“Innovation around meaningful play is one of our main drivers”: MAGNA-TILES’ Rick Keuter discusses new launches and key focuses

How would you describe the design aims and ambitions of MAGNA-TILES?
My role here is to ensure we’re known as leaders in innovation in this space and to provide a roadmap for the next few years on how MAGNA-TILES continues to be successful – with a focus on innovation and newness. There were a lot of changes that led to me being here and the team has done an amazing job getting MAGNA-TILES to where we are today. There was always a focus on the product, but there was not a dedicated team.

Innovation around meaningful play is one of the main drivers for MAGNA-TILES. We’re making major investments in product development and are excited to share the new 2025 items with you soon.

What recent launches would you point to as good examples of what MAGNA-TILES wants to do?
It all started with Downhill Duo. This was the first set designed by our in-house team – preceding me… It won Preschool Toy of the Year in 2023. It was developed to provide a new play experience, by adding racetracks, roads and cars. Also, for the very first time, we added a figure for kids to use and see themselves in the driving seat as they play. That set was the starting point of bringing newness and innovation to magnetic building sets.

We’ve since launched our new Space set which – for the very first time – has a vehicle that can be carried and ‘flown’ by the little hands of kids. We also launched two new Castle sets that come with figures and a dragon, as well as brand new pieces like the drawbridge and balcony.

Great! And the microMAGs Travel Set?
The microMAGs Travel Set was the most successful set to come out of 2024. This is something we’re very proud of… It showcases the power of listening to the consumer and giving them something they didn’t realise they needed or wanted. We designed and engineered our classic tiles a ¼ of the size of our standard tiles. They still fit into the building system, but these smaller tiles fit in a metal travel case for on-the-go value at a lower price.

On paper, MAGNA-TILES plays in a space with more restrictions than those that don’t focus on magnetic sets. Do you find these restrictions to be a good source of creativity?
In general, any toy with magnets has to adhere to higher standards and more regulations than those without. That’s a good thing as we pride ourselves on safety and durability at MAGNA-TILES. This is one of the reasons our product is considered more premium than others in the market.

We compete with a lot of knock off and ‘me too’ products that try to enter this space, and our dedication to safety sets MAGNA-TILES apart. We take this very seriously. We not only adhere to US and EU regulations but also impose our own internal regulations and guidelines that are even more strict. We see this as putting the families who play with our product first – and we challenge ourselves in how we design and engineer new products to ensure safety is number one, and everything else comes second.

What other design challenges do you face?
Being a building-set brand, we must ensure that all new pieces fit within our system of play. This can be challenging at times – it’s like trying to solve a puzzle… We might have an idea for a new part that seems very specific to a set or theme. If we change one thing, though, it becomes a general piece that can fit into other sets and themes! That’s what we strive for: every new piece must be useful as something else in a build and be used in more than one set. Our designers and engineers do an amazing job of this; their creativity is inspiring.

How key is the inventor community to MAGNA-TILES?
We love working with new people, especially the inventor community. New ideas keep us engaged and excited about the future of MAGNA-TILES – inventors are some of the best people to bring those ideas to life. We have a new product coming out in July that was designed by an inventor we started working with in April 2024. I can’t talk too much about it now, but we’ll unveil that at New York Toy Fair. What I will say is that it takes the ease of building that MAGNA-TILES is known for and brings in a new way to play and build. We can’t wait for everyone to be able to play with this new set.

Sounds exciting. Can you tell us a bit about the inventor?
He’s not known as a professional inventor… He’s a regular guy with three kids, who just loves to play with MAGNA-TILES. He came up with the idea while playing with his sons. He created a prototype, made some videos to show the features and sent us an email. From there, we connected over the phone and partnered together to make the item even better… Now he’ll have his first product coming out this year!

Amazing. Are there any ‘north stars’ you’d give other inventors looking to impress MAGNA-TILES?
It’s all about the idea: being able to show it in action and being played with by kids. Kids typically do not hide their excitement… When we see how excited they are when they’re playing, we know something’s there. In short, you need to really know the product, play with the product and see how kids play – that would be my advice. The key is knowing the system of play and then finding a way to improve, enhance or extend the play value. We’re always looking for new ideas and want to collaborate with people who share our passion for play.

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