Artic Schmee

Created 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; Attaboy is an internationally shown artist, creator and toy designer whose work is seen in galleries, museums, toy boutiques, magazines (Newsweek, Wired, Juxtapoz, Clutter, Playtimes, etc.), calendars, and art books. After years of creating, recreating, and inventing award-winning and best selling toys for Hasbro and Milton Bradley, he went AWOL to create his own art and licensing studio. His art work has been licensed to Dark Horse, Last GAsp, Tower Records, Kiss, the Dixie Chicks, Sony, and many more. Atta is the co-founder of the critically acclaimed Hi-Fructose Under the Counter Culture Magazine which has grown to a world wide circulation which quickly sells out, Hi-Fructose features interviews and exposes with a growing echelon of pop and visual counter culture artists like Mark Ryden, Chris Ware, Jeff Soto, and Tim Biskup. The first four volumes of Hi-Fructose will be reprinted in book form later this year and will be published by Last Gasp. Atta's Art focuses on the disturbed childlike sensibilities that he values above all else and is centered in a world of goo filled creatures; lust filled and awkward, uneasy with their own cuteness or simply unaware of it or how it affects them or others, all imagined in 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.