At birth it is an astronaut, a figure just landed and alien to its surroundings. With a large and faceless head, it's generic yet eye-catching. As time goes on, the blank canvas gathers character and it morphs into being, perhaps growing up to be a hilltribe doll or martial arts legend or a Star Wars character. This is a platform toy, which is all the rage among international design and toy enthusiasts.
If you Google "platform toy", more than half of the top 10 results involve the CE (pronounced "zee") platform toy project created by Thai company Expertise Partner International (EPI).
CE, which stands for creative enhancement, is intended to be used as a model where designers can flex their creative muscles. The first of its kind from Thailand, it is now becoming the world's fastest-selling platform toy.
The one you are most likely to see is the Buddy CE, an 8.9cm plastic figure which is available for sale in Thailand and internationally. You may also see the 25cm-tall Backpack CE resin figure and the 180cm Big Boy CE fibreglass figure, which are used for show only.
Napat Phromphuruk is the EPI business development director and owner of the brand Mafia Factory, which creates CE. He spent eight years studying platform toys and his team at Mafia Factory made their first platform toy in the shape of a monkey _ derived from Monkey magazine, which they were working on at the time.
However, the market didn't dig animal-shaped platform toys, and the team decided they had to come up with something totally different. Importantly, the new toy had to be functional and inspiring enough to encourage designers to work on it.
After a year, the concept had become an astronaut, a figure distinctive enough to be appealing in itself and yet blank enough to be transformed once placed in creative hands.
CE was first introduced to the market in 2010 through platform toy events, in Thailand and internationally, in the form of DIY workshops, contests and exhibitions. The first CE contest took place at the Character & Licensing Expo Asia event, after the chaotic 2010 red-shirt riots. Under the theme "Love & Friendship", entrants competed to render the same toy in different looks. The finalists had to create a key graphic concept for the CE toys, on the product and the packaging. When held last year with a "Creative Commercial" theme, the contest drew more than 300 designers from 74 countries, testifying to the wave of popularity the CE platform toy is riding. Designers at the three-day competition not only had to put their own style on the toy, but their works had to feature the marketing mix of product, price, place and promotion. Many street artists and toy designers have become enthusiastic followers of the contests, including the well-known Pharuephon Mukdasanit, aka Mamafaka, who won the first contest, and Filipino toy designer Quiccs Maiquez.
Napat's EPI also provides turnkey solutions for intellectual property branding and licensing businesses. The company has worked with the Thai Commerce Ministry on ways to improve the licensing value for Thai creators. The total value of licensing in Thailand is 20 billion baht, but the proportion of Thai licensing is less than 10% _ Disney alone takes up more than 70%. It's also telling that many large corporations spend hundreds of millions of baht each year for licensed merchandised goods.
Napat believes CE can be a model project that shows how a Thai product can achieve global success.
''Thai creations are not second to others,'' he said. ''It's not just CE, but CE will hopefully encourage more Thai licensed characters.''
What made CE popular among designers and pop art followers is that it is a perfect mix of what's artistic and what's functional. Buddy CE has a ''fully DIY concept'' for customisation. The Buddy CE figure itself allows users to create a ''one of a kind'' toy.
Many Buddy CE parts can be changed, including the head and helmet, which makes it not only good for showcasing as an artistic toy prop, but also fun to play with and mix and match designs.
Japanese designer Satoshi Yoshioka explains why he loves it.
''The CE mechanic allows me to design with liveliness, it's not a 'dead design' like other toys.'' On the international stage, CE was shortlisted for the Best DIY Platform prize at the Designer Toy Awards 2012; it's the only platform toy to make the shortlist for two consecutive years without changing its mechanics.
The global platform toy trend has come about as the world has become more connected and the market increasingly segmented. Social networking has boosted the growth of platform toys as popular designers with large followings take photos with their CE buddies.
Napat says there is a fundamental difference between a platform toy and character design. Take the character Doraemon for example: you will either like it, or not. The platform toy, however, is a blank slate, so it can become whatever you'd like to make it. This flexibility works well with lifestyle trends that are geared towards individuality.
''CE is a chic and fashionable toy _ some of the rare ones are not easily available, they have the ability to take up a premium position,'' said Napat. ''Say Adidas works with the Qee platform toy, Canon Thailand works with the Trexi platform toy _ that's because the brand's target group is not only their fans. Platform toys are art. When a brand collaborates with it, the first target group is the existing group who like the brand, the second is those who are platform fans, and the new group are those who follow of the artists. Then it all spreads when these people post pictures on Facebook or Instagram.'' EPI is talking with partners about staging a bigger contest event this year.
The company has also approached the Culture Ministry to convince them of the importance of pop art, and how pop-art products need to be taken seriously in the licensing business.
''We've found that Thais spend a great deal of money on licensed businesses each year _ for instance we pay Walt Disney for all their licensed characters. We should pursue that direction.''
A decade ago South Korea was in the same situation as Thailand now. But that was the past: the South Korean economy has received a boost from selling the license fees of their creations.
Napat points out that characters from Disney, Sanrio's Hello Kitty and Doraemon sell well even without any movie tie-in, and he says that is because of continuous marketing activities. This is why CE is pushing to have activities throughout the year.
''Creating your own stuff may not have a big impact in the short term, but in the long term you are the owner of the intellectual property,'' said Napat.
The Buddy CE platform toys are being sold in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, with a possibility for expansion to several other countries. CE buddies are available at Carnival Shop Siam Square or try your hand at a DIY Buddy at Artery Gallery, Silom Soi 19.
Quiccs off the blocks
Quiccs Maiquez says art toys are for grown-ups, not kids. And like the art world at large, exclusive and sought-after creations are coveted and highly-valued.
Maiquez is an illustrator, toy designer, and art director of Burnwater Art X Design in the Philippines whose style is deeply rooted in his love of Japanese robot characters and shows. He has represented the Philippines in many international events, notably Thailand's 2012 CE Planet Toy Contest and 2012 Tiger Translate: Mongolia. His character Bulletpunk has been transformed into his toys, illustrations, wall pieces, murals, T-shirts and other merchandise.
Designer Quiccs Maiquez shows off his new art toys, Gaijin and TEQ 63.
After finishing in second place at CE Planet Toy Contest last year, Maiquez received 10 CE buddies. When he went back home he reincarnated the character as Gaijin, named for the Japanese word for visitor since it resembles a robot from outer space.
Gaijins are 11.5cm articulated CE Planet X Bulletpunk custom models recast into resin. They were sold in a limited edition set of 10 for the Toysrevil blog's Black Friday Sale.
"The art toy industry does not target kids, but adult toy collectors," Maiquez says. "A wide range of people, from students to doctors and those who can afford it, follow the artists. They are collectors because the stuff is pretty expensive."
The Filipino artist point to Kaws, aka Brian Donnelly, the world's most popular designer of limited edition toys and clothing, as an example.
Whatever Kaws does, he says, people buy it.
"It's like paintings that people buy for collections because they like the style of what the artists do, this also happens in the art toy industry. We produce less, but the value is more because it's collectable."
Maiquez came up with a gold version of Gaijin which he reserved for friends because it was very expensive to make. He has lately been busy sculpting TEQ 63, a limited edition work which is has made from scratch inspired by the Japanese robot Gundam and his own street-art inclinations.
The designer, who recently had a holiday in Thailand with his family, noted that the art toy industry in his country is young but growing. Most of his fans are from Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and the US.
