Industry leaders, retailers, and manufacturers weigh in on toy trends, changes, and more in The Toy Book’s annual State of the Industry Q&A. 

DAVIN SUFER, Chief Technical Officer, WowWee

How does WowWee come up with new and innovative takes on existing lines, such as Fingerlings, to keep them fresh and exciting for consumers?
We have a very playful and inventive team. We are quite literally always riffing on new ideas, things we see trending online, and what we see our kids doing. While that’s going on, our development team is constantly trying out new sensors, mechanisms, and design methods. When those two areas overlap, we end up with innovative products and innovative play.

WowWee entered a licensing agreement with Pinkfong in September, and had product for sale by December. What does it take to deliver products so quickly without losing any of the quality?
We were talking to the Pinkfong team for a few months at that point, but we moved quite quickly to get some really awesome items to market. Some of the ingredients that go into moving quick include an extremely engaged team, dedication to our brands, many late nights with the team in Asia, great manufacturing partners, and a lot of experience in what will resonate with young kids. On that note, it doesn’t hurt to have young kids at home to try out the products.

About the author

Maddie Michalik

Maddie Michalik

Maddie Michalik was the Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book from 2020-2022. She was also a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider.

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