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Kaws’ Art Toys have been ever-present in art collections and are becoming increasingly popular within the contemporary art market.
They first appeared in 1995, when artist Raymond Choy created the first series of Qee which is still in production today. Art Toys became a symbol and helped bring younger generations closer to the world of art and collecting.
What are Art Toys?
Before we discover the incredible Art Toys by leading contemporary artists, let's take a step back and understand the question: what are Art Toys?
Also referred to as Design Toys, these must-have collectibles are "art toys" that capture the features of animals and characters from popular culture made primarily of plastic, vinyl, plush, wood or resin.
Over the years, companies that produce and collaborate with the artists have grown and become international. Some of those companies are: Medicom Toys, Kidrobot, Toys2R, Mighty Jaxx, DDTStore, Art Toy Gama, and Thunder Mates.
By collaborating with artists, these Art Toys are produced with a well-defined style and they have characteristic features of the artists who make them. Thus, making the toy a true work of art.
Art Toys have succeeded in bringing contemporary art, street art and hype culture closer together than ever before. A new audience of collectors, young and attentive to the latest trends has embraced the art toys phenomenon, making it a real obsession.
The art market's most beloved artists and art toys: KAWS and Be@rbrick
Among the most loved and collected art toys today, we must mention the ones that were made by KAWS and the Be@rbrick series by the company Medicom.
Art Toys: KAWS and his Companions
Since 2008, the artist KAWS, aka Brian Donnelly, has been producing his famous Art Toys. KAWS has achieved global success and the prestige of entering the collections of important art collectors. Numerous VIPs have also failed to resist this trend, among them, there are: Fedez and Chiara Ferragni, RM (the singer of the K-Pop band BTS), Justin Bieber and Tobey Maguire.
Simple but recognisable shapes, this is how the Companion, BFF and Chum characters (just to name a few) hit the market and created a KAWS-mania. In 2020, the Art Toy called Share was presented to the market and sold out in only three and a half minutes!
KAWS always manages to maintain its unique style, reinterpreting it each time without ever distorting it, depending on the context and the artistic reference.
Be@rbrick: the Medicom art toy
Bearbrick, also known as Be@rbrick, arrived on the art market in 2001 when the Japanese company Medicom Toy launched the first Bearbrick at the World Character Convention 12 in Tokyo. Since then, the Japanese company has recreated the famous bear in different colours, sizes and collaborations.
Although the shape has always remained the same in over twenty years of production, the materials and the creation of models that recall subjects from our society or great artists such as Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Banksy are always different.
Among the Bearbrick toys most loved by collectors are those in collaboration with KAWS.
Thanks to Medicom Toy, Bearbrick has revolutionised the concept of action figures from simple toy models to collectible "art toys" and street-culture icons.
