Comings and Goings: Toy2R USA (Goings)

Ok, so the whole twitter conversation basically started because you wrote, “Crowdsourced funding seemed like a cry for help.” That was seriously the big deal? This is a blog. It’s not an online newspaper. I know you do a very professional job, but seeing as this is still a blog, a certain amount of editorializing is to be expected. Honestly, there’s far less editorializing on your blog than on any other. Hell, I don’t even know that I’d call the opinions or information given on any of the popular 24 post a day blogs editorializing as the term to me implies a reporting of news with the slight addition of an opinion. Other blogs are mostly opinion and short on facts. Your blog, Jeremy, is the complete opposite. You do inject your opinion but it’s a small part of your articles. For people to cling onto one statement and turn it into a lively debate shows a good deal of creativity on their part, which makes me wonder where that creativity and energy is in their own blogs.

I honestly don’t think that Toy2R had the best presence in the U.S. I got into collecting toys in 2009 so I was a bit behind the times but Toy2R was one of the last brands I heard about and even then what I knew of it was just DIY platforms. I heard of Kidrobot way before Toy2R and knew of a lot of artists that customized toys long before I saw my first Qee. Even then, I wasn’t aware of their offerings outside of their DIY platforms which weren’t something I was going to pick up to display. I do like some of its platforms; its Toyer & Toyer Kaiju Qees are two of my favorites. It wasn’t until their recent 5” series with Voltaire that they really started to capture my interest. But by then, I had already started collecting other things and most of the pieces in my collection were resin being bought directly from artists. So while they brought on other great artists (e.g. Jon-Paul Kaiser, Scott Tolleson), I never found myself supporting Toy2R despite my interest. In other words, the market is already saturated and I think it’s hard to gain the attention of collectors like myself.

I don’t honestly know what Kidrobot’s influence is in Asia so my analogy could be completely off base, but I get the impression that Toy2R is the Kidrobot of Asia. So while KR is popular here, it might not be the case in Asia and vice versa with Toy2R. I know it’s not being debated here in this article, but different cultures like different things. Just because a company closes one branch doesn’t mean that it is not doing well. Companies move and consolidate all the time mainly because it’s cheaper to operate in one centralized location or a different part of the world in general. There’s a company in my town that was founded here and recently moved to Denver. Why? Because they now do most of their manufacturing there (which means most of the employees are already there) and they own several buildings that could become their new HQ. The company is doing well; it simply no longer made sense for them to have their business split between two states.

I think people are so used to blogs giving just opinions that they’re reading into things you didn’t say and taking offense to these assumed positions. You were simply reporting on the closing of one branch of a company and offering up some factors that could have potentially played a role and providing facts to go with it. You provided a nice timeline and included some tidbits that I know I wasn’t aware of such as the forum and Qeester.

Just thought I should chime in here to set the record straight on a few issues. While I appreciate the work that goes into making a blog post, in some cases, facts should be checked, at the very least confirmed by a few sources to keep the blog accurate and useable for its readers.

Yes, while it is true, the Toy2R USA office opened just mere 4 years ago, it was done due to the fact that the Hong Kong company needed a consistent US voice. While Toy2R started business and introduced the Qee figure back in 2001-2002, there had never been a voice to market, promote and give insight to the company in the US -hence a big reason to why Kidrobot came onto the scene AFTER Toy2R but became so successful. Now the issue of the Qeester site has been raised in numerous discussions, yet, when saying it was a mistake to not buying the site, one should point out the asking price at the time. Should it have been purchased? Possibly but then should that costs been passed onto the collectors – perhaps not. Even so, no one every posts how much the asking price was nor would most have been able to step up and pay said price. Instead of saying it was a mistake, how about delve into why it wasn’t purchased and discuss all the details that would have gone into it.
Yes, Toy2R’s attempt to create the Club2R website and keep a updated web presence was poor to say the least – it illustrates another reason why Toy2R USA was created. While Qeester had a slew of images of released Toy2R Qees posted on its site – was it not important to mention the Toy2R USA online Qee Gallery that had over 2000 original customs on display – created by those people who made and supported the Qee brand…? Creating a gallery of that magnitude surely deserves some recognition, especially because it was a way to thank those who supported the brand and not just an archive of what Toy2R had done.
To discuss the Simpsons would take far longer and I am open to anyone meeting me at a bar to discuss all the sorted details. Safe to say, why didn’t anyone ever say – why is Kidrobot coming out with the Simpsons, when Toy2R is doing them? Or, why would FOX give the license to two competing companies, wouldn’t that cause confusion. To imply that the Simpsons Qee line did not perform as well as the Kidrobot line, is, well ill-informed to say the least, especially when you don’t post the production numbers or number of exclusive releases. To say that the Kidrobot designs were better due to their unique body styling – should someone point out that Simpson Qees were Simpsons sculpted heads placed on Qee bodies – oh wait – just as the Simpsons sculpted heads were placed on Dunny bodies – is that not the same? I do admit Kidrobot had the ability to produce more characters rather than the stand alone Bart and Homer assortments, but perhaps instead of implying that the Simpsons Qees were a failure, someone should mention that Toy2R was first in creating them and that writing being “preoccupied with licensing partnerships” would apply to both Toy2R and Kidrobot, would it not?
As for the cry for help comment using Kickstarter as an example, is a weak attempt at writing anything truthful. Toy2R had nothign to do with the brilliant idea Tenacious Toys had with creating an opportunity using Kickstarter. It was a good idea that not only worked – but got collectors involved! That’s a far cry better than simply taking a pre-order…but by all means, feel free to write what one thinks instead of the facts…that’s news, right?
And finally, to imply that Toy2R is selling off its assets for anything but the truth – we’re clearing out our stock room to make room for our new venture – is not accurate reporting. In fact, offering rare items to collectors and fans is a good thing, isn’t it. And while most people do have unlimited room to store items, we did not, and felt that the best course of action was to make them available to the real fans – who have been very supportive and very grateful to get their hands on some of those hard to find items.
Anyway, I’m not trying to beat up anyone about the article, but I would appreciate some fact checking. Heck, contact me directly with questions and I’ll be more than happy to discuss. I know that reporting on every issue of the designer toy world can be taxing, but my door is always open and happy to discuss anything to clear the air and make sure everyone knows the truth – just in case anyone else wants to know.

Rant concluded, let’s go back to talking about great art and the artists that create it!

This is in response to Kevin. It’s long and I didn’t want to use the “reply” button since that would make the text smaller and harder to read.

I think you are right that more blogs should fact check. I think you are wrong about pointing fingers at Jeremy. If you’ve read his blog, you’ll see that his articles come across in an intelligent, well thought out manner that expands upon a simple press release. In many cases, he posts about new things that excite him that he wants to share regardless of whether someone sent him a press release. In other words, he puts actual effort into his articles. Jeremy’s reporting is much better than some blogs that just take pictures from instagram and post what they think it might be or later imply that they know more than what they posted. Why even post if you are speculating about an instagram photo or have more information than what you are able to share at that time? If you know what it is but aren’t allowed to say anything yet, why not wait? How does that help readers? Sure some of Jeremy’s posts could be expanded upon, but none are lacking in relevant facts.

Still, I don’t see anyone calling out other blogs on their lack of fact checking. And honestly, as I stated before, this is a blog and not a newspaper. I’ve been watching “Newsroom” so I understand the multiple sources before you a run story thing, but that’s not the point of a blog. Blog, a definition: “a Web site containing the writer’s or group of writers’ own experiences, observations, opinions, etc., and often having images and links to other Web sites.” Blogs don’t require confirmed sources as sources are not necessary to give opinion or one’s experience. So honestly, if Jeremy’s using any sources and actually crediting them—notice Jeremy credits his photos whereas most blogs don’t—that puts him far above other designer toy blogs. You don’t see instagram photos here with a caption about how cool it is or giving misinformation on what’s in the picture. Instead, Jeremy writes thoughtful articles and I can guarantee that it takes a lot more time than publishing a press release or posting something he saw on instagram that he liked. I would argue that a lot of other designer toy blogs are too focused on positive opinion or post count than confirming sources or facts.

As for how long the Toy2R USA office was open, I don’t see how Jeremy did anything other than post a fact. I don’t think he needed to expand on why it was opened. I mean he did write an article on the opening of the USA office and conveniently linked to it, so you could just click that link he provided for more information. Otherwise, I’m sticking with my KR is to the US market what Toy2R is to the Asian market analogy. Bottom line: it’s hard to compete in the already saturated designer toy market. So to say that gaining a following is a bit of struggle is accurate. There’s always a new toy company or a new DIY toy popping up trying to gain a share. In Toy2R’s case, they were trying to expand their market. If the tables were turned and KR wanted to expand, I would imagine it’d be hard for KR to gain a foothold in Asia.

Now for the Qeester forum and the asking price discussion. I must admit that I don’t have much experience in such negotiations, but I would assume that until anything was finalized, any sort of asking price was more than likely confidential. If it wasn’t, then wouldn’t that information have been published or provided in a press release? On the Qeester site, it doesn’t even mention that the asking price was the downfall. The message seems to indicate that it was a lack of support of the new management from the makers of qee that quashed any deals. As an outside observer, this indicates to me that Toy2R was in some way supportive of the Qeester site to begin with. So then, the question should be asked why did Toy2R decline to support the Qeester site if it were sold to an entity or individual other than Toy2R? Alas, this would then become an article of some length and would be better suited for someone being paid to write a feature on the demise of Toy2R USA as opposed to someone writing an unpaid, relatively short blog post about its closing. There are a few “designer toy” magazines, correct? Then if you want to see an in depth look into the closing of Toy2R USA, perhaps the idea should be pitched there? It makes a lot more sense than bemoaning the fact that an unpaid blogger didn’t spend more time on a piece he wrote because he wanted to or otherwise felt the need to share. Of the blogs nominated for the Designer Toy Awards—I’m assuming they are the most popular as the DTA’s are crowd nominated—Jeremy’s blog was one of three that mentioned the closing. The other two being Toys R Evil and Vinyl Pulse. Vinyl Pulse posed its own questions about information that was not included in the press release or unclear. I don’t see them being called out for drawing their own conclusions. Toys R Evil questions brand awareness and product promotion yet no comment was made there either.

Since Jeremy wasn’t doing a drawn out expose on Toy2R USA, I don’t think that the qee gallery is a relevant point in your argument. In the context of what Jeremy wrote, I don’t see a place for him to put this. He didn’t comment on his own collection of Toy2R so why would he comment on the online gallery? He didn’t raise the issue of a lack of blog support/ promotion. Throwing in the qee gallery would be an unnecessary tangent in an otherwise tight piece and it’d be better suited for that paid feature I mention above.

As for the two Simpsons licenses, it is my understanding that multiple licenses are given only in situations where the products are deemed not to be competing or are significantly different (e.g. articulation vs no articulation). Based on that, then would not the better question be posed to Fox about whether or not they felt Toy2R was a significant competitor with Kidrobot or whether they felt the two products were significantly different? Honestly, I think this dispute could go either way. As for the companies being deemed non competing, I’ve seen Toy2R products at big box retailers such as Toys R Us yet KR’s distribution is more specialized. As for the products being different, qees have a lot more articulation and a more basic shape whereas the Kidrobot offerings have individual heads and personalized accessories for each character. Kidrobot’s packaging is also in the blind box style, which is significantly different than at least some of the Toy2R packaging I’ve seen. (Note: I don’t know the exact packaging of this particular qee line—the ones I’ve seen were on a card—and am just throwing out packaging as another possible difference.)

The “cry for help” comment was clearly Jeremy’s opinion and in no way presented as a fact. He didn’t say anything negative about the Kickstarter campaign. In fact, he actually wrote an article about it on his blog to promote it. Overlooking that fact seems like a huge omission necessary to make your argument that Jeremy was in some way admonishing the Kickstarter campaign valid. Based on his previous support of the Kickstarter campaign, I’d say your argument is moot. But this does bring up another good talking point. Why is it that whenever someone says anything remotely negative about a toy, people get defensive? This is a prime example of how people in this little section of the art world explode with rage at anything less than a glowing review. Even if one offers constructive criticism, people’s reactions can be categorized as abrasive at best.

I don’t know where you see that Jeremy was outright stating or implying a reason why Toy2R USA was selling their merchandise. I also don’t see where Jeremy states that offering up these items was a negative in any way. This is another instance where he stated a simple fact and what he wrote is being misconstrued. You say that he isn’t giving the truth on why the assets are being sold yet he didn’t offer up any reason in his article. What is this untruth that you are correcting? The term liquidating simply refers to disposal in some manner. Regardless of Toy2R USA’s reason for the liquidation, it is true that items are being sold. That is accurate reporting. This claim of yours sounds like projection.

If you aren’t simply beating up Jeremy and want everyone to know that you are open to discuss this matter, then why haven’t you posted this on other blogs? And my apologies if you have emailed all other bloggers to personally let them know that you are open to discuss the facts and that you take offense to this article or other articles wherein the writer doesn’t check facts or have multiple confirmed sources. It’s just that if it is the case that you have reached out to every other blogger, then where’s the transparency? As a reader, if you’ve made this admonishment of inaccurate reporting to everyone and made the same offer to discuss the truth, then that’s something that I feel should be made transparent. As it stands, it seems as if you took offense with one article because it elaborated upon a press release.

In conclusion, I am a reader of Jeremyraid.com. Despite your repeated worries that this blog isn’t “useable for its readers,” I find this blog to be very informative. I honestly think that if you don’t share my thoughts, then I must be taking crazy pills or I’m one of the last sane people in this world. I’ve stopped reading all other designer toy blogs because I don’t find them helpful or in any way “useable for its readers.” Pictures farmed from instagram with purposeful misinformation or withholding of facts is not helpful to readers. Posting the same thing multiple times without any new information instead of making one post with complete information is not “useable for its readers.”

Personally, I feel as if you don’t have a leg to stand on as far as criticizing Jeremy. His blog is a gem among the multitudes of designer toy blogs and the only one I trust for complete information on the things I care about.