Type Private Area served Worldwide Founded 1985 | Industry Toys
Entertainment Founder Brian Hamersfeld | |
 | ||
Headquarters Cheltenham, Melbourne, Australia Key people Paul Solomon (Chief Executive)
Manny Stul (Chief Executive) and Jacqui Tobias (Director of Girl's Products) Products Shopkins
Trash Pack
Beados
Mighty Beanz
Betty Spaghetty
Electronic Games Profiles | ||
Moose Toys is an Australian-owned toy design, development and distribution company founded in 1985 by Brian Hamersfeld. Moose products are sold in 85 countries and is currently the fifth largest toy manufacturer in Australia and fourth largest in the United States.
Contents
History
Moose Toys was founded in 1985 by Brian Hamersfeld and acquired by Chief Executives Manny Stul, Jacqui Tobias and Paul Solomon in 2001. The company is based in Cheltenham, Melbourne, Australia. Between 2000 and 2015 revenue for the company has grown from $10 million to more than $600 million.
In 2013, co-chief executive Paul Solomon led a move to distribute Moose Toys products directly into US retail, which was a collectible brand called "the Trash Pack".
In 2014, Moose Toys relocated its main office within town with what co-chief Manny Stul claims is a first of its kind with a basketball court, and a meeting room at the top of a built in beanstalk with walls that act as whiteboards. 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.
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.
Co-CEO Manny Stul was awarded the Ernst & Young Australian Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2015.
In 2016, Manny Stul was named the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year. He is the first Australian to have ever won the award
Other Moose product lines include Mighty Beanz, Beados, Aqua Sand, The Trash Pack, The Grossery Gang, Little Live Pets and Betty Spaghetty
Shopkins
Shopkins are a collectible small doll franchise, 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.
Each new series of Shopkins combines 140+ characters with playsets and accessories. As of December 2015, there are 420 individual characters.
Originally released in June 2014, by December 2015 over 115 million Shopkins had been sold worldwide. Co-chief Paul Solomon credits his mother Jacqui Tobias, director of girls’ products, for the idea of Shopkins.
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.
Animation
For the launch of Shopkins, a series of animated Webisodes were created for the ShopkinsWorld YouTube. There have been over 20 released so far and they have gained over 30 million views.
In 2014, Moose partnered with children’s content producers Nelvana to create Shopkins animated content, slated for release in the late 2010s.
Other products
Moose has licensed Shopkins for additional products through Bulldog Licensing in the UK, The Licensing Shop in the US, and Merchantwise in Australia.
In October 2015, the first official Shopkins app was released to much success. As of January 2016, 51 Shopkins licensees had been signed in North America, including apparel, construction, candy, games, and bedding. In that same month, Shopkins partnered with McDonald's to release special edition Happy Meal toys.
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 colored 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.