Mighty Beanz

Last updated
Mighty Beanz
Mighty Beanz.png
TypeToy
Company Moose Toys
Availability2002–2006
2010–2012
2018–2019
MaterialsPlastic, metal
SloganPlay 'em, Race 'em, Collect 'em
Official website

Mighty Beanz was a range of collectable bean-shaped toys created by Moose Enterprises in Melbourne, Australia. [1] [2] The toys were first released in Australia in 2002, and were later released in the United States in 2003. [3]

Contents

Each toy is decorated with a humorous illustration of a person, animal, or fantasy character. Several Beanz were caricatures of celebrities, including Elvis Presley, Hulk Hogan and Steve Irwin. Accessories and playsets were also released, including a line of Mighty Beanz racetracks. The primary Mighty Beanz game is to race the Beanz down different types of battle stages. [4]

Mighty Beanz was the first toy line from Moose Enterprises to gain widespread popularity in the United States. [5] Moose would later introduce another line of collectible toys, Shopkins, which were marketed alongside Mighty Beanz. [5]

History

Original line

The original line of Mighty Beanz was launched in Australia at the beginning of 2002. They were later released in the United States in summer 2003. [3] Five series were created:

In addition to the standard Mighty Beanz, a selection of rare, limited-edition Beanz were released. [6] These Beanz were not categorized under any specific series but were instead grouped under "Rare Beanz" on the official Mighty Beanz website. Many of the rare designs (such as Albino Bean, Ghost Bean, and Medusa Bean) were produced in a limited quantity of 1,000 units. [6]

Moose Enterprises also released three Mighty Beanz racetracks to go along with their toys: Ultimate Jump Park, Collision Chaos, and Super S-Bend. [7] Each track came with two limited edition Beanz that did not have printed numbers on them, making them extremely collectible.

In 2004, a Mighty Beanz video game titled Mighty Beanz Pocket Puzzles was released for the Game Boy Advance. [8]

2010 relaunch

2010 marked the first relaunch of Mighty Beanz. [9] From 2010 to 2012, Moose released five new series of Mighty Beanz. Only the first three series were given a wide release in countries like the United States; series 4 and series 5 were only released in certain countries, including Australia. Five series were created:

A Golden Square Bean Golden Square Bean.jpg
A Golden Square Bean
LE Disc Bean - Monkey Coin Bean 1/250 Monkey Coin Bean.png
LE Disc Bean - Monkey Coin Bean 1/250

Each series of the relaunched Mighty Beanz also had their own limited edition Moose Bean with only 1000 of them made for each series.

2018 relaunch

Moose developed a new line of Mighty Beanz, starting with 140 new Beanz which were released on September 1, 2018. A line of Fortnite-themed Mighty Beanz were produced. [10] An Easter series and Series 2 of the main line were released in early 2019.

References

  1. "Toying with the world - Business - www.theage.com.au". www.theage.com.au. 7 November 2004. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  2. "Moose Enterprises Pty Ltd.: Private Company Information - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  3. 1 2 "Hot Talent: A mighty good idea". Kidscreen . December 1, 2003.
  4. "Toys jumping off the shelves". Gympie Times. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  5. 1 2 "How Manny Stul overcame disaster to save Moose Toys". Australian Financial Review . April 22, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Pereira, Joseph (October 6, 2003). "Sales of Mighty Beanz Jump Ahead of the Holiday Season". The Wall Street Journal .
  7. "Mighty Beanz 2010 and Flip-Track".
  8. "Mighty Beanz Pocket Puzzles (Game)".
  9. "Mighty Beanz Sales Explode as Hot Collectable Burns Through North America". Spin Master . CNW Group. February 11, 2010.
  10. "Mighty Beanz - Moose Toys". www.moosetoys.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2022.