 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2024) |
 Logo used since 2023 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Toys |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Founder | Nick Mowbray |
| Headquarters | Hong Kong, China |
| Brands | |
| Website | https://zuru.com/ |
Zuru (stylized as ZURU) is a Chinese toy company that manufactures multiple brands of toys. They currently (as of 2024) operate four main divisions: ZURU Toys, ZURU Edge, ZURU Tech, and Rhodes Pet Science. [1]
When Nick Mowbray was twelve in 1997, he designed and created a hot air balloon model kit that won first place in a national science fair in New Zealand. Mowbray's kit soon became more popular, and had started his first mini business of delivering hot balloon kits door to door with his brother, Mat. They had sold their kits throughout high school, and eventually decided to attend university. They returned to delivering kits after one year of university. [1]
In 2003, Mowbray moved to Hong Kong from New Zealand and at age 18, with his brother, started their first toy factory in Guangzhou, China. They were financed with a $20,000 loan from their parents, which they used to buy an injection molding machine. Soon after they ran into difficulties due to a lack of managerial and administrivia experience, communication skills and knowledge of intellectual property legislation. [2]
After two years, their sister Anna helped them in their business and named it Zuru. Their original company's trade name was Guru, but changed to Zuru as Guru had been trademarked by a different company. [2]
Walmart later expressed interest in Zuru's products and began selling them in their stores.[ citation needed ]
Zuru created a variety of brands over the years for children of any age, education, fun, interest, and affordable [3] including X-Shot, Bunch O Balloons, 5 Surprise, Mini Brands, X-Shot Water, Rainbocorn, Gumi Yum, and Snackles. They also partnered with The Walt Disney Company, [4] Nickelodeon, Universal Studios, and DreamWorks. [5] [ better source needed ]
Zuru has been designing their toy products to be more recyclable and reusable. As of 2019, Bunch O Balloons itself and the stem's rubber material had changed to recyclable natural rubber latex, and its packaging is recyclable too. The company also partnered with TerraCycle. [6] [ better source needed ]
In 2022, Crazy Bunch O Balloons by Zuru won the Outdoor Toy of the Year award. [7]
In May 2019, Zuru had settled all pending infringement proceedings with Telebrands and Bulbhead.com LLC for making Zuru Bunch o Balloons product similar to their Balloon Bonanza, Battle Balloons and Easy Einstein products. Their settlement issued a full payment of $31 million final judgment, including additional substantial payment for Telebrands' product infringement and agreement that they will not sell any of their accused products. [5] [ better source needed ]
In 2020, Zuru was blocked by Lego from making its version of minifigures, as the court found Zuru infringed upon Lego's trademark. [8]
Zuru was also sued by Lego for its Zuru Max Build More building sets, for saying that it was compatible with Lego. [9]
Lego is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) that accompany an array of gears, figurines called minifigures, and various other parts. Its pieces can be assembled and connected in many ways to construct objects, including vehicles, buildings, and working robots. Assembled Lego models can be taken apart, and their pieces can be reused to create new constructions.
The Lego Group is a Danish construction toy production company based in Billund, Denmark. It manufactures Lego-branded toys, consisting mostly of interlocking plastic bricks. The Lego Group has also built several amusement parks around the world, each known as Legoland, and operates numerous retail stores.
A Lego minifigure, often simply referred to as a Lego figure or a minifig, is a small plastic articulated figurine made of special Lego bricks produced by Danish building toy manufacturer The Lego Group. They were first produced in 1978 and have been a success, with over 4 billion produced worldwide as of 2020. Minifigures are usually found within Lego sets, although they are also sold separately as collectables in blind bags, or can be custom-built in Lego stores and on lego.com. While some are named as specific characters, either licensed from already existing franchises or of Lego's own creation, many are unnamed and are designed simply to fit within a certain theme. They are highly customizable, and parts from different figures can be mixed and matched, resulting in many combinations.
Lego Studios was a popular brand of Lego toys released in 2000 and mainly focused on movie-making and the steps thereof. Lego Studios was first distributed in November 2000, and was later discontinued in 2003. The last series in the franchise was the Lego Spider-Man set.
Lego Star Wars is a Lego theme based on the Star Wars media franchise created by George Lucas. It includes over 928 Lego building toy sets, 1389 Lego minifigures, an eponymous video game series containing six games, and multiple animated short films and television series.
Mega Brands Inc. is a Canadian children's toy company that is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of Mattel. Mega Bloks, a line of construction set toys, is its most popular product. Its other brands include Mega Construx, Mega Puzzles, and Board Dudes. The company distributes a wide range of construction toys, puzzles, and craft-based products.
Telebrands is an American direct response marketing company, and the original creator of the "As Seen On TV" logo and category of trade.
Lego Belville was a Lego theme designed to appeal primarily to girls. First introduced in 1994, the theme included multi-jointed doll-like characters that were larger in scale than the traditional Lego minifigure. The toy sets were produced from standard Lego bricks and larger pieces, often in a pink and purple colour scheme, and depicted scenes from fairy tales and fantasy as well as everyday life. The product line was discontinued in 2009. Belville's direct successor is Lego Friends, which was introduced in 2012. Other Lego product ranges that have been designed for girls include Homemaker (1971–1982), Paradisa (1991–1997) and Scala (1997–2001).
Lego Toy Story is a Lego theme based on the Disney·Pixar's Toy Story film franchise. The first four sets were released on December 30, 2009, with an additional two sets being released on January 4, 2010. In May, five Lego and four Duplo sets were released under the Toy Story 3 sub-theme. For the release of Toy Story 4 there was one Duplo set based on the third film and 6 Lego sets based on the fourth film. These sets were released in March and in April 2019 this time under the Juniors line. The minifigures in the sets were also now redesigned.
Lego Prince of Persia was a Lego theme based on the 2010 film Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. It was licensed from Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films. The theme was introduced in 2010 and was discontinued by the end of 2011.
Lego Pirates of the Caribbean is a discontinued Lego theme that is based on the film series of the same name. It is licensed from Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films. There are nine known sets. The first wave was released in May 2011 with the second wave coming out in November 2011. In November 2010, it was officially announced by Lego that the video game Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game was in production. It was released on May 10, 2011, in North America. The series acts as a thematic replacement for the popular Lego Pirates theme, featuring many of the same elements. Most of the sets are similar to the Lego Pirates theme. The theme was first introduced in 2011 and discontinued in 2017.
A Lego clone is a line or brand of children's construction blocks which is mechanically compatible with Lego brand blocks, but is produced by another manufacturer. The blocks were originally patented by The Lego Group in 1961 as "toy building bricks", and the company has since remained dominant in this market. Some competitors have moved to take advantage of Lego brand recognition by advertising their own products as compatible with Lego, with statements such as "compatible with leading building bricks".
Lego Disney is a Lego theme based on the various Disney Princesses and Disney characters involved in different Disney films and television series. It is licensed from Walt Disney Pictures. The theme was first introduced in 2016 and was re-branded theme from the Lego Disney Princess line in 2017. The toy line was accompanied by several shorts and television specials based on Lego Disney.
Lego Juniors was a product range of the construction toy Lego, designed for children aged 4 to 7 years old. It acted as a transition from the Duplo to the regular Lego System. Lego Juniors initial release was on February 14, 2014, with the tagline Easy to build. It was the successor to the Bricks & More line released in 2009. Unlike its predecessor, Lego Juniors offered specialized bricks to make builds look more realistic while using fewer pieces for an easier build. The product line was discontinued by the end of 2018 and rebranded as "4+".
Lego Trolls World Tour was a Lego theme based on the film of the same name created by Thomas Dam. It is licensed by Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation. The theme was introduced in January 2020 and was discontinued by the end of July 2021.
Lego The Lone Ranger was a Lego theme based on the film of the same name. It is licensed from Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films. The theme was first introduced in April 2013 and was discontinued by the end of 2014 in conjunction with the theatrical release of the film.
Nicholas James Mowbray is a New Zealand entrepreneur and businessman. Together with his brother Mat, he is the co-founder of toy and consumer products manufacturer Zuru.
Anna Jane Mowbray is a New Zealand entrepreneur and businessperson. Together with her brothers Mat and Nick, she leads the Chinese toy manufacturer ZURU; her role is chief operating officer. Using her contacts in China, she organised the delivery of personal protective equipment to New Zealand early on during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Building blocks are modular construction parts, usually made of plastic, which can be assembled in a form-fit manner. The basic components are usually cuboid-shaped, cylindrically studded at the top in a grid pattern, hollow-bodied at the bottom and smooth at the sides. The structured upper surface interacts by friction and positive locking with the correspondingly negative lower surface of other clamping components, so that complex designs can be assembled. The design allows the parts to be connected with compressive force and the blocks to be clamped with plastic pins.