Shopkins

Shopkins is a range of tiny, collectable toys, manufactured by Moose Toys. Based on grocery store items, each plastic figure has a cute face and unique name. The collectable toys (which are designated as common, rare, ultra rare, special edition, limited edition, and exclusive) have also added a line of trading cards, as well as a YouTube channel.

The toy line began in 2014.^[1]

History

Shopkins was designed and developed by Moose Toys in Melbourne. Co-chief Paul Solomon credits his mother Jacqui Tobias, director of girls’ products, for the idea of Shopkins.^[2] Moose Toys had success with their line of Trash Pack collectible figurines which were geared towards boys, but overall lacked a market for girls. Shopkins was produced initially as a similar product for girls—however, it appeals to both genders.^[3][4]

Shopkins universe

Characters

Shopkins products

Shopkins figurines are roughly 1 inch in height and 1 inch in width, roughly the size of a United States Quarter. Each figurine has a face and its own name. They are distributed in bright colored packaging with bubble letters.^[5] Shopkins are based on grocery items such as a sweet apple named Apple Blossom, a chocolate bar named Cheeky Chocolate, and a chocolate chip cookie named Kooky Cookie.^[6][7]

There are hundreds of Shopkins in the Shopkins World.^[8] Shopkins are organized into categories such as Sweets or Bakery. Shopkins are collected and traded based on their rarity. Moose toys classifies the Shopkins degrees of rarity as Common, Exclusive, Limited Edition, Rare, Special Edition, and Ultra Rare.^[9]

Books

Moose Toys launched a series of children's books about Shopkins including Scholastic's Shopkins: Welcome to Shopville.^[10]

Collector cards

Moose Toys released their first trading card set in 2015.

Shopkins video

Moose Toys has also announced a new movie (based on Shopkins toys) called Shopkins Chef Club. The movie was released on DVD October 25, 2016 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. The movie was well received and became a Shopkins fan favorite with great reviews.^[11]

Web series

In August 2014, Moose Toys built brand awareness with their Shopkins short cartoon videos on their YouTube channel Shopkins world,^[3] but it was the YouTube videos of consumers unwrapping and playing with the toy that helped catapult its success.^[12][13]

Shopkins Direct

As of May 2017, CultureFly LLC., a licensee of Shopkins/Moose Toys, began offering a subscription box with exclusive Shopkins accessories and merchandise.^[14] Shopkins Direct is described as a quarterly/seasonal subscription service, featuring accessories, apparel, and other exclusive merchandise featuring Shopkins characters.

Counterfeit Shopkins

Counterfeit Shopkins began to surface around mid-2015, including those with "Funny Sweet" on the packaging, which can refer to Shopkins in colors which Moose Toys never officially produced, such as Boo Hoo Onion being in light blue and Chee Zee in orange.^[15] A number of sellers on websites offer counterfeit Shopkins, which can include item pictures which have the “Shopkins” branding, most likely as a way to avoid the listing being taken away under intellectual property policies of the website and/or store.

Counterfeit Shopkins in packaging with "Funny Sweet" categories.

Cases

Two factories in Yiwu producing counterfeit Shopkins toys were raided by local police in China in mid-2015,^[16] and Moose Toys stated they will take legal action against anyone selling counterfeit Shopkins,^[17] which included a chain of Thriftway businesses selling counterfeit Shopkins.^[18]

See also

• Moose Toys

References