From “ugly-cute” Labubus to whimsical Sonny Angels, trendy collectibles are everywhere — the biggest catch is that you don’t have a choice in which one you get. Pop Mart, a Beijing based company, is leading the “blind box craze”. From just 2018 to 2023, their revenue has shot up from $95.4 million to $1.17 billion, a testament to the virality and popularity of the product.

Rows of blind box displays with the figurines themselves lined up on top of the blind boxes themselves.

Assortment of Pop Mart blind boxes

The Origin

The notion of blind boxes and mystery items dates as far back as the 1900s with a Japanese New Year tradition. Known as *fukubukoro,* “lucky bags”, these mystery bags are filled with an assortment of leftover goods sold at a discount by retail outlets. Through Japanese entrepreneur Ryugo Shigeta’s introduction of gachapons, vending machines that dispense collectible toys encased in clear plastic capsules, mystery bags took on a new form as collectible toys.

Rows of gachapons: machines are all white with a variety of displays in different colors

Fun fact: *Gachapon is a combination of two Japanese onomatopoeias: “gacha (or gacha-gacha), which refers to the sound of a crank being turned; and pon, which refers to something appearing magically.*

The Allure of Blind Boxes

Pop Mart describes blind boxes as “a type of packaging that keeps its contents a mystery until it is opened.” A themed “series” describes a blind box collection featuring similar collectibles. Some items in a series might be rarer than others and the rarest ones are referred to as “secret”, “hidden” or “chase” items.

Display of all possible figurines of the series: 12 figurines (2 x 6) are lined up at the bottom of the image. The top half of the image displays a large figurine resembling a traffic light on the left, and the blind box (black and gray) itself on the right

All possible figurines in the The Monsters “Almost Hidden” Series

“Emotional Mirrors”

These tiny figurines encased in blind boxes aren’t simply for decorative purposes, they’ve become a representation of the customer — signaling their relatability to the specific series or collectible set. Pop Mart’s diverse collections, from the pouty Cry Baby to the charismatic Skullpanda, act as “extensions” of the collector’s personality.

Assortment of figurines from a SkullPanda series. The colors featured are mostly purple, white, pink, and dark blue

SkullPanda The Sound Series

“Skullpanda is rebellious and fashion-forward. Cry Baby is vulnerable and expressive. These figures allow buyers to signal who they are (or want to be) in a way that feels aspirational, not commercial”

— Julia Olivas, SEO Growth Marketing Analyst at NoGood