As of this writing, the Hong Kong Toys and Games Fair 2014 is observing its third day, having started last 06 January and is expected to come to a close tomorrow. When we first visited the trade fair in 2008, there were just a few airsoft exhibitors and were mainly some distributors from Mainland China selling ACM stuff. But in just the past years, recognised airsoft brands such as PTS started to become regular fixtures in this event, and the airsoft presence in this expo has been getting bigger and bigger each year.

The advantage of Hong Kong to holding this event, and also for the benefit of the Asian airsoft industry and community, is that it's a free city with people from different countries able to visit visa free as compared to Japan and Taiwan. Thus, more potential businesses are also generated amongst Asian airsoft businesses, apart from purchasers outside of the region. It is also the best time for a budding airsoft business to get in touch with potential suppliers as even obscure names promising lower prices on replica products can be even found.

Our friends, aRick Tsang of Bunny Workshop and Public Enemy, and Matt Furey-King, the founder and former Chairman of the UKAPU, and who is now based in Hong Kong, have covered the event this year for us. They mentioned that the big booths of airsoft brands have been APS and PTS Syndicate. RSOV.com and Gunsmith Bros were also there and other smaller companies also had a presence there. The photos below show some of the bigger booths with many of the products on display familiar to the airsoft players.

But what particularly got our attention, as pointed out by aRick, is the upcoming APS M870 Tactical Shotgun. You will ask, "What? Another M870?" Before you protest, allow us to explain that this Shotgun offering from APS promises and even better experience, even better than the Tokyo Marui M870 Tactical Shotgun that was just released last year.

The first thing to note that APS M870 was designed to replicate the functions of the real M870 that even the dimensions almost follow the real deal. On display was a custom version of the APS M870 with Magpul MOE Forend and SGA Stock for the Remington M870 installed. Arick says that they will be able to do this custom service for you once they get the shotgun and the accessories.

There is more BB-capacity per shell for the APS M870. Each shotgun shell can contain  6 to 12 BBs and thus allowing the shooter to fire more BBs in a single shot which and thus is more "shotgun" than other airsoft shotguns. And just like the real deal, it has a load capacity of 6+1 shells and it seems that it will also come with a mag clamp and plug.

Whilst the Marui M870 is gas powered, the APS M870 is CO2-powered which is a welcome thing when you want to use the APS M870 in colder weather. More power is also expected with such a power source though we didn't get any data on muzzle velocity.

The development of the APS M870 is another leap in airsoft shotgun development, which is the most undeveloped segment in the airsoft industry. It is a much welcome development as we see this version even more useful for airsoft 3-Gun Shooting events as shotguns play a bigger role in the real steel 3-Gun events. With the release of the APS M870 we see and even more proper airsoft shotgun to use.

No further details yet on pricing and release date of the APS M870. But one thing's for sure, APS as a company has been aggressive in putting innovations in airsoft with their new designs such as the UAR and even enhancing offerings with their water transfer series. We hope to see more innovations from this company in the future.