inch Action Figure Toy" - a limited edition that he has owned since 2022 with a price of about 400 USD (more than 10 million VND), not including shipping costs to Vietnam and currency conversion at that time.

Galactus, also known as the “Planet Eater”, is one of the legendary villains of the Marvel universe. This character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Fantastic Four #48, published on March 1, 1966. “Not only is this model highly collectible due to its rarity, it also stands out for its size, far surpassing previous versions of Galactus. For me, this is an indispensable masterpiece, both a source of pride and a testament to my serious passion for models,” he shared.

Mr. Tam set up Marvel Legends HasLab Galactus 32-inch Action Figure Toy in the model display event.

The models in Mr. Tam’s current collection range from several hundred thousand to several million VND, depending on the brand, genre and size of each character. “Anyone who plays with models understands that this is not a cheap hobby – it requires investment in time, effort and finance. Up to now, my collection has lasted nearly 9 years, with a total estimated value of more than 500 million VND. Luckily, during that journey, my wife has always silently supported and accompanied me, becoming a solid support for me to pursue my passion,” he confided.

Mr. Tam and his wife

Thousands of people "love toys"

“Men are like children who never grow up, only their toys get bigger and bigger”, not only a personal feeling, this passion is also a way for Mr. Tam to relieve stress, discover new things, and more importantly – a spiritual support in life. From that passion, he also started to build his own community, connecting people with similar interests and sharing experiences, trends, and new information about the model.

Saigon boy spreads passion for character model collection.

Mr. Tam is the founder of a community that gathers more than 33,000 members. Although he humbly admits that he is only a small part of the collecting community in Vietnam, he always strives to contribute to maintaining and spreading the flame of passion to young people and newcomers to this subject.

“If you do something alone all the time, I don’t know how long your fire will last. The strength of the group is each member. The strength of each member is the group,” he confided.

Model enthusiast community founded by Mr. Tam

For Thanh Tam, models are never inanimate objects. They are memories, emotions, and connections. And as long as the passion is maintained, these “plastic friends” will forever live on in the collector’s world .

Currently, the Saigon man’s collection is displayed in a separate room at home. This space is designed specifically for his passion for collecting, with a system of glass cabinets and specialized air conditioning to preserve and display the models. To make it easier for viewers to follow, he arranges them according to specific themes – from superheroes, monsters, to iconic characters in popular culture.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/chang-trai-chi-hon-nua-ti-dong-cho-bo-suu-tap-nhung-nguoi-ban-nhua-post1738755.tpo