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The Wizard
A purple duck wearing a pointed hat with stars and moons, holding a tiny glowing staff. A fun novelty duck for fantasy fans or as a quirky gift.
Specifications
| Material | Vinyl (PVC) body, felt hat with foil star appliques |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 3.6 x 3.3 x 4.1 in (hat included) |
| Weight | 2.2 oz |
| Color | Deep purple with silver star and moon detailing |
| Age Grade | 3+ years. Staff does not actually cast spells. We've checked. |
| Origin | Designed on Vashon Island, WA · Assembled overseas |
| Care Instructions | Wipe clean. Keep hat away from direct heat, felt is not a fan of it. |
The Full Story
The Wizard nearly didn't happen, on account of a fairly heated internal debate in the design department about whether a purple duck was, in the words of one now-retired product manager, "a bridge too far." The dominant house style at the time leaned heavily on classic yellow, and purple was considered a risk. The Wizard shipped anyway, largely because the design lead at the time refused to back down and, according to office lore, threatened to quit over it. Nobody wants to confirm or deny that story on the record, but the duck exists, so draw your own conclusions.
The tiny glowing staff was originally meant to be a fully separate accessory you could remove and hold, but early testing revealed that small removable staffs and small children are, unsurprisingly, a difficult combination, both from a safety standpoint and a "immediately lost under the couch" standpoint. The current sculpted, fixed-in-hand version was the compromise, arrived at after four separate redesign rounds and one memorably long meeting about wand physics that, frankly, should not have taken as long as it did.
The stars and moons on the hat are hand-applied foil details, which means no two hats are placed in exactly the same configuration, a fact that the design team insists is "part of the magic" and that the manufacturing floor insists is "a quality control nightmare we've made peace with."
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Customer Reviews
The purple color is richer in person than the photos suggest, really nice deep tone. Hat sits well, doesn't look glued on crooked like some novelty items I've bought.
Solid little duck. Only reason it's not five stars is I wish the staff actually did something, even just a tiny click sound. Purely a me problem, not a product flaw.
Paired it with a wand-shaped pen and a little card and it was a hit at the gift exchange. Wrapping it up made me feel very clever.
I know they're randomly applied by hand but the way the foil stars landed on mine looks genuinely deliberate, like a little constellation. Probably reading too much into a rubber duck. No regrets.
Was disappointed to find out 'holding a tiny glowing staff' in the description just means it's sculpted to look like it's glowing, there's no actual light. Should be clearer. Nice duck otherwise, hence the one star feeling generous.
Arrived with the tip of the hat slightly bent from the box. Was able to reshape it with some warm water but wasn't expecting to have to do maintenance on day one.