Moose Toys’ Rowen Wagner on why XOX Kweenies is shaping up to be something special

Rowen, tell me: what set you on the path to toy design?
My toy story stems from an Industrial Design background. As a child, I loved creating and dismantling things – apologies to my parents for the destroyed VHS player! After university, I gained experience in various fields – automotive, street furniture, homewares, and more – but I always loved toys. For my university major project, I developed an educational toy system and sent it to Moose Toys for feedback.

Wow. Bold move!
Well – to my surprise, they gave it a thorough review and responded with constructive insights. Five years later, when I applied for a design role at Moose Toys, one of their senior designers remembered my project… Following a few interviews and a design brief, I was fortunate to secure the role of Product Designer. It felt like everything had come full circle and my journey into the toy industry began.

What does your ‘typical day’ look like as Head of Design?
In a word, ‘dynamic’. There’s rarely a typical day – and that’s a big part of the fun. I oversee an outstanding creative team of over 25 designers across multiple categories. On any given day here in the Melbourne head office, I might be brainstorming toy ideas, reviewing project progress or debating brand strategy. Other times I could be in LA pitching new brands to retailers, or even in Tokyo hunting for inspiration. The toy world is never boring, and I truly believe it to be one of the best jobs.

Let’s talk about one of your exciting recent launches, XOX Kweenie. For anyone new to the range, how would you pitch it?
XOX Kweenie is a premium, blind-box figurine that’s full of attitude. They include a display case and collector card, with rare chase characters to find. Every ‘Kween’ is unique, making the range highly collectible. They’re a diverse and creative expression of quirky themes that each character exemplifies. We’ve got everything including Kween of Pickles, Kween of Spicy, and Kween of Drama – the one closest to my heart!

Ha! Where did the idea come from?
The original concept – ‘Princess Everything’ – challenged the notion of the traditional princess persona. We loved the anti-princess trend and saw the positive empowerment of creating your own definition of what is sovereign. This led us to look at how we might evolve an edgy new perspective on the classic theme, making it more relevant to children today. Think a Princess of Being Late or a Princess of Cold Pizza.

The one closest to my heart!
Ha! Then, to bring this fresh princess perspective to life, we paired it with the growing popularity of blind-box art toys. A vinyl toy format became the perfect medium to elevate the concept, making the toy feel precious and highly collectible.

Our talented illustrators explored over 60 aesthetic directions during an intensive styling process – ultimately crafting a distinct and ownable look and proportion for our Kween.

Combining this with brand development, technical refinement, rich storytelling and a premium approach to every detail, we created XOX Kweenie – the ultimate canvas for owning and celebrating anything imaginable.

Each one features premium finishes and styling. Which of these gave you unique design challenges?
The entire focus of our physical Kweenie development centres around delivering a premium product.

From the weight of the figures to the seamless assembly, elevated details and, of course, the finishes.
And every toy we work on presents unique challenges. We’ve tackled technical feats like a deflating balloon dog, a singing pooping flamingo, a magical fogging cauldron, and the most really real toy puppy on the market. But the challenge with Kweenie was different…

How so?
It was simply to ensure each figure is visually stunning. We’re particularly proud of the craftsmanship and beauty of the finishes – a designer-toy standard while maintaining a very accessible price point. It’s our hope that everyone can get a strong sense for the passion we’ve poured into every character simply by holding one.

Absolutely! Now – without saying anything that may get you in trouble…
Don’t worry, I get myself in trouble all the time.

Ha! Well, that’s perfect! What does the future of the brand look like? Feel free to spill as many secrets as you like!
There’s an insight into the future of XOX Kweenie within the DNA of the toy itself – it’s bold, diverse, full of attitude and unexpected. I can’t reveal our big new development plans, but – true to the art-toy world – we’re playing with different scales, wild new themes and some unique collaborations. Moose is all about creating long term, meaningful brands and we’ve set awesome creative groundwork for Kweenie to make a big splash.

Terrific. You’ve been at Moose for over 10 years. What’s kept you there for such an impressive stint?
Yes, I’m coming up to 14 years at Moose… I have many colleagues with a good ten-plus years as well. Moose simply does things differently: with authenticity, heart and soul. We’re a family – and regardless of your department or role, there’s always an exciting career pathway for all Moosies. We’re outrageously ambitious, but we always find time for a laugh. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we’re serious about creating innovative toys in the awesome business of making children happy.

Rowen, this has been fun. One last question! What fuels your creativity?
Coffee aside, it’s great to get out of your common surroundings, though. Hunt for inspiration in places others don’t. Smash unexpected components together! Be open to wild results. Embrace a healthy dose of delusion. Be comfortable conceiving ideas that aren’t what your customer asks for; risk giving them something they didn’t know they’d need. Surround yourself with people who can build and challenge your ideas. And critique through the lens of your end user – in our case, millions of children all over the world.

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