Hobby Max
The sculptor who trained at Good Smile Company (GSC), then mortgaged his family's house to build a figure company
At a glance
- Status
- Active.
- Based in
- Shanghai China.
- Known for
- Azur Lane scale figures and the Evangelion RADIO EVA series.
- Good fit
- collectors who follow game properties or Evangelion and want licensed premium scale figures.
- Before buying
- allow extra time for international delivery; shipping from China can take longer.
- Research coverage
- Developing
TL;DR
- Founder Kiking built Hobby Max with unusually personal stakes. After four years of training at Good Smile Company, he returned to Shanghai and mortgaged his family's house to launch the company in 2015.
- That Good Smile Company training shapes Hobby Max's production approach. The catalog leans on Azur Lane and the Evangelion RADIO EVA series, while regular appearances at the Wonder Festival figure convention have helped establish the brand in Japan.
- Figures fall between $65 and $165 USD. Venture capital from Source Code Capital and Bilibili backs the operation, though Kiking retains creative lead at roughly 56% ownership.
A Mortgaged House and Outside Investment
In 2011, a self-taught sculptor named Liu Shunyi posted a handmade Hatsune Hime figure on a Japanese model site. It hit the top of the rankings and caught the attention of Good Smile Company, who offered him a job. He spent four years learning production standards at GSC firsthand, then returned to Shanghai in 2015 and mortgaged his family's house to start a figure company. That sculptor, known to collectors as Kiking, established Hobby Max on June 15, 2015, alongside his wife Ha Jia, whose idea to post early product videos on Bilibili built the brand's initial visibility.
Born in 1989 in Shanghai, Kiking taught himself figure sculpting through Chinese online bulletin-board forums. He formed an original HobbyMax workshop in 2007-2008 but could not make it financially viable. Four years of hands-on training at Good Smile Company gave him the production knowledge to build something that could compete internationally.
Kiking's stated ambition captures the scope of his vision: 'I want HobbyMax to become China's Bandai.' The company has since received venture capital investment from Source Code Capital (2017) and Bilibili (2018), validating that ambition with serious financial backing.
Wonder Festival Presence, Japanese Market Ambitions
Hobby Max was one of the earliest Chinese manufacturers to gain mainstream acceptance in the Japanese market. They attend Wonder Festival regularly and maintain a Japanese-language website at hobbymax.jp, with a Tokyo branch (HOBBY MAX JAPAN) handling the Japanese side of the business. Their Azur Lane figures form a substantial portion of the catalog, alongside a standout Evangelion RADIO EVA series that has included Japanese voice-actor signing events for product launches.
Hobby Max divides its products between two labels: HobbyMax covers character display figures, while JoyBrain handles artist-designed collectible toys. Kiking, who still holds roughly 56% of the company, stays focused on creative direction, leaving CEO Ha Jia to steer business strategy and operations.
The Bridge Between China and Japan
Shipping from China can mean slightly longer delivery times for international orders, but Hobby Max's delivery history is solid enough that pre-ordering with confidence is reasonable. Their Azur Lane and Evangelion RADIO EVA lines are the strongest entry point for new buyers.
Hobby Max's production quality reflects Kiking's GSC training, and the pricing stays below Japanese equivalents. The Wonder Festival attendance, Japanese entity, and voice-actor collaborations give Hobby Max a presence in the Japanese market that most Chinese manufacturers are still working to build.