MAGNAPETS - AMAZING NEW SOFT TOY ANIMALS THAT INTERCONNECT!!

MAGNAPETS - AMAZING NEW SOFT TOY ANIMALS THAT INTERCONNECT!!

Project 2019-08-21 14:15:31 +1200

MAGNAPETS are an amazing new range of soft & cuddly animal toys that interconnect to create a world of crazy new animals every day! We want to take this kiwi developed product to the world market with your help.

When we were kids we all can remember having a favourite soft toy...maybe a bear or a pony that we would take everywhere and spend hours playing with. Well, we've taken that old soft toy idea and designed an exciting new twist..THE MAGNAPETS, are a range of super cuddly soft animal toys that can disconnect and reconnect in endless combinations that literally lets your kids imagination GO WILD!

In a world full of cheap, disposable plastic toys, I really wanted design something with that retro sense of quality, collectability and a toy that kids just cant wait to get out of the box. The MAGNAPETS are not only a cuddly soft animal...they really engage your child's creativity by allowing them to create unlimited weird new creatures in seconds by simply swapping the interconnectable body parts around.

When my daughter was learning to read I bought a jigsaw puzzle with farmyard animals. When you fit the animals together you could learn how to spell their names. Soon we were having much more fun connecting different animal parts together and coming up with strange sounding and looking creatures like a Corsck (cat/horse/duck)..I took this idea and wondered if I could apply it to soft animal toys in a way that hadn't been done before.

I spent many hours in my spare time in second hand clothing stores raiding toy boxes of any soft animal toys I could find, and like a mad scientist I would get them home and very carefully dissect them into THREE sections much to the horror of my daughter! Stuffing, fluff and failed body parts were flung every which way during my first trials! Eventually I settled on a size that would work best and the unnecessary cruelty to soft toys ceased.

My initial method for attaching the sections was with velcro, but this never held the sections flush and after a week they looked filthy as they picked up every piece of lint and dust off the floor. I knew that if I went with magnets then I would have to design a special housing that would insert neatly and firmly into the sections, stay permanently mounted and securely contain the magnets, yet allow the grip to stay strong. The MAGNADISC, which is the key to this toy, has been refined 15 times in its development so that it meets all these requirements. Strong, lightweight, allows the magnets to work effectively, completely sealed and tamperproof. The MAGNADISC and the MAGNAPETS are now trademarked and have patents pending and most importantly...they look really cool!

Kids get engaged really quickly with the novelty of this toy, they love that they can create their own creature completely different and unique from their friends and after a few minutes grab some other sections and make something totally new.

One observation I made is that they share freely because they really want to see what others can create! With each new creature comes a new name which they will vigorously debate along with what its accompanying noise should be. Some kids want to connect as many mid-sections as possible to create long weird centipede type animals. Other kids are like my niece and just want to turn any hybrid back to the cute original complete animal.

Also the magnetic force between the parts is curious to some children...they will connect and disconnect parts over and over wondering how this invisible grip works and then wondering why there is resistance when they try to connect two heads to each other (positive to positive). Then there are those kids that just want to stick as many MAGNAPETS heads on the fridge as possible like some bizarre trophy collection.

COMMENTS FROM SATISFIED CUSTOMERS...

"They are really cuddly and my favourite ones are the penguin and the kitten and the unicorn" - Ruby, age 7

”My dad made a Tyrannosaurus with a lions head"! - Aiden, age 5

”I like them because I can put all my favourite animals together at the same time" -Sophia, age 5

”I like them because it's just weird"! - Liam, age 6.

We are looking long term to put out a series of MAGNAPETS animated and educational children's story books and have been working on a great back story of how the MAGNAPETS came to be! These are some of the character ideas..*(stock character images are for concept only. Original character artwork is still to be finalised).

We have been working closely with a Pattern Designer and a Graphic Artist to create cute, realistic animals that all have the same dimensions so they are perfectly interconnectable, but also importantly still giving each animal its own individual feel. While the MAGNAPETS will be factory produced, the final mounting of the MAGNADISC and cosmetic markings will be done by hand, making each toy slightly unique.

For the purpose of production times for this campaign we have decided to release just SEVEN (7) MAGNAPETS, but have another 23 designs ready to roll out immediately. If we manage to fund the MAGNAPETS successfully and we go over the initial total then we will be able to add a new animal with every $8500 over target!

When I was a kid, part of getting a new toy was about that anticipation of unpacking it out of the box...and back then the boxes were so cool! To really maintain that retrofeel of this toy we have designed a classic 80's high gloss, windowed box like all those great toys came in...think Transformers or Cabbage Patch Kids.

MAGNAPETS BOX - FRONT VIEW CONCEPT.

TOY PRODUCTION - Well over half of the cost is for the production of the MAGNAPETS, including parts for the MAGNADISC and final assembly of the finished toy. 

FEES & TAXES - PledgeMe fees, customs duty and credit card charges.

SHIPPING - This percentage reflects the expense of Worldwide shipping a product of this size and weight. 

INCENTIVES - production costs for the T-Shirts, Signed Artwork, Stickers and info booklets.

Risks and Challenges.

We have been working on the concept and development of MAGNAPETS for nearly two years, trialling different materials, magnetic disc designs and crafting the background story in order to bring this product to PledgeMe, However the main risk and challenge I can see is potential manufacturing delays associated with producing a new design in soft toys. In order to minimise this possibility we have chosen to work with an established American company with over 30 years experience in soft toy production..and after showing them concept designs they are completely confident in our projected production times.

PRODUCT ADJUSTMENTS.

With much trial and error and years of development, we have finalised on set dimensions and weights for the MAGNAPETS that we are completely happy with. If any adjustments need to be made then hopefully these will be only small cosmetic tweaks...after all, we want the best looking soft toy for you that we can!

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