In Puning, Guangdong, when Chen Dahe's name is mentioned, there is almost no one who does not recognize it. He is the founder of the first Toy Manufacturer listed in Hong Kong, "Caixing Group", and he also has a title - the father of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles exploded around the world, inseparable from his help.
Chen Dahe, born in 1932 in Side Village, Zhanlong Town, Puning, Guangdong, settled in Hong Kong in 1962. On March 5, 2020, Chen Dahe passed away at the age of 87.
Chen Dahe's father is famous for running a building materials business in the township, he has followed his father in and out since he was a child, and sometimes he will help his father count wood and a little money. His father saw that his son was a piece of business material, and he was carefully cultivated.
When he was 10 years old, his father deliberately miscalculated the money in a business, and Chen Dahe shouted urgently at the side and said the correct number aloud. Both the client and his father laughed, and Chen Dahe knew that his father was testing him.
Following his father, Chen Dahe not only learned to plan and calculate, but more importantly, learned the most basic principles of doing things for businessmen, which is honesty and trustworthiness. Chaoshan people are the most humane, most of the people in the rural neighborhood are related to each other, and it is inevitable that business will encounter things that cannot be collected back and are not easy to collect. His father had his own way of dealing with these things. When is the sale, when is the delivery are exquisite, the business, the people have arrived, the money that should be collected has also been collected.
When Chen Dahe was 18 years old, his father officially let Chen Dahe take over his building materials wholesale store due to physical reasons, which was 1950, the second year after the founding of New China.
The young and vigorous Chen Dahe became the shopkeeper, and he continued to communicate with the customers he contacted his father, while expanding the scope of his business. He hired two small workers who specialized in running business in the surrounding area. Chen Dahe told them that as long as they saw a small shop doing building materials business, they should ask to see where they got the goods from and what the price was.
Chen Dahe's thinking is very clear, the wholesale business must have a considerable sales point, and he is also actively looking for the best buyers. Sometimes the purchase of a material takes a lot of time on the road, chen Dahe is not too troublesome, he insists on the price of real goods.
In addition to wholesale, Chen Dahe also operates flexibly and does retail. Once, a customer came to buy two square plates, and only the hired clerk was in the store, and the customer was disappointed after being rejected. When Chen Dahe heard about this, he forcibly found the customer and personally asked him to send two square plates to the guest's home.
This customer is naturally deeply moved, Chen Dahe returned to the store has not yet opened his mouth, the clerk knows that he is wrong, he saw how Boss Chen behaves and does things, the clerk said: Boss Chen You can deduct me - monthly wages, but you let me stay, I want to learn from you.
Chen Dahe's business is well done and honest, and within a few years of taking over from his father, he has become famous.
From 1950 to 1962, for a full 12 years, Chen Dahe trained to become a shrewd businessman. This period of history laid a solid foundation for his future development.
In the early 1960s, the mainland economy was in a depression, the Chaoshan area has always been difficult to do business with a large number of people and less land, and in the year of famine, Chen Dahe felt that it was becoming more and more difficult to manage building materials, and it was not his interest to change to farming, so he decided to go to Hong Kong to develop.
Chen Dahe, who was founded in his youth, first came to Hong Kong, although he did not understand the language and the environment was not familiar, but with the help of his Fellow Teochew, he quickly found something to do.
In Hong Kong in the 1950s and 1960s, light industry developed rapidly, and Teochew businessman Li Ka-shing had earned his first pot of gold by relying on plastic flowers, which was undoubtedly an excellent example for other Teochew people.
Chen Dahe soon invested in the plastic industry, but he realized that the plastic industry had overheated, it was difficult for him to make a big difference, and with less funds, the plastic industry became a transitional springboard for Chen Dahe. He continued to understand the market as he did it, and his previous business experience all came into play.
Chen Dahe soon discovered a business opportunity, which is the toy manufacturing industry. At that time, Hong Kong was the world's largest plastic toy production base.
The year was 1965, and Chen Dahe made an appointment with two or three fellow villagers to set up a toy company. Because Chen Dahe is well versed in the way of business, coupled with the help of the surrounding villagers, the toy company opened its doors, and in the first year, the company made a profit of 400,000 yuan. Chen Dahe's confidence soared, and just as he was preparing to expand the company's size, a shareholder wanted to monopolize the company. Chen Dahe is a clear-eyed person, he has always been principled in doing things, and people who don't like him must not be able to cooperate.
Chen Dahe immediately announced his withdrawal of shares and began to start his own company. In 1966, Chen Dahe founded Caixing Company (the predecessor of Caixing Group), which still operates toys, initially specializing in the production of doll toys. He had already seen the prospects of the industry, when Hong Kong had become the world's largest supplier of toys.
Just like when he first operated building materials, Chen Dahe also grasped raw materials and distributors on the one hand, and customer needs on the other hand, and did not give up any opportunities. Once on a plane trip to the United States, seeing the American girl next to him holding a doll, Chen Dahe began to talk with the girl's parents: what toys American children like, the price range...
When analyzing the advantages and disadvantages, Chen Dahe knows that his strengths lie in having certain experience and familiarity with the market, and the shortcomings are that there is little capital, no backstage, and fighting alone, so success or failure is crucial to him. Chen Dahe set a goal for Caixing to be invincible and invincible.
With an understanding of market dynamics, with good reputation, shrewd management and extraordinary vigor, Chen Dahe treats each customer as a guest, treats each other honestly, and delivers at the best products and the most realistic price.
Chen Dahe won a large number of orders for Caixing, and the company's business was booming. Chen Dahe's mood improved, and his motivation was even stronger.
In the 1960s and 1980s, tiny Hong Kong was once the world's most important toy foundry town, ranking first in the world in terms of export volume. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was the "golden age" of Hong Kong manufacturing, especially hong Kong's garment, toys and other industries have made great progress, and presented an international trend, leading the trend of the times.
In the 1970s, the stars were already quite powerful. Chen Dahe held a meeting of the company's management personnel. At the meeting, Chen Dahe said: We should no longer be limited to a simple undertaking business, but should create our own products, use our own patent trademarks, and take the road with our own characteristics.
In just a few years, Caixing set up a warehouse and sales network in California, USA, and soon expanded its business to Canada and other countries. Among them, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" can be called Chen Dahe's famous work in the global toy market.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a very classic anime film from many people's childhood, originally created in 1984 by the American animation company Mirage Licensing, Inc. In 1987, the IEstar Group acquired the monopoly of the Total Monopoly of The Ninja Turtles Worldwide Exclusive Toys, which is the exclusive global franchise, and was licensed to create and promote the toys in the category. Because of this, Chan Tai Ho is known as the "Father of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" by Hong Kong society.
With the careful operation of the Caixing Group, such toys are popular in Europe, america, Hong Kong and other regions. It is reported that at that time, the market share of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the U.S. toy market was as high as 6% to 8%, and the sales volume ranked first. In fact, not only the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but also american color star toys such as "Garfield" and "Disney Princess" are actually in Hong Kong and belong to the Chen Dahe family. It is worth mentioning that in the 1980s, the popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Hong Kong and the United States became one of the favorite toys of many boys, and the hero behind it was chen Junhao, the second generation of the Chen Dahe family and the second son.
The color star has made great progress, and Chen Dahe's gaze has been further advanced. After analyzing the pros and cons of the listed company, Chen Dahe decided to list the lottery star.
Chen Dahe said: Becoming a public company can give the lottery stars a good opportunity for development, and can also avoid the negative impact of individual decisions in the family business.
On November 12, 1984, The company was listed in Hong Kong, becoming the first toy manufacturer to be listed in Hong Kong.
In 1989, the late Hong Kong film tycoon Zou Wenhuai founded Jiahe Film, which produced a live-action Version of the English-language movie "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", which contributed to the situation and made The Color Star Toys very popular in the market.
In 1990, the annual profit of CSF Toys soared more than tenfold to 1.21 billion. In 1991, IESTAR Group was named "the world's most profitable toy dealer in 1990" by the American "Capitalist" magazine, and it was also the first toy dealer in history to make an annual profit of more than 100 million US dollars.
In Hong Kong, the stock of The Stars soared 30 times in two years and was described by the media as a "magical star stock". In 2014, the Hollywood movie "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" was released, and the sales of the "Teenage Mutant Turtles" series of toys were pushed to the peak. Increased to HK$2.16 billion, of which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles products accounted for more than 95% of total revenue.
Like many successful fashion merchants, Chen Dahe has always been concerned about his homeland during his lifetime, and he donated huge funds to build the Four Moral Education School (now Puning Yucai Primary School) in his hometown of Puning. In addition, Chen Dahe, who has done many good deeds, has donated many times in Hong Kong and the mainland for social welfare undertakings such as medical and health care, road construction, and disaster relief.
Mr. Chen Dahe has a clear banner on major national events, loves the country and Hong Kong, and vigorously supports the reform and opening up of the motherland. In the 1980s, Chen Dahe was appointed as a consultant to the Shantou Special Economic Zone and a director of chambers of commerce and associations such as the Hong Kong Chaoqiao Plastic Manufacturers Association and the Hong Kong Chaozhou Chamber of Commerce. After the establishment of Jieyang District in Guangdong Province, he served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Jieyang Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the vice president of the Hong Kong Puning Hometown Association. In 1992, he was awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen of Shantou City", and in 1996, he was awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen of Jieyang City".
Chen Dahe has a low-key style and is enthusiastic about education. In addition to the "Chen Dahe Lou" named after him at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the City University of Hong Kong, he also set up the "Chen Dahe Scholarship" at CityU. In 2009, Chen Dahe was awarded honorary academician by CityU.
Source: Chinese and foreign toy network, Huashang Taoluo, Yibo said, Shantou University Library - Chaoshan Special Collection Network, etc