Stikfas eyes film spin-off for new robot toys1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteHOME-GROWN toymaker Stikfas has been quiet for more than a year.
That is because the team behind it has been busy working on a new line of robot toys expected to be released at the end of the year, with plans to spin it off into a science-fiction movie.
Stikfas creator Ban Yinh Jheow, 42, told my paper in a recent interview that he has been working with American concept designer Feng Zhu on the project, called Metalgraves.
The two also founded an American firm called Glasmos Entertainment, which owns the intellectual rights to Metalgraves.
Mr Ban said that after a decade in the toy business, he and his team realised that there is a limit to selling toys.
His Stikfas ball-and-joint model kits have sold over four million figures since their 2001 launch. Noting that the “biggest challenge” to traditional toys and games is the Internet and mobile games, Mr Ban said that “we would like to go beyond toys” and “put Singapore on the (world) map of design”.
The robot designs for Metalgraves are handled by Mr Feng, who is now based here and has worked on movies such as Star Wars Episode III (2005) and Transformers (2007).
