Toy2R
Toy2R (abbreviation of Toy to Raymond) is a designer toy company based in Hong Kong that was founded by Prof. Raymond Choy M.H.in 1995.
| Founded | 1995 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Prof. Raymond Choy M.H. |
| Headquarters | Hong Kong, , People's Republic of China |
| Products | Designer toys |
| Website | http://www.toy2r.com/ |
History
Choy spent 10 years as an employee of an American footwear company. During his tenure there, he developed skills in general business operation, especially quality control. Following his dream of combining his hobby with his career, Choy pursued a business degree and studied design, working all the while.
After much research and planning, he opened a toy store in 1995. Four years later, Choy observed a recent trend in collectible toys, now known as designer toys, specifically urban vinyl movement of toy design. He decided to put all his funds into the development of a vinyl figure, intended more as art than as a plaything. He called this figure the Toyer. Toy2r is one of the pioneers and amongst the first to explore the potential of the designer toy phenomenon, combining art and developing vinyl toys for the collectors market, and turned it into an internationally recognized company.
Products
The Toyer design, which resembles a simplified human form with a head that resembles a cartoon skull, became his first trademark. The commercial response to this figure led to support from artists and designers all over the world, and enabled his next endeavor, the Qee figure.
In 2001, Choy designed a series of figures originally intended for use as keychains, and named it the Qee Keychain Collection. The distinctive Qee (pronounced Key) design resembles a round and squat human form, and features a variety of animal heads and a broad range of paint applications. The Qee figure and its many variations (over 1500 figures have been produced to date) are the signature product of the Toy2R brand.
The Qee figure is noteworthy for being one of the most easily recognized designer toys. Toy2R has collaborated with artists and designers from all over the world, including illustrators such as Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, Coop, Tara McPherson, David Horvath and Frank Kozik. Additionally, Toy2r has been commissioned to create exclusive Qee figures for such companies as Adidas, DKNY, Mitsubishi, Xbox 360, Nokia, Sony, and Starbucks.
Awards
- 2004/2005 Action Figure Times-Most Innovative Company
- 2002-2008 Action Figure Times-Best Block Toy “Qee”
- 2007/2008 Capital Publishing Limited-Leader of Excellence 2007 Awards
- 2007/2008 City Junior Chamber-Innovative Entrepreneur Award
- 2008/2009 1626 Magazine-China's Most Innovation & Creative Young People Brand Award
- 2008/2009 Hong Kong Awards for Industries-Innovation & Creativity Grand Award
- 2009/2010 Hong Kong Communication Art Centre-Hong Kong Ten Outstanding Designers
- 2009/2010 Enterprise Asia-Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards 2009 – Most Promising Entrepreneur Awards
- 2009/2010 Chinese Association of Productivity Science-China's most innovative Enterprise Award
- 2009/2010 TechMag-十大年度流行品牌
- 2010/2011 The Hong Kong Chamber of Small and Medium Business Ltd-Best SME’s Award
- 2010/2011 Hong Kong Communication Art Centre-Hong Kong Ten Outstanding Designers
- 2010/2011 全球華商領袖（北京）峰會-China's Outstanding Entrepreneurship
- 2010/2011 Chinese Association of Productivity Science-China's Outstanding Innovator
- 2010/2011 中國廣告雜誌社-China Advertisement Innovative Brand Marketing Award
- 2010/2011 《都市盛世》-Prime Award for Corporate Social Responsibility
- 2011/2012 Chinese Who's Who Society-Distinguished Chinese Award
- 2011/2012 香港中小企營商網聯-Best Business Management Award
- 2011/2012 The Hong Kong General Chamber of Small and Medium Business-Partner Employer Award
- 2011/2012 新營銷雜誌社 中國營銷領袖俱樂部-China Marketing Master Award
- 2011/2012 Shanghai KW Design Magazine-China Top Ten New Sharpness designer
- 2012/2013 Trade Development Council-Premier Asian Licensing Award-Best Brand and Design License
- 2012/2013 聚賢匯社-Award for Outstanding Society Contribution
- 2012/2013 Designer Toys Awards - Best Toy from a Comic
- 2012/2013 《都市盛世》-Prime Awards for Outstanding Leaders
- 2012/2013 泰美科技-最具競爭力及實力大獎
- 2013/2014 泰美科技-商業夥伴獎
- 2013/2014 The Hong Kong General Chamber of Small and Medium Business-Partner Employer Award
- 2013/2014 Mediazone-香港最有價值公司
- 2013/2014 國際獅子總會中國港澳303區-優秀會長獎
- 27/1/2016 Prime Learning Institute & Kinder Brothers International-Associate Learning and Development Manager (ALDM)
- 2016 Capital Publishing Limited-Top Ten Leaders of Excellent Award
- 2016 HKSAR-Medal of Honour 2016