COOP

Coop finished high school, skipped art school, and arrived in Los Angeles in the late 80’s where he immediately got to work subverting the mainstream. Chances are good you’ve seen some manifestation of his merchandising juggernaut: smoking devils, devil-girls, hotrods, space aliens or monsters on posters, t-shirts, hats, stickers, stationery sets, skate boards, toys, shot glasses, Zippo lighters, and so much more. He’s done roughly 100 posters, including rock posters for Nirvana, Soundgarden, The Sex Pistols and many others, and album cover art for everyone from the Monomen to the Ramones. The first edition of The Devil’s Advocate, his full-color book was released to an immediate sellout in November 2001, and went immediately into continuous reprint. Coop’s second book, THE BIG FAT ONE, a 1008-page sketchbook, was released in October 2002. According to Juxtapoz Magazine, Coop’s name is “now more recognizable to modern youth than that of Rembrandt.“ He cites Robert Williams, R. Crumb and Eric Stanton as some of his favorites and great influences, in addition to Big Daddy Roth, Irving Klaw, Wally Wood, Gil Elvgren, and a host of other degenerates. Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame houses two of Coop’s posters in its permanent collection. He was also commissionedCreated out of an obsession for designer/art toys and collectables, Hong Kong based company Toy2r continues to break down the boundaries between product design, art and graphics. Mastermind Raymond Choy founded the company in 1995 where he took his dream of a once owned toy store known as ‘Toy R’ (short for Toy Raymond), which held countless quantitiesof limited edition toy collectables, and turned it into a internationally recognized company amongst the first to explore the potential of the designer/art toy movement. Ultimately, instilling contemporary art into the vinyl toy market we all know and love today. Toy2r is a multi-faceted company whose logo was taken from our most loved and cherished mascot, the ‘Toyer.’ In 2001 Raymond released the skull-headed figure alongside what was to become the most ubiquitous toy canvas in the world, the Qee keychain figure (Please see About Qee for further information). We take great pride in our determination at Toy2r to not only innovate but inspire artists’, designers’ and the world’s generation of youth alike. Our main objective is to provide limited/collectable designer/art toys at an affordable price, based on the coolest designs for the current international market. Toy2r has received numerous internationally renowned awards for our outstanding achievements;Qee Bear is a designer toy created by Toy2R, a Hong Kong-based company founded by Raymond Choy. It is part of the Qee (pronounced “key”) series, a line of customizable, anthropomorphic figures that became a major influence in the global designer toy movement. Qee Bears have a rounded head, stubby limbs, and a signature “Q” shaped keychain attachment, allowing them to be used as collectibles or keychains. Like BE@RBRICK, Qee Bears come in DIY (Do-It-Yourself) blank versions, allowing artists and collectors to customize their own designs. Available in multiple sizes, typically 2.5-inch mini Qees, 8-inch medium Qees, and larger collector editions. Toy2R has worked with international designers, brands, and pop culture franchises, including collaborations with Tokidoki, Michael Lau, Adidas, and even Star Wars. Qee Bears were one of the earliest urban vinyl collectibles to gain international recognition in the early 2000s, helping establish the designer toy movement alongside figures like Dunny (Kidrobot) and BE@RBRICK (Medicom Toy). Though they’ve been somewhat overshadowed by newer toy trends, Qee remains an iconic piece of designer toy history.