Moose Toys is an Australian-owned toy design, development and distribution company founded in 1985. Moose products are sold in 85 countries and is currently the fifth largest toy manufacturer in Australia and fourth largest in the United States.
History
Moose Toys was founded in 1985 by Brian Hamersfeld and acquired by Chief ExecutivesManny 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 $900 million. 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". In 2014, Moose Toys relocated its main office within town with what co-chief Manny Stul claims is a first of its kind. 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 lineShopkins 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. Shopkins was also awarded the Best Character/Toy Brand at the 2016 LIMA Licensing Awards in Las Vegas, USA. In 2017, Manny Stul was inducted to the Australian Toy Association Hall of Fame. Other Moose product lines include Mighty Beanz, Bindeez, Aqua Sand, The Trash Pack, The Grossery Gang, Little Live Pets, Betty Spaghetty, and Fur Babies World.
Shopkins
are a collectible small doll franchise, designed, and developed by the Moose team in Melbourne, Australia.
Toys
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. 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 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. 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.
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 licencees 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 editionHappy Meal toys.
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 1996.
The Grossery Gang Movie
An animated film was released on YouTube on 28 July 2017.
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.
Elmo and friends Ask Me Elmo was released by Moose Toys which elmo had a appearance in the company, which means they've won a mystery prize. The doll says 35 phrases from the show.
