The two partners chose a smart niche. More than 80 percent of the world’s toymakers do their work in southern China. Instead of tackling the giants head on, though, Wong and Lau have focused on the collectibles market, offering not only rare Barbie accessories and retired Beanie Babies but also exotic goodies like Australian McDonald’s premiums and a “special limited edition” set of “Star Wars: Episode One” Mountain Dew cans from Canada. “We look at the ‘greed-impulse’ factor,” says Wong. “Collectibles that are valuable as more than toys.”
ActionAce intends to get even smarter. In the next few months the site is planning to become more of a pacesetter by selling more original products, such as action figures based on animations from their own Web site. “We pay people to sit in our California office and read magazines and surf the Web, just to identify pop-culture trends,” says Wong. “We want to say that whatever’s in our store is cool.” He spots a pink Barbie wig on his office floor. “Who’s going to buy this?” he demands. Then he grins. “Somebody will.”
