Pop It Pets - Season 1 | Buffalo Games | Ages 3+ | Released Spring 2022
The Pop It you know and love now in cute and collectible characters! The developers of the original Pop It wanted to expand their line from simple fidget toys into something more captivating. I was asked to explore 5-10 mini characters, but after seeing the first batch of concepts they requested 100 more! I worked on the development of this product from the ground up: from concept to specing, writing profiles to packaging, and even marketing. Below is a showcase of how it all came together!
Season 1 was packaged in a rainbow metallic bubble wrap pouch. Inside were 6 colorful bags filled filled with 17 surprises including 5 mystery Pop It Pets ranging from dinosaurs to vehicles, cats to pizza. A collector’s grid and stickers were included to track collection progress, plus a keychain so they can be taken on the go!
Each Pop It Pet was thoughtfully designed around 1-3 pops and ranged in size from tiny to teeny tiny! Season 1 features 2-tone, swirl, rainbow and dot color effects along with special effects such as glow in the dark, heat change, UV change, glitter and metallic finishes. I designed every character, chose finishes/effects with our factory partners, and ensured the pets were designed to hit our costing needs.
Pop It Pet are more than just a fidget - each pet has a unique personality for added play and connection. Trading cards showcase the pet’s name, backstory, rarity, likes, dislikes, birthday, friends and special effects. I wrote and designed all trading cards, including the backs!
The back of each trading card is a piece of the Pop It Pet World Map! If you collect the entire assortment, you can puzzle together the whole scene. You can also hop onto the Pop It Pet website to see it all and read about each town. Season 1 consists of 10 towns with mayors, town counselors and townies. Each town features a category of pets (foods, ocean creatures, mythic beasts) and each pet has a specific home on the map.
This was Buffalo Game’s first time breaking into the collectibles business so we had to develop a marketing plan from the ground up. These little fidgets have big personalities and our marketing efforts were focused on showcasing their individuality and emphasizing their tiny size. I gave photography and videography direction, plus photographed and created my own mini stop motion gifs to bring the Season 1 cast to life. We made crafts, songs and so much more to showcase the brand, and our efforts paid off - Season 1 was a huge success!
Check out the above videos showcasing the excitement around the launch of Pop It Pets, including unboxings and reviews!
To see what comes next, check out the Pop It Pets Season 2 Gallery!
