Sticki Mates   Sticki Mates are little collectible figurines that store and dispense your Sticki Rolls! A staple for arts and crafts projects, Sticki Rolls are fun to use, but their tiny size can be hard to maneuver, especially for tiny hands. Enter Sticki Mates: adorable, portable, and collectible characters to hold and dispense your Sticki Rolls!   Each character has a name and some even have a sidekick too. There’s Happy Axie, Slo Moe, Rex, Chillin Charlie, Bunbun and her built-in companion Stardust, and many more. Some Sticki Mates are rarer than others—Happy Cappy and Cora & Bee are harder to find, and the Super Rare Sticki Mates are even harder to locate. These cuties are the same figurines you know and love: Happy Axie, Cora & Bee, and Stardust & Bunbun, but in the exclusive titanium colorway.   No matter who you unbox, you’ll be met with an adorable little face and an exclusive Sticki Roll that’s unique to your character. The characters not only come in a little blue carrier that you can clip onto your backpack, but also come wearing their own little backpack that can store up to four Sticki Rolls!   I had the pleasure of unboxing Booboo, an adorable little ghost with blushing pink cheeks to match her pink bow. Her sparkling stickers—including the exclusive Boo Boo-In’ Sticki Roll—depict different snapshots of her and her ghost friends: sharing a pink drink, enjoying sweets together, and giving each other heartfelt gifts of stuffies and letters.   I also added the super rare Titanium Happy Axie to my collection, along with the exclusive Axie’s Cavity Titanium Sticki Roll, which of course includes plenty of images of Axie brushing his teeth and showing off his pearly whites.   The design itself is very easy to use. The Sticki Roll dispenser opens and shuts with a simple lever, so refilling is seamless. The backpack is also very accessible, so getting access to your stored Sticki Rolls is easy, too. The figurines themselves fit snugly into their carriers, making them easy to take on the go.   I particularly appreciate that aspect of the design, because as a former child and a current babysitter, I’m quite familiar with the urge to use stickers. The Sticki Rolls feel like an endless supply of unique designs that are sure to keep kids occupied during arts and crafts projects. Plus, the figurine is a toy in and of itself: after unboxing one, you can’t help but want to collect them all!

AI may be the biggest shift I’ve worked through. There’s plenty we still need to understand, but I’m optimistic about what we can do with it.   From delighting people at Disney to helping shape the future of trucks at Ford, optimism has been the foundation for overcoming challenges that once seemed impossible.   Those successes gave me confidence about what comes next. Looking back, I’ve realized that optimism was there before the successes, helping make them possible.   Optimism helps folks see a problem as a palette of possibilities. The methods I’ve tested and refined give those possibilities a way forward: understand people, connect different disciplines, make ideas tangible, and learn by trying them.   The goal is to create something that delights people and improves the bottom line. I care about both.   With AI, a small creative team might explore an idea it once couldn’t afford to test. An inventor might finally show others what they’ve been imagining. Thoughtful guidance can help us turn those possibilities into useful work.   People who make toys and games already know the value of imagining, building, playing, and trying again. We have those habits to draw on.   I’m looking forward to hearing what you’re discovering at POP Week. If you’re thinking about what comes next for your products or your team, I’d enjoy comparing notes.   Brian MooseCreative & Innovation ExecutiveHelping companies strengthen their creative teams, processes, and culture—and develop what comes next.brianmoose.com