Moose Toys

Moose Toys (or Moose Enterprises or Moose Creative Management Pty Ltd) is an Australian-owned toy design, development and distribution company founded in 1985.[1] Moose products are sold in 85 countries and is currently the fifth largest toy manufacturer in Australia and fourth largest in the United States.[2][3]

Moose Toys
TypePrivate company
Industry
  • Toys
  • Entertainment
Founded1985 (1985)
HeadquartersCheltenham,
Melbourne
,
Australia
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Paul Solomon
  • Manny Stul (Chief Executive) and Jacqui Tobias (Director of Girl's Products)
Products
Websitewww.moosetoys.com

History

Moose Toys was founded in 1985 by Brian Hamersfeld, father of Amber Hamersfield [4] and acquired by Chief Executives Manny Stul, Jacqui Tobias and Paul Solomon in 2001. The company is based in Cheltenham, Melbourne, Australia.[5] Between 2000 and 2015 revenue for the company has grown from $10 million to more than $900 million.[6]

In 2013, Paul Solomon led a move to distribute Moose Toys products directly into US retail, which was a collectible brand called "the Trash Pack".[7]

In 2014, Moose Toys relocated its main office within town with what co-chief Manny Stul claims is a first of its kind.[8] Moose Toys, which employs 200 people in Australia, the US, Hong Kong, China and the UK, is currently the number 8 ranked toy company in the US and number 4 in Australia.[5]


Other Moose product lines include Mighty Beanz, Bindeez, Aqua Sand, The Trash Pack, The Grossery Gang, Little Live Pets, Betty Spaghetty,[5] and Fur Babies World.

Shopkins

Shopkins are a collectible line of figures, designed, and developed by the Moose team in Melbourne, Australia.

Toys

Shopkins toys are miniature store item characters. Each Shopkins character is given a name, hobby, hang out, and BFF, intended to create an emotional bond for the collector.[9]

Each new series of Shopkins combines 140+ characters with playsets and accessories. As of December 2015, there are 420 individual characters.[10]

Originally released in June 2014, by December 2015 over 115 million Shopkins had been sold worldwide.[10] Paul Solomon credits his mother Jacqui Tobias, director of girls’ products, for the idea of Shopkins.[5]

In December 2015, a one-of-kind glass Shopkin called Gemma Stone sold for $21,500 on eBay with all proceeds going to the Toy Industry Foundation.[10]

Animation

For the launch of Shopkins, a series of animated Webisodes were created for the ShopkinsWorld YouTube. There have been 84 released so far and they have gained over 30 million views. Moose also tried out Trash Pack cartoons which ended shortly near the end of the toy franchise in 2014.[11]

In 2014, Moose partnered with children's content producers Nelvana to create Shopkins animated content, slated for release in the late 2010s.

In 2016 Moose has done Grossery Gang cartoons which are still going. A Grossery Gang animated movie was released on 28 July 2017 on YouTube to get ready for Series 3 of the toy franchise. [12]

Other products

Moose has licensed Shopkins for additional products through Bulldog Licensing in the UK,[13] The Licensing Shop[14] in the US, and Merchantwise in Australia.[15]

In October 2015, the first official Shopkins app was released to much success.[16] As of January 2016, 51 Shopkins licencees had been signed in North America, including apparel, construction, candy, games, and bedding.[17] In that same month, Shopkins partnered with McDonald's to release special edition Happy Meal toys.[18]

The Grossery Gang

Building on the success of the Shopkins, Moose extended their Shopkins lines with The Grossery Gang, collectible figurines that hang out at the "Yucky Mart" and includes groceries who have gone past their expiry date. They were released in summer 2016, replacing the Trash Pack, labelled as "From the world of The Trash Pack". The Grossery Gang first appeared in the UK in 2016.

The Grossery Gang Movie

An animated film was released on YouTube on 28 July 2017.

The Grossery Game

In March 2016, Moose teamed up with Melbourne-based FGMNT, to produce The Grossery Game,[19] an augmented reality app for iPhone and Android and Kindle Fire devices released in February 2017.

Hyper Toss

In 2016, Moose Toys released an electronic game called Hyper Toss developed by KID Group. The game is similar to Top It on which includes a ball and an electronic unit with three coloured cups and four game modes: Hyper Toss, Super Toss, Memory Toss and Freestyle. The game has been a successful release and was first introduced at New York Toy Fair.[20]

Awards

In 2015, Moose Toys was awarded "Girls Toy of the Year" by the U.S.’s Toy Industry Association for their product line Shopkins and "Partner of the Year" by Toys"R"Us.[21]

Co-CEO Manny Stul was awarded the Ernst & Young Australian Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2015.[3][22][23]

In 2016, Manny Stul was named the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year.[3][24][23] He is the first Australian to have ever won the award.[25] Shopkins was also awarded the Best Character/Toy Brand at the 2016 LIMA Licensing Awards in Las Vegas, USA.[26]

In 2017, Manny Stul was inducted to the Australian Toy Association Hall of Fame.[27]


See also

References
  1. "Moose Enterprises Pty Ltd.: Private Company Information – Businessweek". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  2. "Taking the US by storm is child's play". Executive Style. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  3. "Moose Toys CEO named 2015 Australian EY Entrepreneur of the Year". toyhobbyretailer.com.au. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  4. "Not all fun and games: Paul Solomon". Brw.com.au. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  5. "Moose Toys plays at the top of their game; Herald Sun". Herald Sun. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  6. "Toy king takes out EY Entrepreneur of the Year". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  7. Bailey, Michael. "How Melbourne's Moose is charging into Mattel's share of US toy market". BRW. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  8. "Moose Toys' new office putting the fun into work". Herald Sun. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  9. Al Duwick, Hala. "just-like-the-shopkins-get-your-products-flying-off-shelves-through-powerful-marketing-messages". Global Toy News. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  10. "This Tiny Toy Just Sold for $21,500". FOX40. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  11. "Toymakers Turn to YouTube". Enterprise. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  12. Calder, Kate. "Nelvana Partners with Moose Toys on Two New Hit Toy Lines – Mutant Mania and Shopkins". Corus Entertainment. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  13. Licensing, Bulldog. "Bulldog Continues to Grow Shopkins". Bulldog Licensing. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  14. Global, License. "Shopkins Bags 16 New Licensees". License Global. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  15. Guie, Phil. "Moose Toys Lines Up New Shopkins Licensees for Toys and Games". The Toy Book. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  16. "Moose Toys launches first Shopkins app". licensing.biz. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  17. "Moose Toys Announces New Shopkins Licensees – The Licensing Book Online". licensingbook.com. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  18. Redfield, Yumi (31 December 2015). "Shopkins Season 4: New Shoppie Introduced, Season 4 Roundup, Shopkins App, Happy Meal, News, Updates". Crossmap.
  19. "The Grossery Game – Homepage". Moose Toys. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  20. "Get Hyped with Hyper Toss". Toy Insider. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  21. "Moose Toys™ Awarded 2015 Toys"R"Us "Partner of the Year"". PR Newswire. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  22. Chris Pash. "Toy creator Manny Stul is Australia's Entrepreneur of the Year for 2015". Business Insider Australia.
  23. http://www.ey.com/GL/en/About-us/Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneur-Of-The-Year/World-Entrepreneur-Of-The-Year---Country-winner-Australia-2016
  24. EY. "Manny Stul of Moose Enterprise from Australia named EY World Entrepreneur of the Year 2016".
  25. Andrea Beattie. "Aussie Toy King Named World Entrepreneur of the Year Winner". HuffPost.
  26. LIMA. "Previous Licensing Excellence Awards Winners".
  27. AusToy. "Australian Toy Association Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 19 May 2011.
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