Beginner, Why does simple geometry work with collision and a custom static mesh will not?

Probably a really newbish question, but Im pretty new to this. I pulled up Mitchs VR template and have been trying to switch the orbs as hands to the Unreal Hands. I have the meshes loaded in but for reasons I cant figure out, interaction with buttons or objects will only work for me if the mesh is from the simple geometry. What am I missing?